- Volunteering within a local authority
- Supporting young people leaving care
- Mentoring and befriending
- Employee supported volunteering
The Leaving Care Team is part of Children and Families/Learning and Children at Gateshead Council. It provides support to young people aged 15 -21 who have been looked after by the council and are in the process of leaving care - approximately 150 young people each year. Young people under 18 are supported by a Leaving Care Social Worker and those over 18 have a Support Worker. However all of the young people can also have the additional support of a volunteer mentor. When this occurs the service is written into their individual Pathway Plan and is therefore encouraged by all professionals involved with that young person.
Role of the mentor
There is a standard task description for the volunteer mentor but mentors bring a bit of themselves and each relationship is different. Developing a positive relationship with any adult is important for young people leaving care and when this relationship is consistent and separate from the local authority this is even more valuable. Individual young people and volunteers are introduced to each other at a matching meeting and then their relationship is reviewed after six weeks. Some relationships have lasted for over a year and the Leaving Care Team will continue to support the relationship for as long as they feel it is beneficial to the young person.
Individuals and volunteers meet on a regular basis and undertake a range of social activities that are both enjoyable and “normal”, such as going bowling, or to the cinema. Activities are very much geared to the interests of the young person. There are also group activities, which support both the individual young people leaving care (who can often feel they are the only person in that situation) and the volunteers: these have included having a ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ evening, horse riding and activities at the fire and rescue centre. These activities all provide opportunities for the individual young person and volunteer to develop their relationship. The Leaving Care Team provides some financial support so individual volunteers are not out of pocket, but also encourages young people and their mentors to think about and plan for what they want to do, such as saving their allowance for a big ticket item such as a football match.
Who volunteers?
Volunteers are recruited from Volunteer Centres, the local Student Volunteering Centre and from the Local Authority (staff) as well as by word of mouth. There has been a need for more male volunteers so there has also been a recent recruitment drive through the Fire and Rescue Service who have supported the scheme as part of their corporate responsibility programme, and this has been very successful. Volunteers are aged between 21 – 60 and are a very mixed group of people – students, housewives, a solicitor, local authority and Jobcentre Plus staff, and now fire service staff as well.
Induction and Training
All volunteers complete an application form, and provide references and are CRB checked before they start. They then receive training which includes;
- Adolescence and the Looked After system
- Confidentiality and Child Protection
- Leaving Care Act
- Sexual health and family planning
- Personal safety and challenging behaviour
- Trauma, loss and bereavement
- Policies and procedures
- Input from a current volunteer about their experiences
Most of this training is delivered by members of the Leaving Care Team, and it is a way of reminding team members of the concept of volunteer mentors, and encouraging them to consider a volunteer mentor when they are discussing an individual Pathway Plan with a young person.
The role of Gateshead Council
Gateshead Council is supportive of volunteering and has declared 2008 Year of the Volunteer in Gateshead. There are volunteers in a number of other Council departments such as Arts and Leisure, the Countryside Team, libraries, archives and the Youth Offending Team and sometimes it is possible to refer a volunteer who decides that mentoring is not for them to another volunteering opportunity within the Council. Staff from the Local Authority, and Fire and Rescue Service, are able to take part in training (to be a mentor) in their own work time, and as part of their employee supported volunteering programme.
Further Information
Vicky Watson
Tel: 0191 433 6060
VickyWatson@gateshead.gov.uk
http://www.gateshead.gov.uk
