Volunteering

If you have experience of administration or are looking to develop your admin skills, this is the role for you.  This role will be on an ‘as and when’ basis and will be Monday to Friday during office hours.  From time to time we need support inputting surveys, addressing and posting newsletters and other admin type duties. This might include recording and typing up minutes at our Board meetings.

Main tasks may include:

• Taking telephone calls and addressing the needs of the public
• Dealing with enquiries that come in via email and post
• Updating the HWNEL Website and other HWNEL social media sites
• Contributing to the quarterly HWNEL digital newsletter.
• Assisting the team with any other administration duties seen as appropriate
• Keeping up to date with groups and events within your local area and sharing this information with HWNEL staff team.
• Encouraging local people to sign up to HWNEL and also to distribute and ask people to complete surveys for HWNEL
• Encouraging other members of the public to volunteer with Healthwatch.

Where:

• This role will be based at North East Lincolnshire office, Alexandra Dock Business Centre, Fisherman’s Wharf, Grimsby.

Time commitment:

• As and when required
• Our office is open Monday to Friday 9am-4pm allowing for flexibility within this role

Skills and Qualities Required:

• Ability to verbally communicate effectively
• Ability to engage with people from a variety of backgrounds
• Good listening skills
• Ability to work with and on behalf of people from all backgrounds in a positive and supportive manner
• Outgoing, friendly and approachable personality
• A commitment to equality and diversity
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
• Ability to act professionally and maintain confidentiality at all times
• Respect for the organisation’s policies
• Participate in and contribute to team meetings
• Be supportive, respectful and empathetic to colleagues and customers.

Always be prepared to be an ambassador for HWNEL in whatever capacity you find yourself, hence ensure your actions and attitude are always presented professionally

If you enjoy meeting new people and like a good natter, then this is the voluntary role for you!  You will support the staff team or a small group of volunteers at events, setting up a stall with leaflets, pens, surveys etc. You will spend time talking to the local community about their experiences of health and care services and record these using a Healthwatch monitoring form.

Main tasks may include:

• Assisting with ‘drop in’s’ and outreach sessions, roadshows and other events and information stalls.
• Attending other events as needed to promote the services of Healthwatch.
• Making sure Healthwatch promotional materials are advertised in the local area i.e. posters and leaflets.
• Keeping up to date with groups and events within your local area and sharing this information with HWNEL staff team.
• Distribute and ask people to complete surveys for HWNEL.
• Being responsible for ensuring that your local area is updated about the developments within HWNEL by liaising with other HWNEL volunteers and the staff team.
• Gathering views from friends and family and local residents, with particular efforts made to engage with “seldom heard” groups.
• Encouraging other members of the public to volunteer with Healthwatch.

Where:

• This can vary from week to week, though we do have our regular Monthly engagements within GP Surgeries and in the town centre.

Time Commitment:

• This role might involve a couple of hours of your time, or if a full day event is taking place it is up to you how much time you want to spend with us.  You just tell us what time you have available.  

Skills and Qualities Required:

• Ability to verbally communicate effectively
• Ability to engage with people from a variety of backgrounds
• Good listening skills
• Ability to work with and on behalf of people from all backgrounds in a positive and supportive manner
• Ability to represent wider views, rather than just the loudest voices or individual pursuits.
• Outgoing, friendly and approachable personality
• A commitment to equality and diversity
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
• Ability to act professionally and maintain confidentiality at all times
• Respect for the organisation’s policies
• Participate in and contribute to team meetings
• Be supportive, respectful and empathetic to colleagues and customers.
• Always be prepared to be an ambassador for HWNEL in whatever capacity you find yourself, hence ensure your actions and attitude are always presented professionally

Full training and support provided, no experience required.

Enter and View is the one of the tools available to Healthwatch to find out people’s experiences of health and social care. Enter and view is not an inspection but instead involves authorised representatives entering settings where health and social care services are conducted, talking to patients, their families/carers and also staff in order to find out their views and experiences and to observe how well services are being delivered.

Enter and View visits will be determined by the Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire staff team who will set out the purpose of the visit and the outcomes desired. Enter and View Ambassadors can be involved in the preparation of the visit and reporting on the outcomes, working under the direction of the staff team. Visits will always be undertaken as part of a team comprising at least two members and all information collected is strictly confidential.

What you will be doing:

• Undertaking training relevant to the role.
• To work with the staff team and other visitors to ensure purpose of the visit and the desired outcomes are understood.
• To study relevant information that forms the basis for individual visits.
• To conduct Enter and View visits appropriately, representing Healthwatch in a professional manner and following relevant policies, procedures and regulations.
• To gather information and evidence during the visit, speaking to patients, carers and staff as appropriate.
• To report back to the staff team the findings of the visit, and to feed back on information detailed in subsequent reports, ensuring it is a true reflection of what was observed in the visit.

Where:

Visits can take place across North East Lincolnshire.

Duration / Time Commitment:

The total time commitment required depends on the nature of the current Healthwatch work-plan plan and the number of Enter & View Ambassadors appointed.

Enter and View Ambassadors are required to take part in 3 visits a year. Visits themselves should last between 2 to 4 hours.

Training:

All Enter & View Ambassadors will receive initial compulsory induction and training, in addition to on-going training as identified. Refresher courses will also be provided. Enter and View representatives will be required to have an enhanced disclosure and barring clearance which Healthwatch will arrange.

As a Young Ambassador you will facilitate communication between young people and health & Social Care organisation. Collecting views and opinions from other young people about their experiences of accessing services and feeding this back to Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire.

