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Bright Futures UK
Bright Futures UK was set up with the mission to support young people who are forced to take time out from education due to medical circumstances. We aim to support young people by providing programmes that bridge the gap between illness and normality. Programmes are available for individuals of ages 5-24 fighting both physical and mental health illnesses. At Bright Futures UK, we understand each…
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Description

Bright Futures UK was set up with the mission to support young people who are forced to take time out from education due to medical circumstances. We aim to support young people by providing programmes that bridge the gap between illness and normality. As a volunteer mentor you will use your social skills and to provide a young person suffering from long-term illness peer support. You will do this by developing a buddy-young person relationship where you engage in activities, talk and provide a comfortable space for the young person to develop their social skills, express themselves and remind them that they are not defined by their medical circumstances.

Duties
  • Developing a supportive, trustworthy and friendly relationship with a young person with illness who requires social support.
  • Engaging with your young person in conversations via video chat or phone calls.
  • Providing a young person with a safe space to express themselves freely, have open conversations, and creating a healthy and fun distraction where they do not feel defined by their illness.
  •  Recognising that your role is to provide social engagement and support to a young person without offering your own advice or any kind of medical or therapeutic intervention.
Who will the volunteers be working with?
We work with children and young people from the age of 5 up to 24 who are fighting physical and mental health illnesses, whether that be long term or chronic illnesses.
Training
Volunteers will receive a welcome induction training session, where they will be introduced to the charity and we will further discuss what the role entails. The second part of the training will be a safeguarding session, which will involve learning how to work with vulnerable children. Support from your programme coordinators will be ongoing and accessible. We will also provide you with Safeguarding Level 1 & 2 and a DBS check free of charge.

Time commitment

We require our volunteer to commit one hour per week of 1:1 tuition; mentoring; befriending with our young people for at least 14 hours. However, we understand and appreciate individual circumstances and schedules when recruiting volunteers and are able to demonstrate some flexibility where needed.
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.