Wyre - Adult Disability Day Services

Lancashire Adult Disability Day services would like enthusiastic Gardening Support volunteers to help in maintaining their garden spaces and to support their service users to engage in garden group activities.

Volunteers would be there to encourage and assist the service users to engage with planned gardening related sessions, and helping the attendees to gain in confidence through anticipating.

Being outdoors in a well-maintained garden provides beneficial sensory awareness. Flowers, shrubs, vegetable beds, and fruit trees, help to brighten up the area, providing colour, scent, and taste. Wind chimes and water features add to the calming space. The core purpose of Adult Disability Day Services is to provide their service users with people-centred support.

You must be willing to go through an induction process and relevant background checks; this role is subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Tasks required by the volunteer:

• Be able to gently encourage & assist service users to tend to small areas of the garden by helping with planting & maintaining spring/summer pots and baskets.
• General maintenance and basic garden DIY
• Encourage and spend some time chatting and listening to the service user, helping them to combat feelings of loneliness
• Help to brighten up their day
• Log your volunteering hours monthly online
• Complete safeguarding training and commit to further training relevant to role.

 Qualities that are required of the volunteer:

• Knowledge of garden plants, gardening / planting / DIY
• Be a good communicator and listener
• Be committed to providing a good reliable service
• Be patience and understanding
• Be friendly & approachable
• Have a caring & empathic nature
• Adhere to service guidelines and be aware of confidentiality

Training

Training will be provided in the form of distance eLearning. Volunteers must have completed the required eLearning modules before any activity can be undertaken and regularly refresh training when required.