Welcome Expand Thank you for your interest in becoming a volunteer at Young Somerset. If you are successful with your application, you will be making a real difference to our work supporting young people across Somerset. Young Somerset provides a wide range of services for young people, supporting their personal, social, educational, and economic development. We are a youth work organisation – this means that we take the time to build relationships with young people that are open, honest, trusting, respectful and led by them. You will find more information on this website – feel free to explore! Volunteers enable us to further enrich the work we do with young people, for which we are extremely grateful.
Our Commitment to Volunteers Expand Young Somerset values its volunteers and we recognise their huge contribution to our work. We recognise that volunteers are not paid staff, but are people making a valuable contribution to our work with young people. We hope that our volunteers have a rewarding experience with us, that meets their needs as well as ours. We are committed to: Treating all volunteers with respect and valuing them as individuals Providing a safe working environment Providing clarity about volunteer’s roles, and appropriate induction and training
What Our Volunteers Do Expand As a Young Somerset (YS) Volunteer you will work with and support young people across a range of our youth services. You will be supporting YS Youth Workers, Wellbeing Practitioners, and/or the Skills Development team. We also occasionally offer volunteer opportunities in our central business team, ensuring our delivery staff are supported through efficient administration, finance, marketing and communications. As a YS Volunteer you will be working with other volunteers and staff to support young people in learning new skills, develop important interpersonal skills, gain confidence and self-esteem, seek advice and reduce the risk of becoming involved in unsafe activity, such as drugs and alcohol misuse
Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities Expand Your role and responsibilities as a Young Somerset Volunteer will vary and be dependent on which YS team you are supporting. Some of the tasks you may be involved with are: Supporting staff to deliver our services in line with YS policies, procedures, and guidelines. Supporting staff in delivering activities which promote young people’s personal, social, educational, and economic development. Assisting with signposting and giving advice to young people. Providing young people with a suitable role model. Supporting staff in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people. Taking an active part in organised group work within youth club. Supporting staff in ensuring that our work operates within a safe environment for young people, staff, fellow volunteers, and all visitors. Providing support to staff at events we host.
What Are We Looking For? Expand Passion and commitment for supporting young people & helping them to accomplish their goals. A genuine interest in youth work/services and working with young people. Ability to communicate effectively with young people, demonstrating awareness and understanding of the diverse range of issues affecting young people. Ability to communicate in a clear, constructive, and positive manner. Effective interpersonal skills, adaptable with a flexible approach in dealing with challenges. Able to understand boundaries and work in a sensitive, confidential, and non-judgmental way. Regard for others and respect for individual rights of autonomy and confidentiality. Willingness and ability to commit the time and effort required. Able to demonstrate patience and integrity even in challenging situations. An understanding of Young Somerset’s values and ability to reflect these. We are looking for people who share our ethos and values and who seek to support young people in developing important life and learning skills in all areas of their lives. It would be nice but not essential if you had experience working with children and young people. You really need the ability to engage and inspire, bringing out the best in young people and encourage them. You will be interacting with lots of different people, so an understanding of group dynamics and ability to deal positively with different personality types (both young people and adults) is a requirement. It is important that you can work as part of a team. It is imperative that you are reliable and able to commit to the days you sign up for. There is no minimum number of days required but the more you can do the better. You will receive safeguarding training, but if you have already got a good understanding of safeguarding and child protection procedures that will help. All adults working with children and young people will require a Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) enhanced criminal record check. If you have a DBS already, let us know as we may be able to accept it. If you have not, you will need to apply for one with Young Somerset which we will pay for.
Frequently Asked Questions Expand How many days will I be expected to commit to? Days and times for volunteering can be flexible and may vary depending on the team or activity you are supporting. However, YS does ask volunteers to be consistent with the days and times they sign up for. How will I be supporting young people at YS? You will be working with other YS volunteers, youth workers or wellbeing practitioners to support young people in learning new skills, develop important interpersonal skills, gain confidence and self-esteem, seek advice and reduce the risk of becoming involved in unsafe activity, such as drugs and alcohol misuse. Are there set days and times for volunteers to help? This will depend which team and activities you are supporting. A lot of our work runs at the same times each week so you will usually be given set days and times for volunteering. Can I claim for travel expenses? We will reimburse certain out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with your volunteering for us, for example, mileage costs; these will be paid at the same rate as staff travel (please Refer to ‘YS Travel & Subsistence Policy’ for full details). What training and induction will I be required to do? In addition to the information in this document, you will receive information about which team or project you will be supporting and will be expected to familiarise yourself with the policies and procedures available on our website. We require you to complete our Safeguarding and Child Protection training and Health and Safety training as a minimum. Are volunteers assigned to a supervisor? Yes, all volunteers will be assigned to a supervisor who they will have regular contact with and scheduled feedback sessions, where possible, every 6-8 weeks to discuss your volunteering role. This will also provide an opportunity to explore any successes, discuss any problems or complaints you may have and reflect on your volunteering. Will I need a DBS check and how do I get one? Yes, all adults working with children and young people will require a Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) enhanced criminal record check. Steps for applying for a DBS: Do you have one already? If so, let us know. It will need to be an original, hardcopy of your DBS and dated within the last 3 months. If you do not have a DBS, you will need to apply for one with Young Somerset which we will pay for.
What is the application process? Expand Apply using the application form link. Apply for your DBS / share existing certificate and letter. We will contact your referees and obtain your references. Set up an informal interview with appropriate Young Somerset staff.
Who should I contact about my application? Expand Email: [email protected]youngsomerset.org.uk Phone: 01278 722 100