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South Tyneside Volunteer Centre

The 2015 South Tyneside Funding and Volunteers Fair

South Tyneside CVS and South Tyneside Volunteer Centre is pleased to announce that the South Tyneside Funding and Volunteers Fair will be held on Wednesday 23 September 2015 at South Shields Central Library between 1.00pm and 5.00pm.

Organisations and charities such as Bede's World, the British Heart Foundation and Depaul UK will be attending with information on the volunteering roles that they currently have available in South Tyneside and representatives will be on hand to answer any questions

This will be a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in volunteering in South Tyneside to learn more about what is available within the area.

The event will also be attended by a number of funding providers who will be providing information to organisations on local funding opportunities as well as information on how to apply.

This is an ideal opportunity for local groups to learn more about what is available in the local area with regards to funding and to also speak with funding advisers on a one to one basis and receive advice on how best to secure funding.

Special talks and presentations will also be delivered throughout the day by both funding providers and local voluntary groups. These will provide information on the services and support that is available within South Tyneside for both local groups and individuals who are interested in volunteering.

The South Tyneside Funding and Volunteers Fair will be open to all that wish to attend and for further information please contact the South Tyneside CVS on 0191 456 9551 or via enquiries@stcvs.org.uk.

What activities can I do as a volunteer?

If you are interested in volunteering but are not sure what you want to do or what is available then you might find the suggestions below useful. Alternatively, you can use these categories as inspiration when contacting the South Tyneside Volunteer Centre or when searching the Do-it volunteering database at www.do-it.org.uk.

·          Animal Welfare
·          Arts and Heritage
·          Community Action
·          Courts
·          Environment and Conservation
·          Health and Social Care
·          Management
·          Micro-volunteering
·          Policing
·          Prisons
·          Probation Services
·          Restorative justice
·          Sport
·          Trustees
·          Victim support
·          Volunteering abroad
·          Youth / Children

Before you start looking for volunteer opportunities, think about what cause or issue you would like to volunteer for. For example are you passionate about the environment or do you want to help children or the elderly? Also think about what you would like to get out of the experience. Do you want to meet people, learn new skills, support a particular cause, get some experience for your CV or just do something new?

You may also have some practical considerations - maybe you can only volunteer at certain times, need a building that is accessible, or prefer to volunteer near where you live.

Lots of different organisations involve volunteers, ranging from small community groups, to hospitals and national charities. Whatever your needs are, feel free to discuss them with the organisation you’d like to volunteer with. Any good organisation will not mind answering your questions before you start.

Latest Volunteering Opportunities

Food Nation - Food Education

What is Food Education? It is an initiative available to primary school children, and community groups, in the East End of Newcastle that involves food and nutritional education activities. The aim is to educate schools and communities to understand and enjoy food, its origins and nutritional value and to promote a healthy lifestyle. By volunteering with the Food Education group you will have the opportunity to work with children, supervise them during sessions and work closely with the Food Nation staff to ensure sessions run smoothly.

Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (North East) - Fundraisers

Here at Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research we’re gearing up for our annual Small Change BIG Impact campaign and we’d love it if you could spare a few hours to get involved. Last year we raised an amazing £11,000 in the North! Can you help us better it this year? This year the campaign will be running right through September, to coincide with Blood Cancer Awareness Month. Supermarket bag packs and street collections are at the heart of this campaign. Having our volunteers out and about helps create awareness of our charity and a few hours of your time can result in us raising a fantastic amount of money – every penny of which helps us beat blood cancer.

Sustrans North East

This is an exciting opportunity to volunteer with Sustrans to run BMX sessions in South Tyneside, to pass on your skills and knowledge to children, and encourage more people to cycle and walk for local trips. We are looking for volunteers to assist with a number of tasks such as running weekly drop in BMX sessions, engaging positively with the local community and participate in relevant training to support your activities and public engagement.

Community Homes - Workshop Support

We are looking for practical and DIY minded individuals who can volunteer in our South Shields workshop. This will mainly involve working on old and damaged pieces of furniture and repairing/decorating them so that they are able to be sold on our shop floor. All relevant materials and equipment will be provided by Community Homes.

Food Nation - Community Allotment Volunteers

At Food Nation we aim to establish a working garden within Heaton in Newcastle. This garden will provide food production and an educational facility for schools and the community. By volunteering for this group, you will have the opportunity to provide an extra pair of hands to help with maintenance and upkeep of the allotment “Wor Lotty”, to learn valuable skills, meet new people and to make a real difference to the community.

South Tyneside Hospital Volunteer - Hospital Support Volunteer

South Tyneside Foundation Trust and South Tyneside CVS/Volunteer Centre are working in partnership to create new and exciting volunteering opportunities at South Tyneside District Hospital. We are looking for reliable, enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers to provide non-nursing, non-clinical care to patients in order to enhance their experience in hospital. There are a variety of tasks available including encouragement at mealtimes, assisting with the preparation of the bed area for patient arrival, providing companionship to patients, assisting with hobbies and interests, reading to patients and greeting patients and visitors.

For further information on any of these roles or to apply please contact the South Tyneside Volunteer Centre on 0191 456 9551 or via iancarr@stcvs.org.uk.

Latest News and Events

Awards night aims to recognise volunteers’ efforts

The Council for Voluntary Service South Tyneside was inundated with nominations after calling for people to put forward those they think are worthy of recognition for the South Tyneside Volunteer Awards.