As a Young Ambassador you will improve your communication skills and learn valuable skills that can be transferred to the workplace. You will be communicating with your peers, team members and the general public. We need volunteers to help us collect information to help identify gaps or issues in the care being provided to people in North East Lincolnshire. Young people need to have their voices heard about local services and as a Young Ambassador you will be an integral part of this process and to assist services to change.

Main tasks may include:

• Collecting views and opinions from other young people within your college or university
• Data entry into our database/data collection systems
• Promote the role of Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire to your peers and other groups of young people within your college or University
• Engage with young people via mixed media, including newsletters and social media
• Keep updated and attend training

Where:

• Various Locations across North East Lincolnshire, we will always discuss this prior to the project and you will not be expected to travel far.

Time Commitment:

• Variable

Skills and qualities:

• Experience of using Microsoft Office, including Word
• Positive attitude
• Friendly and approachable
• Access to the internet/email
• Able to use your own initiative but comfortable in asking for help when needed
• Respectful of confidentiality

Within this specific role you will be going into community venues or ringing them as directed, to ask for information and how to be signposted to other agencies. The purpose of this is to ensure everyone can access information, advice and guidance when they need it the most, and to ensure everyone has the same information across North East Lincolnshire. With the support of Healthwatch staff, you will also be finding out if staff know how to refer you to where you need to go and how they go about doing this.

Main tasks may include:

• Visiting community venues/doctor’s surgeries etc and asking for information as a member of the community.
• Assisting Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire (HWNEL) to find out if community venues/doctors surgeries etc know how to signpost members of the public to correct services.
• Making sure HWNEL promotional materials are advertised in the local area i.e. posters and leaflets.
• Making sure other organisations promotional materials are advertised or available in the local area.
• Writing up of your experience and writing recommendations.
• Keeping up to date with groups and events within your local area and sharing this information with HWNEL staff team.
• Ensuring that your local area is updated about the developments within HWNEL, through liaising with other HWNEL volunteers and the staff team.
• Gathering views from friends and family and local residents, with particular efforts made to engage with “seldom heard” groups.
• Encouraging other members of the public to volunteer with HWNEL. Attending other events as needed to promote the services of HWNEL.

Where:

• Various Locations across North East Lincolnshire, we will always discuss this prior to the project and you will not be expected to travel far.

Time Commitment:

• Flexible-This role can be shaped around you. Once you’ve received the initial briefing of the project, you can choose when is best to carry out the calls or visits.

Skills and Qualities Required:

• Confidence to be able to walk into a community venue and ask for information or services.
• Ability to verbally communicate effectively.
• Ability to engage with people from a variety of backgrounds. Good listening skills.
• Ability to work with and on behalf of people from all backgrounds in a positive and supportive manner.
• Ability to represent wider views, rather than just the loudest voices or individual pursuits.
• Outgoing, friendly and approachable personality. A commitment to equality and diversity.
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team.
• Ability to act professionally and maintain confidentiality at all times.
• Respect for the organisation’s policies.
• Participate in and contribute to team meetings.
• Be supportive, respectful and empathetic to colleagues and service users.
• Always be prepared to be an ambassador for HWNEL in whatever capacity you find yourself, hence ensure your actions and attitude are always presented professionally.

As an online feedback collector, your role will be to collect feedback about people’s experiences of health and social care services that has been left online.

There is a huge amount of information on the internet and social media about people’s experiences and views of health and social care services. You can help us collect this information to inform our work at Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire to help inform the changes health and care services can make to improve care for all.

From Facebook groups to more official forms of feedback run by organisations, such as local charities and community groups, there are a variety of places online where people leave their reviews and experiences about the care they receive. With the data being vast and ever-changing, we need volunteers to help us collect information to help identify gaps or issues in the care being provided to people in North East Lincolnshire.

Main tasks may include:

• Searching for feedback on social media
• Searching for feedback using a list of online sources
• Data entry into our database

Where:

• From your home
• North East Lincolnshire Healthwatch office (pre-booking is a must)

Time commitment:

• Flexible-This role can be shaped around you. Once you’ve received the initial briefing of the project, you can choose when suits you best.
• Ideally, you will need access to a computer/ internet so the role can be done virtually

Skills and qualities required:

• Experience of using Microsoft Office, including Word
• Be comfortable volunteering from home
• Access to the internet/email
• Able to use your own initiative but comfortable in asking for help when needed
• Respectful of confidentiality

Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire has launched an Read and Review Project. This means volunteers can now get involved to ensure documents and leaflets are easy to read, jargon free and presented in an easy to read format from a range of services.

Main tasks may include:

• Reading documents to try and find the following:
• Is the document well presented?
• Does it make sense?
• Is the language clear and simple?
• Are there terms you don’t understand?
• Is there a simple translation of complex information?
• Does the user feel more informed after reading the literature?
• Writing up of your experience and writing recommendations.
• Keeping up to date with groups and events within your local area and sharing this information with HWNEL staff team.
• Gathering views from friends and family and local residents.
• Encouraging other members of the public to volunteer with HWNEL.

Where:

• This role can be carried out from home or at the North East Lincolnshire Healthwatch Office.

Time Commitment:

• As & when required
• Ideally, you will need access to a computer/ internet so the role can be done virtually

Skills and Qualities Required:

• Ability to verbally communicate effectively.
• Ability to engage with people from a variety of backgrounds.
• Good listening skills.
• Ability to represent wider views, rather than just the loudest voices or individual pursuits.
• Outgoing, friendly and approachable personality.
• A commitment to equality and diversity.
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team.
• Ability to act professionally and maintain confidentiality at all times.
• Respect for the organisation’s policies.
• Participate in and contribute to team meetings.
• Be supportive, respectful and empathetic to colleagues and service users.