Another great opportunity to volunteer and train to become a ‘Community Peer Mentor’; you can join a group of people who have helped change the lives of vulnerable and isolated people in Darlington; owing to the fantastic results we are now going to expand the project into the Bishop Auckland area.
We aim to support those suffering from anti-social behaviour or neighbourhood disputes, perceived or real; whilst assisting to reduce the pressure on frontline services by engaging with individuals who make frequent calls and demands on services; a significant proportion of cases involving frequent callers stem from unmet needs resulting in an extremely negative impact of a person’s wellbeing, feelings of isolation and vulnerability.
The five week training course is FREE and will start on Wednesday 28th September 2016 at Bishop Auckland Community Fire Station starting at 1800 hours (6pm) lasting for 2 ½ hours. We are looking for motivated, caring and enthusiastic individuals of all ages to help support vulnerable and isolated individuals by becoming ‘Community Peer Mentors’; it is fast moving and has proved to be very enjoyable and practical;the training certainly prepares the volunteers to meet and support vulnerable and isolated people.
The course is delivered by a brilliant professional in coaching and mentoring, and provides an opportunity for experiential learning, using techniques including role play, large group discussions and creative exercises. The feedback from volunteers includes: ‘Always interesting and informative’ -‘Very Good’ – ‘Easy to understand’ - ‘Met more than my expectations’ – ‘Brilliant’ - ‘Felt comfortable and able to talk’ and ‘Absolutely brilliant’.
Once the ‘Community Peer Mentor’ is trained they can choose if they would like to engage with clients in either the Darlington or Bishop Auckland areas.
Community Peer Mentors work in pairs when engaging with a client to establish the root cause of particular issues; we will empower and encourage people to actively engage with the community by signposting them to the most appropriate support network.
We have supported clients to move house taking them away from abusive and distressing situations; provided the listening ear resulting in additional and previously untried professional support; acted as the clients advocates in meetings and contact with professional, enabling their voices to be heard in a calm and constructive way leading to them receiving the support they deserve and which had previously been lacking.Clients have described the project as;‘Life changing’, ‘supportive’, ‘my life seems worthwhile now’, ‘Without them I would not be here now’, ‘they are angels’ and ‘I have my life back’.
No previous experience in volunteering or supporting people is required; we very much welcome people from all backgrounds; especially important are life experiences; whatever has happened in the past will not automatically be a barrier to a person becoming a Community Peer Mentor.
To register an interest or require further information please do not hesitate to contact the project coordinator Jim Cunningham on:
01325-405565