Volunteer with Help Bristol’s Homeless
Help Bristol’s Homeless is a very new and dynamic organisation. It has been, and still is, very reliant on amazing volunteers. These generous people have been vital in helping us to grow to how we are today, and in such a short period of time.
As we are developing, our need for volunteers is changing and will continue to do so. As an extra complication, Covid 19 has forced us to re-evaluate how we work with volunteers. Clearly the well-being of our residents, staff, tradespeople, and volunteers is extremely important.
Over the last few months, many individuals and organisations have offered their time to help us in a time of great difficulty. Unfortunately, we have largely been unable to accept these offers of help, due to the restrictions required to protect us and the wider community from Covid-19. Thank you from everyone at HBH to all who offered.
So, going forward …
Please see below for our current (as of August 2020) needs for volunteers.
SKILLED TRADESPEOPLE
We generally have a real need for skilled tradespeople (electricians, plumbers, carpenters etc), in particular those who can self-certify their work. The work would vary from minor maintenance to helping with the conversion of new micro-flats.
CONVERSIONS OF CONTAINERS INTO MICRO-FLATS
We anticipate that we will need a small number of practically minded volunteers to help with container conversions. This would either be at Spring Street or another site close to Bristol. The conversions would be done during weekday normal working hours, and would each take a few weeks with people working a few days per week.
WELL-BEING CENTRE
We are introducing this new facility to Spring Street, to further support the well-being of our residents. Inevitably, it will evolve over time, depending on people’s needs and what services we are able to provide.
Our vision is that we will offer:
An area for training activities (e.g. first aid, life-skills, financial management …)
Yoga, Pilates, meditation classes etc
A space for hair-cuts
Use of computers for use by residents (e.g. for form-filling and job applications)
A private meeting room.
If you have skills that could support this, then please get in touch.
PROJECT SUPPORT WORKERS
We require Project Support Workers to support residents at HBH in a variety of ways. This will include:
Liaising with residents
Coordinating both in-house and external resources for support
Collaborating with the rest of the team at HBH
Developing and maintaining records & monitoring outcomes
This is a voluntary role, suitable for someone with appropriate experience (e.g. social work).
Flexible and part-time, 4-6 hours per week over 2 days.
You will be part of a small team to provide core cover, weekday office hours only.
A DBS check will be required.
FUND-RAISING
The big thing that we always need is money! This is to help fund the day-to-day running costs, and (hopefully) to enable us to expand so that we can help more people.
If you are able to get involved with existing fundraising activities, or perhaps could suggest new ones then please let us know. This could include anything from asking local businesses for raffle prizes, or running a fund-raising event or applying for grant funding.
OFFICE SUPPORT
Currently we have no need for any further volunteers for this activity.
CLEANING
Currently we have no need for any further volunteers for this activity.
KITCHEN SUPPORT
Currently we have no need for any further volunteers for this activity.
CORPORATE VOLUNTEERS
Large companies often have a ‘corporate social responsibility’ scheme. These schemes allow employees to volunteer for one or more days a year, during working hours.
HBH has found these really useful, for things like painting containers, fences, building plant containers etc. They have also been very interesting, enjoyable and rewarding for the volunteers.
Due to the nature of these activities, they are best done in the warmer, sunnier times of the year.
As the Spring Street project is quite small, we can only really accommodate a maximum of about six people.
If companies have a budget to help provide materials, then that would be fantastic.
Due to Covid-19, we are currently reviewing whether it is possible to work with Corporate Volunteers.
Please note the following typical requirements for volunteers, depending on the role:
- Available during weekdays in office hours, potentially Saturdays
- Able to commit to a regular amount of time per week
- Able to commit for a period of (at least) several months.
If you are interested in volunteering with us, then please get in touch by e-mail at volunteer@helpbristolshomeless.org
If we have a suitable vacancy, then it’s a good idea to come in for a chat, to see if we (us and you) think you’ll be a good fit. Or with the current situation have a Zoom call!
Thank you for your support. Together we can make a difference!