Volunteers can do almost anything!

From offering support to parents to helping create a database for a local charity, volunteers make a vital contribution to all aspects of community life. Read on to find out how you can make your contribution

Milton Keynes Parent Partnership Service - Independent Parental Supporters (IPS)
Could you make a difference? Do you have good communication skills and some free time during the day?

Milton Keynes Parent Partnership Service offers independent information, advice and support to the parents/carers of children (0 - 19 years) who have, or who may have, a special educational need. They aim to empower parents to become partners in their child's education, to enable them to gain the confidence to voice their opinions, and make informal decisions about their child's education. Due to the growing caseload this organisation urgently needs to recruit more volunteer Independent Parental Supporters for their next FREE training course. The training will run for 9 weeks, commencing Monday 19th January 2009 from 9.30am - 1.00pm and will be held at Galley Hill Education Centre. There will be a break for February half term (week commencing 16th February) Training will cover all areas of Special Educational Needs and policy procedures. Volunteers must have excellent verbal and written communications skills and will need to undertake a Criminal Record Bureau check. On completion of training the frequency and duration of support to families will vary from week to week.

Over The Wall (OTW) - Team Mate
Over The Wall (OTW) is a charity that organises residential camps for UK children and young people, aged 8 to 17 years old, who are affected by a serious illness. The mission of OTW is to provide the campers with fun, creative and challenging activities in a safe, secure and medically supervised environment. Campers experience a variety of activities during the day such as drama, arts and crafts, technology, swimming, sports and games, horse riding and others. The evening activities include adult talent night, disco night, and the opportunity to camp-out for one night and enjoy songs around the campfire and toasted marshmallows, and the spectacular Camper Talent Night! It is the Volunteer Team at camp who enables the Campers. They give lots of positive encouragement and support to the campers and treat them as 'special' not because they, or their sibling, have been ill, but because they are children and young people, each with their own unique gifts and talents. The volunteers foster a strong sense of team spirit amongst each of the campers in their care. In this way, the campers feel that they belong and are included, whilst feeling positive about their own individuality. Medical care is provided by a team of volunteer Doctors and Nurses. The OTW camps run for 1 week and in 2009 there will be 7 camps in the UK running in Dorset in the Spring and Summer School holidays, Scotland and The Midlands in the Summer holidays. It is very important that all new volunteers attend a 1 day induction session which are held at various locations in the UK and attend a full week of camp. Their one criteria is that volunteers like children and are safe to care for them, placing their needs first. This is assessed by completing a Criminal Records Background check on all volunteers, obtaining references and meeting the volunteer in person.

GEM-K (Global Education MK) - Database Web Designer
Global Education Milton Keynes (GEM-K) is a Development Education Centre working with many schools across the city. They have a large collection of artefacts, teaching packs, books, videos, DVD's and posters that they lend to their members to make teaching more exciting in schools. Their resources are currently listed on an Access database. However, this is only accessible through computers located at their offices in Stantonbury Campus. They would like their members to be able to browse their collection on-line, and be able to book out what they need themselves. For this reason they would like a volunteer to help make this happen. The volunteer will need to know how to set up a system that will allow access to the database via the web and allow users to book out resources on-line. The individual would volunteer alongside the organisations small, friendly team which have welcomed many volunteers over the years. Times are flexible and open to negotiation.

To register your details for any of the above roles or to arrange an advice session contact us on 01908 662744 or at enquiries@volunteermk.org.uk
For more information and advice about other voluntary roles come along to one of the following drop-in sessions:

Wolverton, Town Hall, Creed Street
Tuesday 10am - 12pm
Netherfield, Woughton Parish Council, Farthing Grove
Wednesday 10am - 12pm
Olney, Olney Centre, High Street
Thursday 10am - 12pm
Central Milton Keynes, Acorn House, Midsummer Boulevard
Thursday 10am - 12pm
Bletchley, Unity Cyber Centre, Queensway
Friday 1pm - 3pm

Alternatively log on to the National Database of Voluntary Opportunities www.do-it.org

Voluntary Sector Home Page

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