Themes
- Volunteering with young people
- Young people as volunteers
Rainer offers under-supported young people a range of services designed to give them the emotional and practical support they need to lead secure and fulfilled lives.
Rainer is a national charity with 200 years experience of delivering services within the UK. We have around 54 services, 600 staff, 500 volunteers and work with around 18 000 young people every year.
The young people Rainer works with may be in or leaving care or custody, involved in or on the fringes of crime, out of work, struggling at school, homeless or facing young parenthood without the safety net of a supportive family.
In supporting the young people that we work with, we benefit from the contribution of volunteers who enhance and expand our service provision in a number of ways. Volunteers contribute to our services as:
- Mentors and peer mentors – working 1:1 with young people in a range of settings
- Appropriate Adults at the police station for young people who are being detained
- Residential volunteers within our accommodation units for young people
- Administrative volunteers – supporting office functions
Our volunteers are recruited from the local communities in which services operate, we have also formed some positive links with local businesses to provide volunteers. Our selection process consists of taking up references, CRB checks, interviews and an induction process and/or training. We welcome people from all sections of the community and no previous experience of volunteering or working with young people is required. We currently recruit volunteers through the local press, volunteer centres, volunteering websites, our own website www.raineronline.org, in addition over 50% of our volunteers are attracted through word of mouth.
Rainer greatly values the contribution of volunteers and as such offers accredited programmes for volunteers so that they can gain a qualification from their role, we pay all expenses and offer ongoing training, supervision and support. In order to underline this commitment the organisation is supported by a central Volunteer Unit which disseminates and oversees good practice across our service provision.
Volunteers are regularly asked for feedback on their experiences and have highlighted that they feel valued by the organisation and that the key motivating factors for them are:
- Making a difference in a young person’s life
- Development of new skills
- Increased employability
- Making a contribution to their community
Further details
Rainer Volunteer Unit on: 020 7850 5610
email: sophie.wellings@raineronline.org
