Volunteering for Asylum Seekers / Refugees

Anyone coming into the country as an asylum seeker or refugee can often be trapped in temporary accommodation for months while their applications are being processed. Volunteering can be extremely helpful for their health and wellbeing enabling them to get out, meet people and make new friends in the community. DBS checks can be a bit of a sticking point but documentation from the home office or their relevant support worker should be available to help with this process. Alternatively there are still volunteers roles available that do not require a DBS check

End of LIfe Support roles

After a conversation with their palliative care team one of our guests identified the need for two different volunteer roles. A response volunteer who can actively respond to ad hoc needs in the hospital and a companion type role where the volunteer will go to the patient's home and give comfort / respite and general support around the home and garden.

Many patients would prefer to die at home and not in hospital.

• Marie Curie Helper Volunteer

‘Marie Curie Helper volunteers visit terminally ill people in their homes, offering companionship and support for up to three hours each week.

The role involves helping with activities such as reading, making short trips to the shops and providing information on local services. It also requires patience, empathy and the ability to listen.

Helper volunteers receive extensive training before they start, and then ongoing support throughout their time volunteering.’

Other useful links for End of Life Support

• East & North Herts Butterfly volunteer role
• East Suffolk & North Essex Butterfly volunteer role
• End of Life Care Rose Volunteer Role Description

ICS’s

What is happening locally across other people’s systems regarding ICS’s? How do we start early identifying needs that volunteers can help with before patients go into hospital and anticipate some of the issues to get the support in?

One organisation has a volunteering group - ‘Harnessing the Power of Communities Committee’. The group feeds into the communities and the neighbourhood placed based group at the ICS. It has a broad membership and looks at the different priorities that people have and collaborative working. The volunteering group that feeds into the ICS committee group is chaired by their local infrastructure organisation. Their ICS now employs a lot of coordinators; for example people with complex care needs now have a lead making this area more productive.

Another organisation has a Voluntary Engagement Team but they are not sure how it will link into the ICS. It’s a group that is trying to get people to work together collaboratively. As well as interesting it is good to go along to these meetings and have a presence and be able to look at whole journeys and how they fit together. Lots of duplication is happening across the country so this is a good way to identify this. If you are involved you can help to shape things for new volunteers.

Useful link

• Healthier Together partnership becomes ‘Integrated Care System’ - Healthier Together (bnssghealthiertogether.org.uk)

Top Tip

Get a focus group together and find out what people are thinking.

A good experience shared…

One of our guests is challenging the stereotyping of NHS volunteers, particularly with young people who think volunteering for the NHS is about making cups of tea and cleaning floors. She recently had the opportunity to work with a small research group that supports small businesses and charities on business planning and marketing. This focus group covered lots of areas including social media and barriers to volunteering. Getting an outside perspective was interesting as well as useful. The group was completely honest with her about the materials they were currently using and gave her many practical tips. She is waiting for the full report but has already identified some quick wins that can be applied straight away; for example the wording and terminology on their website.