Children's Activity Support - Group Helper (Supporting Children and Young People with a Disability - Armagh)

Barnardos • Volunteering • BT61, Hockley, Armagh, Armagh City and Banbridge and Craigavon, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom • 1d ago

Barnardo’s is committed to providing ‘Better Outcomes for More Children’. Our children’s services volunteers help the charity to deliver essential services in local communities, providing support to over 300,000 children, young people and their families. This role provides a great opportunity to join our fantastic children’s services and help make a real difference.

PosAbility are recruiting enthusiastic volunteers to join the team of project workers within our service. We work with children and young people aged 8-25 years old who have a diagnosis of a learning/physical disability and or autism. Children and young people with disabilities can face many barriers to their inclusion in decision making processes. This can be due to barriers to communication, learning, physical or sensory impairments. Our project aims to facilitate the inclusion of children and Young People with disabilities in the decisions that affect them.

Volunteers help our service to involve children and young people to have their say on issues that impact on theirs and their families lives. This means that disability services are more likely to meet the needs of children and young people with disabilities and their families.

You will join a dedicated team who have the responsibility for developing and facilitating individual and group work with children and young people who have a range of physical, learning and sensory disabilities.

Your role will be to support group work with children and young people with a disability; organizing and running our regular groups. We have a number of programmes that run throughout the month, these take place mostly in evenings and weekends or during the school holidays, however we also have some opportunities during the daytime in the school term.

Key activities:

Encouraging young people take part in capacity building activities
Increasing understanding through various mediums including; art, drama and IT.
Identifying methods which enable individuals to communicate their views.
Help young people to participate in local decision making
Help facilitate the young people in 1-1 and in group sessions with guidance from Barnardo’s Staff
Support young people to engage in discussions and decision making forums using IT/video conferencing

This role is subject checks, specifically, Access NI Enhanced with Barred List (Children & Adult)

More about this role

Volunteer role

Children's Activity Support - Group HelperVolunteer manager

Volunteer Manager/SupervisorWhere you will be based

Children's services

Why we want you

Our groups need support with a range of tasks to help them run smoothly. Could you help with tasks such as planning activities, setting up and packing away, making refreshments, collecting feedback, and much more?

What you will be doing

Planning and organising group activities, which take into consideration age, abilities and interests of members.
Setting up group activities in advance and clearing away afterwards. This might include preparing refreshments/snacks, organising the layout of the room, preparing resources and tidying the room after the group.
Assisting children and young people to improve their self-confidence, develop social skills and build positive relationships.
Role modelling positive behaviour and interactions during sessions.
Collating and evaluating feedback from children, young people and parents.
Adhering to Barnardo's policies and procedures at all times, including Barnardo's: Safeguarding; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; Health & Safety; Data Protection; Confidentiality; Recording policies and procedures.
Participating fully in training and supervision.
Volunteering within Barnardo's Values and Behaviours

The skills you need

Reliable, punctual and trustworthy.
Approachable and welcoming.
Passion, enthusiasm, compassion, understanding and having an open minded approach.
Being passionate about making a difference in the lives of children, young people and families.
Preferably have some experience of working with children, young people and families.

What's in it for you

Full induction and training.
Other training opportunities relevant to the volunteer role.
Regular supervision and support.
Out of pocket expenses agreed in advance.
Access to the Barnardo’s internal vacancy listing.
Our volunteers tell us about lots of other benefits of volunteering including; experience of working with children, young people and families; experience for your CV; supporting your local community; meeting new people; increasing self-confidence; feeling like you are making a difference; improving your health and wellbeing; and a chance to contribute to a worthwhile children’s charity.

Disclaimer

We look to recruit a diverse range of volunteers. If your skills don't fit the role exactly, please do not let this put you off as we are able to be flexible with most of our roles. If you are unable to apply online through the link on this page, please contact the Barnardo's Volunteering Team on volunteering@barnardos.org.uk or call us on 0208 498 7320