Volunteer Telford

In this role, you will be providing a puppy with a vital foundation for its future role as a guide dog. This is a full-time volunteering opportunity as a puppy will live with you in your home for around 12-16 months.

What you’ll be doing

We rely on volunteers like you to help us improve the lives of people with sight loss. In this role your support will include:

- Following Guide Dogs Puppy Raising for Excellent Partnerships (PREP) programme, to raise and prepare a puppy to become a guide dog.

- Using our guidelines to care for your puppy e.g., providing sufficient exercise.

- Familiarising a puppy to a wide range of environments.

- Teaching a puppy to be alone by gradually building up from a few minutes to a maximum of 4 hours.

- Attending regular puppy classes.

- Meeting regularly with Guide Dogs representatives to discuss your pup’s development.

- Completing regular on-line questionnaires to help us monitor puppy progress.

You’ll get

Volunteering is a two-way street, so in return for your time you will get a dedicated volunteer manager/key contact who will help you settle in and support you during your time with us. You’ll also get:

- The satisfaction in knowing you are supporting people with sight loss to live actively, independently, and well.

- The challenge and reward of seeing a puppy develop in your home.

- The opportunity to learn and develop your understanding in dog body language, learning theory, the human animal bond and the life of a guide dog.

Training and support

This role has 13 hours of training and then you’ll be ready to go! These modules include:

- Our bespoke Puppy Raising for Excellent Partnerships (PREP) training to support you at every stage of the puppy’s development.

- Ongoing training both virtually and face to face as part of the role.

If you have questions about the training requirements, we can answer these at your interview along with any other support or accessibility needs you may have.

Volunteering for Guide Dogs should never leave you out of pocket. We’ll make sure we pay any expenses related to your volunteering with us in line with our policy.

By becoming a Story Starter volunteer you will give a child in a local early years setting/nursery the skills to start primary school ready to read. You’ll open up their lives to the magic of stories and provide crucial language development in a way which is fun for both you and the child!

How does it work?

As a Story Starter you will support three children aged 3-5 years' old on a one-to-one basis, using play and stories to develop and enrich their use of language.

You’ll need to commit to volunteering at a local nursery for one hour, twice a week during nursery hours.

You’ll receive professional training and support to ensure that you are best able to support young children and feel comfortable in a modern nursery setting.

To volunteer in Madeley Community Library to help members of the public visiting the library and assist in library routines, thereby maintaining an effective service in a pleasant environment.

Major Tasks

Undertaking general library routines and procedures including:

- Meeting and greeting library customers

- Joining people to the library

- Assisting library users with self service

- Helping customers to find the resources they want

- Helping customers with computers

- Assisting with library events

- Helping with library displays

- Helping to maintain the book stock

- Re-shelving books and keeping the library safe and tidy

- Checking shelves for requested items/books

- Notifying customers of the arrival of requested items

- Helping to promote the library service in the community

- Assisting with the location of books, audio books and DVDs

- Providing general information about Library services

- Book maintenance e.g. jacketing

- Supporting library activities e.g. children’s groups (Optional)

- Providing ideas and suggestions to improve and promote Library services

Regularity of Duties

A monthly rota is to be completed one month in advance by the volunteers to ensure that the library opening hours are covered so any hours that are not are brought to the immediate attention of the Parish Council Clerk and/or the Assistant Clerk. Alternative cover can then be made in sufficient time.

Training and Support

Each library support volunteer will receive induction training, and will learn day to day skills over a period of time by shadowing experienced library assistants, or other volunteers.

On-the-job training will be provided when routines alter, and refresher training will be available. Optional additional training will be organised periodically for those who wish to commit further.

A help line for volunteers will be provided by Telford & Wrekin Council should the need arise.

To help keep our website and social media up to date. If you have skills in this field get in touch.

We use Facebook, X, Instagram, Mastadon & LinkedIn, with a website on Wordpress

If you are good at putting together visual media, for the web including event posters and regular content, please get in touch.

This role is done mostly from the volunteers own home, in their own time. Occasional face to face meetings with rest of volunteers – maybe on Zoom or F2F.  Time volunteered is in correlation with skill of the volunteer, but there needs to be a regular, at least weekly input and monitoring of same.

You will need to attend our 3 main events:  a seedswap, a plantswap and a harvest event during the year and take photos.  Each event held on a Saturday.

Attending our monthly business/social meetings, once a month, first Tuesday of each month in the evening.

Location:

In their own home and business meeting in the Cock Hotel Wellington.

Benefits:

Advancing their own knowledge, training from the wider Transition network.   The knowledge they are helping their community.  Social interaction.

Training:

Attending our business meetings to get a familiarity of what we do and our concerns and interests.

Online seminars are available from the wider Transition network and gives a wider view.