Familyvolunteer Recruitment Pack

FamilyVolunteer Recruitment Pack

Becoming a Family Volunteer

Information and Process details for volunteer candidates

ContentsPage

Introduction2

Role of the Family Volunteer -Role Description & Person Specification 3

Becoming a Family Volunteer –Application process5

Volunteer Application Form6

Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form 11

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Introduction

Family First

Ipswich4family was set up in 2013 by Christians in Ipswich and was a franchisee of Yeovil4family. In 2016 Ipswich4family became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Since 2014 they have seen encouraging, steady growth. In May 2017 it was agreed with Yeovil that they should separate, be independent from them and grow the organisation to respond to local needs. As part of this process the name was changed to Family First.

Family First seeks to enable families to develop their capacity to support themselves and to find solutions to the challenges that impact their lives. Family First has a vision to see families flourish and children who are valued and cared for within positive constructive environments. They work with all families.

Family Volunteers

Family Volunteers are appropriately trained and matched to a family. A risk assessment will be completed to ensure that Family Volunteers will be safe and the information gathered helps with the matching process.

Volunteers support the family by listening to them in a non-judgemental way and helping them gain the support they need to make changes, find solutions to their challenges and bring new hope into their lives.

A Family Volunteer, once appointed, will commit to spending 1 hour per week with a family for a minimum of 6 months and will commit to remain with the programme for a minimum of 12 months. The visit will usually take place in the family’s home. The Family Volunteer is supported by a Family Coordinator.

Family Coordinator

The Family Coordinator is trained to work with the family and links with agencies or organisations involved with them. They support the Family Volunteer who is visiting the family each week. Family coordinators use mapping tools to create a clear picture of the family’s journey, helping them identify what they want to change and working with them towards mutually agreed common goals.

The Role of Family Volunteer

Role : Family Volunteer

Accountable to:Service Lead, Deputy Service Lead and Family Coordinator

Location:The Orwell Centre, 114 Fore Hamlet, Ipswich IP3 8AF

Time Commitment:12 hours training followed by a minimum of 1 hour per week mentoring for 12 months

Plus supervision and support time (approximately 1 hour a week)

Remuneration: The post is voluntary but essential travel expenses will be covered at 45p a mile

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Role of Family Volunteer

AFamily Volunteer is expected to:

Complete the FamilyFirst Volunteer Training Course
Adhere to the Family Firstpolicies and procedures regarding health and safety, child safeguarding and Data Protection / confidentiality.Family Volunteers will be required to sign a disclosure that they will comply with the specific Data Protection Policies and Procedures.
Participate in on-going training / development as agreed by their Family Coordinator.
Participate in supervision and support meetings with their Family Coordinator.
When matched with a family, commit to meeting them for 1 hour per week for a minimum of 6 months in the family’s home or other pre-arranged location. Family Volunteers are expected to remain with Family First for a minimum of 12 months.
Be accountable to theService Lead, Deputy Service Leadand the Family Coordinator.
Disclose information relevant to the family’s progress to the Family Coordinator. The family will have signed a consent for this to happen.

Work with families to identify goals and to help the family help themselves to work towards these.
Be a positive role model to everyone in the family.
Listen to the family.
Encourage the family.
Be polite.
Be non-judgemental.
Not make personal judgements or impose your own view.
Be Considerate, Caring and Confidential.

2. Person Specification

ESSENTIAL / DESIRABLE
A commitment to the requirements of Family First including identifying oneself with Family First’s vision and motivations / Experience of having responsibility for a family
An ability to work without supervision including being accountable for your own safety by following clear procedures in what could possibly be a challenging environment / Experience of working with children, young people and families in a supportive capacity
Good communication and listening skills with a range of people / Driver with access to a car
An ability to objectively and accurately report what has been seen or heard
An ability to understand the stresses in a family and not be overwhelmed by them and / or become judgemental about the family
An ability to relate to, and form positive relationships with people of different ages in the family
An ability to demonstrate empathy and understanding, whilst still maintaining a “professional” objectivity towards the family
Maintaining confidentiality about the family in all situations and circumstances except where appropriately required to discuss the family with the Family Coordinator and Service Lead and / or in exceptional circumstances, with a relevant agency practitioner
A commitment to providing equality of opportunity to people regardless of their faith, gender, race, disability, marital status, social class, age or sexual preference
A commitment to your own personal development
Access and confident in use of email /mobile phone and basic IT skills

