Spectrum RUMS
Spectrum is registered charity, run and led by UCL medical student that offers a befriending service to children under 18 with disabilities or special needs in the Camden borough. Two medical students are assigned with a child and undergo fortnightly contact in outings including swimming, going to the park, cinema etc. There are also group trips to the theatre, theme parks and activity weekends…
Spectrum supports children with disabilities by partnering them up with two medical students who spend a couple of hours with them every fortnight. Our volunteers engage with the children by partaking in a variety of activities/trips/outings (all catered towards the child and family's interests) This gives freedom for the child to pursue their interests and passions, but also try new things which they may not have done before allowing them to develop in independence and confidence.
Two students are linked to one child between the age of 5-18.
Spectrum also runs an annual residential 3-day weekend trip in February, which has been successfully running for many years and is a highlight for volunteers, children, and their families. The trip involves a mix of stimulating and team-building activities such as rock climbing, zip wire, archery and many more. Our volunteers work hard to provide 24-hour care for the children to ensure that they can enjoy all the activities and remain safe.
We expect volunteers to make one visit every fortnight whereby you spend around 2 hours with the children. This is dependent on the child and can vary. Additionally, you will be paired with the child for the whole year.
What measures have you put in place to ensure volunteers’ safety during COVID-19?
During COVID, we understand that both parents and volunteers may feel uncomfortable in face to face meeting. Therefore, we have decided that for Term 1, if both parties are happy for face to face contact, then volunteers can go ahead whilst maintaining appropriate safety measures. If either parties are not comfortable, we have implemented some sort of 'digital volunteering' whereby this could include the volunteers just making a phone call or a video call to the children and checking up on them. We will monitor this and change accordingly for Term 2.
