Hospital Visitor Volunteer (Mental Health)

For Voiceability Hampshire and Southampton

Participating in weekly community meetings on wards, or site visits. Site visits could be on a ward or in a communal area within a facility
Promoting our Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHA) and VoiceAbility
Helping clients to access information about our referral line and/or to complete referrals to Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHA)
Keep detailed notes and records of interactions with clients and visits
Signposting clients to other non-advocacy services and service providers
Building working relationships with clients and site staff

What skills do I need?

Must be aged 18 years or older
Being a driver would be advantageous
Good communication skills – written, verbal and non-verbal
Empathy and patience when meeting with our clients
An interest in, Deprivation of Liberty safeguards (DOLs) and other relevant legislation
A basic level of IT literacy, training will be provided on specialist software use
Accuracy and attention to detail
Ability to manage own time and prioritise workload
Ability to volunteer independently and as part of a team
A commitment to the aims, vision and values of VoiceAbility

Training

You will have a named member of staff supervising you and answering any practice-based questions and a Volunteer Coordinator to help you with any other support needs
You will be given Volunteer Induction, Safeguarding and Role Specific training as well as the opportunity to access a selection of our eLearning modules
You will be given the opportunity to shadow with one of our staff members within a residential setting
VoiceAbility have strong guidelines, policies, and use best practices To support our volunteers, we have created a volunteer intranet, this gives ongoing access to documents you may wish to refer to as you begin your volunteering journey

We require volunteers weekly