Last month the SIS Projects Team held a volunteer celebration event at Community Base. We tied this in with the national Volunteer Week which is held every year in June. It is a great opportunity to have an informal get together in person and to say a big THANK YOU to our volunteers. Some have been volunteering with SIS for many years and others are just starting out. All of our volunteers are bilingual, and some speak three or even more languages. They support our Service Users (SUs) in the SU’s own language. It was lovely for both volunteers and SIS staff members to meet up, catch up, and share experiences of volunteering. We enjoyed an afternoon tea, had lots of chat and made new connections.
Volunteering is a great way to get involved in supporting others in your community. SIS volunteers make a really positive impact by giving their time, energy, skills and commitment to people living in Brighton and Hove who share a common language.
There are two volunteer roles at SIS – Volunteer Social Prescriber and Volunteer Telephone Befriender.
Volunteer Social Prescribers support Service Users (SUs) who are referred to SIS because they need help with something other than interpreting. They offer a triage service and brief, sporadic support for straight forward issues; making referrals and appointments, helping with correspondence, completing simple forms and finding information. All of this is provided in the SUs’ language, and SUs can self-refer to SIS or be referred by someone else. If you are interested in this volunteer role, you can click here.
Volunteer Telephone Befrienders are matched with a Service User who speaks the same language as them and who is feeling lonely or isolated. They have a regular weekly phone call to help relieve isolation and other social stresses. It is distraction from everyday problems, can boost confidence, connect people with the community, help with integration and provide a sense of purpose. If you are interested in this volunteer role, you can click here.