Confidentiality

All information relating to families that Family First are working with must be treated in the strictest confidence and must be discussed only within the FamilyFirst setting with the appropriate members of the programmeor in exceptional circumstances, with a relevant agency practitioner.

Please note

A Family Volunteer is NOT expected to:

Do Cooking, cleaning, ironing, tidying up, shopping, etc
Look after the children alone
Do any DIY
Transport any member of the family
Attend meetings or appointments with any member of the family
Be the “fountain of all knowledge”
Command the family to do anything
Be an “expert”
Hold personal information about the family
Signpost the family to services
Meet with the family or individuals in the family outside of the agreed Family First visit
“Represent” the family
Analyse the family

Becoming a Family Volunteer – Application Process

Before applying to become a Family Volunteerall candidates should carefully consider the role and what would be expected of them as a volunteer and whether it is right for them to start this journey.

All Family Volunteer applications will go through the following process:

Applicants will contact FamilyFirstto make an initial enquiry about becoming a Family Volunteer and an application pack will be sent to them.

FamilyFirstreceives a completed and signed application form with references for the applicant.

References will be taken up and the applicant will be invited to a pre-training interview.

Applicants will meet with the Service Lead/Deputy Service Lead/ Family Coordinator before training.

The applicant is then invited to take part in the Family Firsttraining course, with the understanding that all sessions must be attended. It should be understood that taking part in the training course does not automatically qualify the applicant to become a Family Volunteer.

A Disclosure and Barring Service check will need to be carried out for all applicants.

A post training interview will be held with the applicant.

If successful, the applicant will then be approved to be a Family Volunteer and will wait to be matched with a family.

FamilyFirst Training Courseis a significant part of the Family Volunteerapplication and selection process. The training takes the form of 12hours (delivered currently over 3 sessions once a week for 3 weeks (10am – 2 pm)

Family Volunteer Application Form

(Confidential when completed)

Personal Details

Full Name ______

Address ______

Post Code______

Email Address ______

Telephone No. ______Mobile No. ______

Emergency Contact (Name & relationship to you) ______

Emergency Contact Number ______

Experience (Please use additional sheets if necessary)

Please summarise your motivation for wanting to volunteer with Family Firstas a Family Volunteerand any experience you have that is relevant.

______

Please tell us any skills you have that you could bring to the role ofFamily Volunteer?

______

Education and Qualifications (Secondary/College/University etc..)

Please give details of any relevant qualifications

Qualification / School / College / University / Date Completed / Result / Grade

Please give details of any other appropriate training you have undertaken either in a paid or voluntary capacity that is relevant to the Family First programme

______

Previous Employment (most recent first)

From / To / Name & Address of Employer / Job Title & Key Responsibilities / Reason for Leaving

Interests

Please tell us about any clubs, hobbies, voluntary work you undertake, which may be relevant to this post.

______

Vision and values

Family Firstis a Christian organisation inspired by the message, life and example of Jesus. It shapes and guides every aspect of our work. Our vision is that by God’s spirit and in partnership with others, we want to see the tide of family breakdown turned wherever we serve. Motivated by God’s unconditional love for all people, our desire is to see transformation in ourselves and in our community. Our values are Community, Equality, Inclusivity, Hope and Transformation.

How do you personally relate to the vision and values ofFamily First?

