Overview
The Derby Children and Young people’s group helps children and young people with varying degrees of sight loss and associated additional needs to gain confidence, self-esteem, independence and reduce isolation. The group is aimed at children aged from 8-18 years old, but does cater for younger children and the wider family. The group meet every two weeks in the evening. The group participate in a variety of activities in around the Derby area including, climbing, bowling, trips out, arts and crafts and baking.
What you will do: The aim of our group is to give the children and young people the opportunity to make friends, share opportunities, develop social/life skills and gain confidence. There are a number of roles which the volunteer will support.
· Support with tasks such as taking registers, providing refreshments and tasks such as guiding.
· Support staff to help organise, plan and deliver a variety of activities and trips out.
· Ensure the children are happy and safe and that they feel supported whilst at the youth group.
Times Expected: Every 2 weeks in the evenings usually around the hours of 5:45pm-7:15pm, and occasional activities during the holidays as well.
Skills you will need to have: Good communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills, patience and enthusiasm for seeing children and young people reach their full potential. Some knowledge/experience of working with children and young people either in a parental or caring role is advantageous but not essential.
Training and Support: All new volunteers will receive training about sight loss awareness and about volunteering with Sight Support Derbyshire. A member of Sight Support Derbyshire staff will take overall responsibility for the group, training is provided to support you in this task. A member of staff will give you support throughout your training and will meet with you on a regular basis to discuss your personal progress.
Expenses: We will reimburse your out of pocket expenses in line with our expenses policy.
Before you start: You will need to provide us with the names of two people who can give us a character reference for you. There will also be a DBS check for this role, which would require you to provide the relevant ID
Our Office is located at: 2a Wentworth House, Vernon Gate, Derby, DE1 1UR
About Sight Support Derbyshire
Sight Support Derbyshire works with local children and adults who are blind or partially sighted to help them face the everyday challenges of living with sight loss.
Founded in 1914 as Derbyshire Association For The Blind, we are a registered charity (1080986) with small offices based in Derby and Chesterfield. We changed our name to Sight Support Derbyshire in 2012 to reflect the fact that we are here to help anyone with any degree of visual impairment.
Our staff are supported by a group of dedicated volunteers, helping us to provide services in the community, including our mobile resource centre, our children’s activities, and social groups and leisure activities to bring people together and inspire confidence.
Being a local charity is our strength. We know the area and what’s available extremely well, and we pride ourselves on our personal, face-to-face service, which can mean a great deal to someone who feels isolated by their sight loss.
We have to raise almost two thirds of our funding ourselves. We could not do what we do without grants from foundations and other organisations, and without the generous support of the Derbyshire public. The remaining one third comes from supplying services to public authorities under contract.
