What services are you able to offer during COVID-19? Expand We are offering regular telephone befriending delivered by volunteers. Some of our volunteers are now beginning to visit their befriendee in person outside their homes. At-home visiting is possible for service users who have been assessed in person in their home by one of our staff members. We are providing guidelines for people meeting up in person to ensure that they are as COVID-safe as possible. We are offering the following groups online through Zoom: Seated Dance on Tuesday mornings Gentle Exercise on Friday mornings Reading and Arts group for people with dementia (twice monthly on Tuesday afternoons) Peer group for people with dementia (twice monthly on Thursday afternoons) Musical Memories group for people with dementia (weekly on Wednesday afternoons) Carers group for carers of people with dementia (monthly on Mondays) We are also offering arts and crafts activities to those who are interested - our tutor delivers the material and instructions to your door. We are hoping that we may be able to restart some of our gentle exercise groups in person (outside to begin with) and are working with the class venues to ensure that this is done safely. Watch this space! For more details about any of these please call the office on 020 8299 2623 and we will get back to you.
Are you still accepting referrals during COVID-19? Expand Yes, we are accepting referrals. When we receive a referral we contact the person by phone to find out what their needs are, rather than making a home visit. We are also matching people with telephone befrienders during this period, with a view to assessing them in person when that is possible.
How do I apply to become a Link Age Southwark volunteer? Expand If you are interested in any of the volunteering roles we have available or believe you have skills we might find useful, you can apply quickly and easily online by completing our application form. Complete application form online You can also download a copy of the application form and email it back to us at [email protected] Download application form If you require a hard copy application, you can call us on 020 8299 2623 and we will post a form to you with a stamped addressed envelope to return your application.
What will happen once I've submitted my application? Expand We aim to contact you within two weeks of receipt of your application to arrange an informal interview with a member of the volunteering team. The interview will take place at our office and will last for approximately 30 minutes. We try to accommodate people's availability as much as possible. The interview is an opportunity for us to get to know you, discuss our volunteering roles in more detail and how you can get involved. Once the interview is complete, you will be invited to attend one of our induction sessions which are held monthly on a Thursday morning, Tuesday evening or Saturday morning.
How old do you have to be to use Link Age Southwark's services? Expand Our services are available to anyone over the age of 60 or people of any age living with a diagnosis of mild-moderate dementia.
Once I have applied, how long is it until I can start volunteering? Expand This varies from role to role. Once you have completed our training and screening process, you will be ready to start volunteering. We will seek to match you in a role as soon as possible, subject to demand for our services.
How can I refer someone to your services? Expand If you would like to refer an older person or a person living with dementia to our services, please fill out our referral form attached below and email it to us at [email protected] Referral form If you would prefer a physical copy of the form, please email us at [email protected] or call 020 8299 2623 and we would be happy to send a copy in the post.
How old do I need to be to volunteer? Expand As a rule, we say the minimum age for volunteering with us is 18. However, some roles, such as office support or fundraising, are suitable for people under the age of 18. If you are under 18 and would like to volunteer, please get in touch with us and we can discuss the possibilities. There is no maximum age limit for volunteering with Link Age Southwark!
Are you able to provide services to people who don't live in Southwark? Expand Unfortunately we are only able to provide volunteer befrienders, transport and support with odd jobs to those living in the London Borough of Southwark. However, anyone, regardless of their address, is able to attend one of our social groups provided you can make you way independently.
What skills and experience do I need? Expand For most of our volunteer roles you do not need any specific skills or experience, just a cheerful and friendly personality and a commitment to wanting to support older people in your community. If specific skills are required, this will be outlined in the individual role descriptions.
Do you provide transport to your groups? Expand Yes, we will always do our best to provide transport provided you can get in and out of a car safely and independently (please see the following question if you are a wheelchair user.) Sometimes our ability to provide transport will depend on whether we have enough volunteer drivers available.
How much time do I need to give? Expand This varies from role to role. For example, our befriending role requires a regular hour per week commitment for a minimum of 6 months. Other roles, such as being a volunteer gardener are more flexible and are on an as-needed basis and at a time convenient to you. If there is a required time commitment, this will be outlined in the individual role descriptions.
Are you able to provide transport for wheelchair users? Expand Yes in some circumstances. We use a minibus for a few of our gentle exercise groups which is able to transport people who need to remain in their wheelchair for the duration of the journey. However, these groups are currently quite full so attendance is not guaranteed. Please call the office on 020 8299 2623 to discuss attending one of these groups. If you are able to self-transfer from your wheelchair, we are able to provide transport either by minibus or out network of volunteer drivers.
Can I volunteer with my child? Expand It is our policy not to permit children under the age of five to accompany you when volunteering. However, we do have some opportunities at our weekday activity groups for volunteers who would like to bring their children (under the age of five). If you are interested, please get in touch with the office to discuss these opportunities in more detail.
Can I have more than one befriender? Expand We currently have a large demand for our services, with many more people being referred to us for a volunteer befriender. As a result it is unlikely that we would be able to provide more than one volunteer per person.
Will I need references? Expand Yes. We ask that you provide details of two referees who have known you well for at least two years and who are not a relative or partner. Ideally, one should be from a previous employer, education or volunteer organisation. You must check with each referee that they are willing to provide us with a character reference before submitting their details and let them know that we will be contacting them. In some circumstances we may request a third reference.
Do you provide volunteers to do weekly shopping? Expand While we do have some volunteer befrienders who can accompany an older person to a shop once a week, either by car or on foot, we are not able to help with your big weekly shop. However, we can provide the details of Age UK's "Food 2 You" service. Please call us on 020 8299 2623 to find out more about this service.
Do you provide training? Expand Yes. All new volunteers are required to attend a half day induction training session to enable you to feel happy and confident to carry out your volunteering role. In addition, as a Link Age Southwark volunteer, you will have access to appropriate training to help support you in your role.
Can you help with my garden? Expand Our volunteers can do light gardening such as mowing the lawn and pruning if you have the tools available. For a very overgrown garden we would be able to recommend alternative services.
Will I get expenses reimbursed? Expand Yes. Link Age Southwark will reimburse out of pocket expenses associated with volunteering with us. This includes travel costs, phone calls made on our behalf, meal expenses if volunteering continuously for five (or more) hours in any one day up to the maximum value of £5 and other incidental expenses. All receipts must be retained as proof of expenditure. More details are available in our policies and procedures.
Can you help with jobs around the home? Expand Our volunteers can help with tasks such as changing lightbulbs, hanging curtains or putting up a shelf. For heavier jobs we would be able to recommend alternative services.
Will you do a criminal record check? Expand Yes. We use the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to help assess the suitability of volunteers wishing to support older people. We carry out different levels of checks depending on the role you wish to carry out. We will provide you with all the necessary information to complete this check and will cover the cost of the application. It is our policy that if you have been living outside of England and Wales within the last three years, you will be required to obtain a certificate of good character from the country you have been residing in.
Do you organise parties? Expand Yes, we usually run a party in the spring and in December with food and entertainment. Sometimes other organisations offer meals or parties for us which we can arrange to take people to.
I have a criminal record, can I volunteer? Expand A criminal conviction doesn't necessarily mean you cannot volunteer with us. We ask that you disclose any spent or unspent convictions at the time of application. We will discuss any convictions with you at the interview stage and a decision will be made on a case-by-case basis with the Director of Link Age Southwark authorising the final decision.