Community Responder

Home from Hospital and Community Support is a project delivered together by Volunteering Matters and Chain Reaction that provides free services for over-55-year-old patients discharged from hospitals in Newcastle. This service aims to help patients return home safely from a stay in hospital.

Joining Home from Hospital is a great way to gain new skills and experience in supporting older people in your local community. You will also be supporting the NHS in its goal to prevent people from being readmitted to hospital. Your contribution will keep older people safe, healthy, independent, and connected to their local community.

The role of a Volunteer Community Responder is to provide social, emotional, and practical support to a patient being discharged from hospital. The tasks that a volunteer may undertake includes:

• Provide assistance to patients collecting prescription or pension
• Accompanying patients to complete essential shopping
• Wellbeing checks / offering emotional support
• Household jobs (e.g. empty bins, ensuring food is in date etc)
• Follow up on welfare calls (via telephone call or face to face)
• Signposting and helping to introduce people to other community activities

Community Responder volunteers assist with tasks that in other circumstances, a neighbour may carry out. It is a fully flexible role, so volunteers assist with the tasks they are more comfortable with, at the hours and days of their convenience. This role is flexibly based across Newcastle, and you will be provided with training, ongoing support, and expenses (e.g., travel).

If you are interested in this role then contact Fran francesca.elliott@volunteeringmatters.org.uk for an informal chat and and application form

Skills

• Excellent people and communication skills- the role involves vulnerable people
• Very well organised
• A confident and positive person, compassionate of others, willing to learn new things and take on advice or suggestions
• Flexibility