Have you thought about volunteering?
Volunteer Cornwall offer a number of support services to help people take up volunteering. There are two programmes available in Cornwall supporting young people and adults with disabilities; YV and VIVA.
YV is a new youth volunteering programme which aims to allow young people aged 11-25 to access the benefits of volunteering.
This programme offers two types of support:
Group and Project work
We offer a bespoke service for your school or college group over a half term or longer, delivering workshops on what volunteering is and how it can benefit young people. Help with planning and delivering a social action project with an evaluation session afterwards.
This is for young people who have mental health problems, low self esteem or who feel isolated from their community.
121 support
We offer targeted support for young people aged 13-25. This is a referral only strand for young people who need additional help and support to access volunteering placements.
You can download more information about YV here: YV infomation leaflet
VIVA is a Cornwall-wide project that enables adults with disabilities to access both volunteering and social opportunities; enabling them to take up new challenges and make a positive contribution to the community.
The Volunteer Cornwall specialist VIVA team help find welcoming, meaningful and enjoyable volunteering opportunities to people who may have never volunteered before but have an incredible amount to give.
They offer a bespoke service that is tailor-made to suit the individual according to their needs.
During the interview a VIVA officer will discuss the benefits of volunteering, and will identify expectations and what the client’s hopes and aims are. We will consider factors such as:
• Personality, hobbies and interests
• Support needs
• Identified barriers, physical or mental health issues
• Location and accessibility
If appropriate we may carry out a functional skills assessment and needs analysis. This ensures we are able to find an appropriate volunteering placement that provides the right support and encouragement to enable the clients to shine.
A VIVA officer will attend taster volunteering sessions if required and will continue to support the client through their journey until the placement is firmly established.
For more information on VIVA please download the leaflet here: VIVA Trifold leaflet Jan18