Now, after judges got round the table, the winners and runners up have now been chosen. They, along with those nominated will be invited to an awards evening where those who have been chosen for the top prize will be officially announced. The judges include CVS workers Ian Carr and Shabana Bibi, Mental Health Matters worker Bill Scott, Surjah Hunter from Apna Ghar, Trustee of CVS Pat Morris, Margaret Adams, member of HealthNet and Shields Gazette reporter Lisa Nightingale.

The four categories winners and runners up were chosen from include: Thriving Communities; Improving Health and Wellbeing; Inspiring Young People and Volunteer of the year.

Volunteer co-ordinator at the CVS, Mr Carr, said the decision by the judges was very difficult. He said: “The judges were all in agreement that the decision was a really difficult one. Every entry which was submitted was a worthy winner. There is so much time given by volunteers to helping to improve people’s lives in South Tyneside and making such a difference to our community. Last year was the first time we held this event and this year we have had more entries, so hopefully each year we hold it, it will grow. It really is about recognising those who volunteer their time often and to thank them for all their hard work.”

The awards evening for the South Tyneside Volunteer Awards will be held on Wednesday 23 September 2015 at South Shields Central Library between 7.00pm and 9.00pm

The Great North Run – Volunteer with Save the Children! - September 13th 2015

The Cheering Team

We need enthusiastic volunteers to support our runners at the UK’s biggest half marathon. We have around 300 amazing participants running for us and it would be great to have a big team spurring them on, right amidst all the action on this iconic route!

We’ll provide you with a Save the Children T-shirt and all the cheering materials you could possibly need!

It really is a case of ‘the more the merrier’, so if you can rustle up a group of friends to join us, that would be even better!

Join us for a fun, exciting and rewarding day out.

Take a look at our Facebook group for pictures of our previous events: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TeamSavetheChildren

Masseurs

Our supporters will arrive at the post-run reception and will be greeted and offered a massage. We are looking for qualified massage therapists.

If you are interested, please let us know whether you will be able to bring your own massage couch or not. Please note you will need to have insurance and provide evidence of this.

This is a great opportunity for newly qualified masseurs to get some practice in and all volunteers will receive a Save the Children t-shirt as well as light refreshments and reasonable travel expenses.

To join either team, or ask any questions, contact c.constable@savethechildren.org.uk or call 020 7012 6400

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Tyne Gateway are delivering the 'Lads and Dads' Project

Tyne Gateway Trust is an award winning charity, working primarily in North and South Tyneside to support families through early intervention and the development of new enterprising community-led solutions.

We adopt a ‘Barefoot Professional’ approach meaning that we recruit, train and employ local parents who have experienced something and who, therefore, understand what it means to go through that experience. Their knowledge enables them to then support other families and together they work in a unique way to find realistic and sustainable solutions.

We have secured Big Lottery funding to develop and deliver a ‘Lads and Dads’ project that will run for 3 years and will see us supporting young parents, particularly young fathers, in a range of skills including routines, play, bonding, keeping a family home and moving towards training and employment. It will focus on supporting these parents in their relationships with the aim that children can benefit from joking parenting as they grow and develop. Working alongside the established and successful Tyne Gateway team, our new Community Entrepreneurs, working on this project, will aim to improve the lives of children through supporting dads.

We are currently seeking nominations from professionals for parents, especially dads, who may be eligible for one of four full time employments posts, or a number of volunteer roles, across the two boroughs. All nominees will need to meet the criteria of having themselves experienced difficulty and will have overcome that difficulty to become a good role model. They will need to commit to attending our bespoke eight week training course and, following that, will be invited to apply for posts as employees or volunteers.

We believe this project will make a huge difference to improved outcomes for children through whole family support and developing skills in fathers and we are hugely excited about it.

If you know of any young parents, particularly young fathers, who meet our criteria, and who may be interested in training with us, please complete the attached nomination form and return it to me as soon as possible. If you would like a discussion about the process or the criteria, or simply to discuss a specific nominee then please contact Team Leader, Julie Croft, on 07927 481 198 or via Julie@tynegatewaytrust.co.uk

World Mental Health Day “Question Time” Panel at South Shields Library

This is your chance to ask a panel of health professionals important questions about mental health and wellbeing.

When: - Friday 9^th October 2015 at 9.30am

Where: - South Shields Central Library (basement cinema)

Who will be on the panel?

Dr David Hambleton (Chair)
Chief Officer NHS South Tyneside Clinical commissioning Group

Dr James Gordon
(Mental Health Lead – South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group)
Clinical Director Mental Health and Learning Disability

Stephen Laverton
Development Manager and Principal Social Worker, Adult Social Care

Melanie Stephenson
Service Manager for Gateshead and South Tyneside, Alzheimer’s Society

John Lawlor
Chief Executive Officer of NTW

Rebecca Campbell
Service manager, children and Young People Community Services

Michelle Sandberg
Project Manager – Carers Services

If you need more information, please contact Carole Watson on 0191 340 4173.

Meeting Rooms Available for hire at South Tyneside CVS

Meeting room (able to seat 10 - 15 people) are currently available to hire at South Tyneside CVS - based at 27 Beach Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE33 2QA.
Prices start from £5 per hour and includes refreshments.

To make a booking or arrange a viewing please contact South Tyneside CVS reception on 0191 456 9551.

Room Hire Charges from 01/04/14
Voluntary (non-funded)	£5.00 per hour
Voluntary (funded)	£7.50 per hour
Social Enterprise/CIC/CIO	£10.00 per hour
Statutory/Agency	£15.00 per hour
Private Companies	£15.00 per hour