Have you got what it takes to help ensure victims and witnesses are given the support they need and the respect they deserve?
Many people face the effects of crime alone and confused. Your support helps individuals and their families to feel stronger, understood and able to move forward with their lives.
What will I be doing?
- Contacting people who have been victims of crime, either over the phone, at the victim’s home or another mutually agreed location.
- Clearly explaining the role of Victim Support and empowering victims to overcome the emotional, psychological and practical effects of crime.
- Communicating in a way that is appropriate to the person being supported.
- Helping people explore how their experience of crime has affected their lives and identifying ways to enable them to recover from the experience.
- Working with people to identify their individual needs and helping them to choose options they feel are right for them.
- Identifying situations where we cannot directly meet the needs of the victim and working with the client and the manager to make appropriate referrals.
- Liaising with staff to arrange practical help for victims (such as lock fitting).
- Promoting the rights of people you support and respecting diversity.
- Giving information about other agencies and their procedures.
- Giving information and help with applications for criminal injuries compensation.
- Attending training, support sessions and volunteer meetings.
- Keeping your manager informed of actions and progress on each case.
What skills do I need?
- A caring, mature and supportive empathy towards others.
- A non-judgmental, impartial and confidential approach to supporting others.
- A commitment to ensuring victims all have equal access to our services.
- Respect for the diversity of our colleagues and clients.
- Willing to work within our values, procedures and policies.
- Good listening skills and good verbal communication skills.
- Basic IT skills suitable for accessing our webpages, internet and emails.
- Friendly, reliable, approachable and a confident team player.
How much time am I expected to give?
- We encourage volunteers working with victims to be available every week whenever possible, for a minimum of one year after the completion of training. The minimum number of hours we request varies according to regional requirements and working times are flexible according to local need. Appointments may be made up to 7.30pm Monday to Friday or at weekends, although in some areas, client requirement for volunteer support is higher during weekday office hours.
What does the training involve?
- All volunteers will have be required to take part in relevant modules of the core Victim Support training so that they have a strong understanding of the work and values of the organisation they promote. This is a four day face-to-face course that is mandatory.
- All volunteers will receive the Victim Support data protection, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training. This is through an e-learning package.
What are the benefits?
- Full induction, one-to-one support for the role, and opportunities for excellent training and to develop new skills.
- All volunteers have free access to the Employee Access Programme which provides free, confidential assistance with any work, personal or family issue.
- Rewarding sense of having made a positive difference to people’s lives.
- Learn about the work of criminal justice agencies.
- All volunteers have free access to a wide range of e-learning opportunities.
- Progress by specialising in supporting victims of specific crimes (such as domestic abuse or hate crime).
- Payment of agreed expenses.
What opportunities do I get?
- Join a team of like-minded people.
- Contribute to our valuable work.
- Ability to engage with the Victim Support Volunteer Panel.
- Opportunities to join in project teams and influence development throughout the organisation.
This opportunity is available to all applicants aged 18 and over.
This role requires references and internal safeguarding checks. Volunteers will be asked to provide all relevant documents for VS to carry out these checks.
All volunteers must have an active email address that they use regularly and be willing to engage in our electronic means of communication, keeping up-to-date with information on our intranet, maintaining personal details on our database, and engaging in two-way communication.
For more information on the Victim Support organisation, visit: https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/
If you are interested in this volunteer position, email: [email protected]
