Volunteering Project
The Project has been funded by an OVS Grant and commenced from April 2006 for a 3 year period.
The Project has 4 aims:
- Offer current mental health service users volunteering opportunities with services they have or have not used before.
- To attract and place those who are currently unemployed and unknown to the mental health field into volunteering roles within mental health field services.
- By raising mental health awareness to attract new volunteers, the project will be tackling social exclusion through promoting better mental health and wellbeing.
- Support organisations, both statutory and voluntary to identify the potential for volunteers within their own services. The project will help each organisation to identify their capacity and training needs in order to take on volunteers.
Join Hunts.Mind Volunteers and get the feel good factor, increase self-confidence, learn some new skills and have fun all at the same time.
We currently have 32 regular volunteers supporting service users by:
- Facilitating groups
- Meeting transport needs (driving)
- Mentoring
- Counselling (Counselling Project)
- Cleaning
- Administration
“When I pick-up service users from their homes to go to an event/venue or drop-in I often find them quiet, pensive and disinclined to speak.
However, when I collect them after the event they are commonly laughing, chatty and generally quite buoyant.
I believe strongly in the power of human company to improve mood.”
Hunts Mind Volunteer Driver
As well as a 6 week induction course to volunteering, we also provide regular training such as:
- principles of recovery
- mentoring
- specific mental health diagnosis
- anger management
- facilitating groups
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, then please contact the Volunteer Co-ordinator for an application form and information pack.