______

Other Information

Do you hold a current Full Driving LicenceYES  NO 
What kind of licence is it (e.g. car, HGV, etc…) ______

Do you have regular use of a vehicle?YES  NO 

Please give details of any points and/or driving ban in the last five years ______

Languages spoken (other than English and including British or other national Sign Language)

______

Positive about disability

Family First welcomes applications from people with disabilities and will guarantee an interview to all disabled candidates who demonstrate they meet the essential requirements of the post. The information requested below will help us to ensure that disabled candidates have fair and equal access to recruitment opportunities and that we fulfil our obligations under the Equality Act 2010. Under this Act, a person with a disability is defined as having ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities’.

Do you consider yourself to have a disability? YES  NO 

If yes, and you are selected for interview, would you welcome a pre-interview discussion to identify any requirements you may have? YES  NO 

Would the provision of any aids or reasonable adjustments assist you in carrying out the duties of the post? (If yes, this will be discussed with you at interview) YES  NO 

Referee Details – Please give details of 2 people (professional & personal) who would be willing to give you a reference

Referee 1 (Professional) / Referee 2 (Personal– Not a family member/ spouse) )
Name / Name
Role / Occupation / Role / Occupation
Address / Address
Telephone / Telephone
Email / Email
Relationship to you / Relationship to you

May we contact prior to interview YES  NO  May we contact prior to interview YES  NO 

Legal Requirement

Under the Protection of Children Act 1999 and the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, it is an offence for any organisation to offer a position that involves regular contact with young people under the age of 18 years to anyone who has been convicted of certain offences, or who is included on the Protection of Children Act List /Department for Education and Skills List 99.

As this post may involve unsupervised contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults,all applicants must agree to a Disclosure and Barring Servicecheck being carried out prior to confirmation of the position.

If the successful applicant is approved to take up the role of Family Volunteer they will be required to sign a Data Protection/Confidentiality Agreement to comply with Data Protection Act 1998.

Declaration

I have carefully considered my application and declare that the information given is to the best of my knowledge true and complete.

Should I be successful with my application, I agree to attend the Family First Training Course planned in the near future.

I understand that taking part in the training course does not automatically qualify me to become a Family Mentor for Family First. There will be a post training interview and should I be successful, I will agree to ongoing training as agreed by my Link Worker.

Signature of Applicant ______Date ______

All personal data is held in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Please return this completed and signed application form in a sealed envelope marked “Private and Confidential” to:The Coordinator, Family First , The Orwell Centre, 114 Fore Hamlet, Ipswich IP3 8AF

Where did you see this post advertised?
  Network Ipswich   Other (including word of mouth)
 Family First Presentation
If you have ticked OTHER, please specify:

Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

Family First is committed to promoting equal opportunity in recruiting and delivery of services to our staff and volunteers. We are attempting to collect information about sex, age, ethnicity and disability to be used for statistical purposes only. This form is to be completed voluntarily and will be separated from your personal application. If you do not wish to provide this information, there is no penalty and you will be treated the same as all other applicants. Thank you for helping us to assess the equality and comprehensiveness of Family First’s recruitment and services.

Applicant details
Name:
Role Title:
What is your gender?  Female  Male
Is your gender identity the same as the gender you were assigned at birth?
 Yes No
What is your marital status?
 Single Married Civil Partner Divorced Widowed Separated
What is your date of birth:
How would you describe your ethnic origin?
White:
 British Irish Any other white background
Mixed:
 White and black Caribbean White and black African White and Asian
 Any other mixed background
Asian or Asian British:
 Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Any other Asian background
Black or Black British:
 Caribbean African Any other Black background
Other ethnic group:
 Chinese Any other Ethnic Group
If you have ticked OTHER to any of the above, please specify your ethnic origin:
What is your religion?
 Buddhist Catholic C of E Hindu Jewish Christian
 Methodist  Muslim None Protestant Sikh Other
If you have ticked OTHER, please specify your religion:
What is your sexual orientation?
(Please tick which category best describes how you think of yourself):
 Straight Gay/Lesbian Bisexual Other
Do you consider yourself to have a disability?  Yes No
Have you any criminal convictions, which are not spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?  Yes  No

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