At Age UK Bristol, we want to change the way we age. We aim to keep people aged 55+ well and active, encouraging Bristol to be an Age Friendly city. We do this in 3 ways - through providing practical help and supporting people’s emotional and physical wellbeing in a range of ways depending on their needs. In addition, we want to prevent people from needing our help wherever possible. We do this in our strategic work, where we aim to create the conditions for older adults to remain healthy and independent.
Our organisational objectives are to
- Provide top-quality services and support to all older people in Bristol.
- Lead and enable collaboration between other organisations working with older people in Bristol.
- Influence public spending and policies in a way that benefits older people in the city.
- Promote positive attitudes to ageing in Bristol.
We do this by
- Providing quality information
- Delivering quality services
- Involving older people
- Giving older people a voice
- Working in partnership
- Maintaining an effective organisation
Volunteers are important and valued members of the team at Age UK Bristol. We will do our best to make your volunteer experience enjoyable and rewarding.
Purpose of the Helpline Call Handler Volunteer
The Helpline is Age UK Bristol’s first point of contact for the organisation. Anyone calling will be given information about our current services, and those of other organisations serving older people in Bristol, such as:
Active Ageing
Alive!
Alzheimers Society
Bristol & Avon Chinese Women’s Group
Bristol After Stroke
Bristol Older People’s Forum
CRUSE
RSVP West
St Monica Trust
The Marmalade Trust
The Reader
We Care Home Improvement
The role involves
As a Helpline volunteer you will be answering calls and responding to queries, signposting, and referring callers to other AUK Bristol services or to Support Hub for Older People partners.
You are not required to provide any advice over the phone. Instead, you will be liaising with our Information and Advice team for any callers requiring advice.
The qualities and skills required for this role are
- Excellent communication and listening skills.
- Confidence using new applications and software.
- Ability to assimilate new information and convey it in a calm and friendly manner.
- To have an understanding of the needs of older people
- To have an understanding of the barriers older people may face.
- Punctuality and reliability
Time commitment
A minimum of 1 shift of 3 hours each week. The shifts run 10:00-13:00 Wednesday to Friday.
Training
We offer an induction and ongoing support to help you feel confident in your role, along with other relevant training opportunities.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check
This role requires a Basic DBS check.
Location
Based in our office within the Withywood Centre in South Bristol. Homeworking can be arranged however we encourage volunteers to come to the office to work on the Helpline, as this means more support can be offered.
New volunteers will be required to come into the office while going through training and induction (approx. 5 shifts), even if in the medium-term working from home will be preferred.
Expenses
We reimburse all reasonable expenses associated with the role, for instance travel.
Further Information
For further information, please email Volunteering@ageukbristol.org.uk