Everything you need to know about the General Election Find out more

Register your interest now
Oxford & District Mencap
Oxford & District Mencap run exciting activity holidays for teenagers and young adults with learning disability. We are looking for volunteer carers to come along on the holidays to support our guests. Volunteers are allocated to a guest for the week (although sometimes we double up or swap carers if helpful) who they will support to stay at Macaroni Wood Residential Centre in the Cotswolds (…
Read more about this organisation
Description

We run five holidays for adults with learning disability each summer based at Macaroni Wood, Eastleach, Cirencester- a beautiful residential site in the Cotswolds with animals, trails, an adventure play area, music room, sensory room etc. We run a full itinerary of activities on each week including on site and off site activities. Off site activities may include trips to zoos, theme parks, swimming, cinemas or pubs.

 

This year the dates for the holidays are:

Orange week: 24-30 June

Yellow Week: 22-28 July

Red Week: 29 July- 4 Aug

Green week: 5-11 Aug

Purple Week: 16-22 Sept

 

To sign up for a week follow this link: https://forms.gle/jzSiYvM3PTVTHHFx9

 

We are looking for volunteers who can commit to at least one week. Each volunteer will be allocated a guest with learning disability to care for for the week. This includes helping them engage with activities, helping them get dressed and washed if needed, helping them make good decisions about what they eat etc. Every year experienced volunteers return and all tasks are shared and done as a group so you will always be supported by your wider team of volunteers also.

Duties

As above, volunteers will be allocated a guest to care for for the week. Volunteers are "on duty" from the moment their guest wakes up until after the volunteer meeting in the evening. There is then free time to shower, socialise with other volunteers and get some much needed rest for the next day.

Additionally we have two volunteers in the guests accomodation block from the time the first person goes to bed until midnight, from midnight until 6am and from 6am until all the guests are awake. These additional duties are shared out on a rota so you will usually only do one or two of these during the week, and we make sure that returning volunteers take these duties for the first few nights until everyone feels confident with the guests and the routines.

Who will the volunteers be working with?
Volunteers will be supporting adults and teenagers with learning disability. There are between 8 and 18 guests on each holiday. They will also work alongside other volunteers, including holiday leaders, a holiday medic, cooks, drivers and other volunteer carers, many of whom are returning volunteers so can support new volunteers to learn the ropes.
Training
Training is delivered via zoom or recorded videos in advance of the holiday and there will be a brief quizz to check knowledge. Training covers an introduction to learning disability, safeguarding, positive behaviour support, and holiday specific information such as details on risk assessments and policies.

Volunteers also arrive before guests for orientation, to meet the team and to find out about the specific guest the have been allocated.

Throughout the week there are volunteer meetings each evening which are also an opportunity to ask questions, bring challenges, problem solved and learn together.

Time commitment

Dates of the weeks are in the description above. We ask that volunteers commit to a full week. You can attend more than one week if you wish, but they are very tiring so two back to back can be difficult.
Application deadline

Categories

UCL Departments

This organisation is one of our community partner organisations.

Like all volunteer recruiters we work with, they have signed up to our service standards, agreeing to abide by our policy on partnership working to keep you safe and supported whilst you volunteer.

You’ll never be out of pocket for volunteering through us – with in-London travel expenses to and from your volunteering guaranteed.

In addition, the team here at Students’ Union UCL Volunteering Service is here to support you throughout your volunteering journey – you can get in touch with us at any time.