Applications - Current Volunteer Opportunities

Referral Order Panel Member Role Description

Are you concerned with Youth Crime in YOUR local community?

Do you have the skills to talk with young people who commit crime and victims of crime?

Why not Join Barking and Dagenham Referral Order Panel and become a

‘Referral Order Panel Member’

The general aim of a Referral Order Panel Members is to chair meetings or assist the chair in co-producing a contract with a young person who has offended.  The contract will include an agreed programme of work and activities to address re-offending & reparation to the victim or the wider community to repair the harm caused. 

Who can apply - it makes no difference where you come from or what work you do, as long as you are over 18 years old and are willing to make a difference within the community.

We need volunteers to:

• Volunteers are expected to attend daytime or evening panels held minimum twice every month, taking place in the office.
• Occasionally, additional panels may be scheduled on an ad hoc basis. Volunteers should remain available for these sessions, although they may not always go ahead as planned. We will provide as much notice as possible.
•  During school half-term periods, panels will continue to run during the day. We will share specific dates with volunteers closer to the time to help with planning.
• Frequency and Timing: Volunteers may be asked to attend one or two daytime panels per month, typically scheduled between 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM or evening panel between 4.30pm – 6.30pm
• Be responsible for always safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

You must:

• Have an ability to understand documents, to identify and grasp relevant facts.
• Have an ability to be fair and think logically, to weigh arguments and reach conclusions with realistic expectations.
• Attend group supervision monthly
• Be reliable and consistent.
• Have respect for different ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds.
• Commitment to serve for at least a year.
• Have access to computer (or similar device) and the internet

 Panel Members will learn how to:

• Engage with young people and their families.
• Become a Referral Order Panel Member
• Participate in a Referral Order Panel Meeting

 Benefits of the role:

Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn and develop various skills. We will provide training on Restorative Panel Matters and additional mandatory training via council’s i-learning portal.

Travel expenses:

Travel expenses will be reimbursed.

Volunteering certificate of recognition:

We are happy to provide a volunteering certificate of recognition after you have volunteered with us for 6 months, if within this time you have been an active panel member.

 Please click here to apply.

Mentoring with One Million Mentors

Can you understand the challenges a young person is facing and see things from their point of view?
Can you offer advice or even just encouragement?
If so, then you have what it takes to be a mentor.

Mentor a student from Barking & Dagenham College, this is a hybrid programme where you would support a mentee for one hour a month on Tuesday from 3-4pm, help guide and inspire the next generation! 

1MM mentoring empowers young people to become the best version of themselves. We build relationships - free of assumption and judgement - where people benefit from one another's experience and perspective. Mentoring helps people to think bigger, find their own answers and take the next meaningful step into their future.

We recruit, train and deploy volunteer mentors, matching them with mentees and providing high quality support to both so that they are well prepared and can have an effective and impactful mentoring relationship.

Our mentoring is one to one, for young people aged 14-25 years old, for 1 hour, once a month, for up to a year.

If you are interested, click here to sign up! ✨

What will I do?
We are looking for Mentors in Barking and Dagenham to take part in our

 October programme launch at Barking and Dagenham College.

We would particularly love to hear from mentors with experience and knowledge that would help them to support a young person with an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) although being currently employed in one of these industries is not a requirement.

What skills do I develop?

• Listening - You will develop your patience and awareness for a mentee's goals and targets they want to achieve.
• Problem Solving - You well develop your reflective skills and communication with your mentee by solving any problems that your mentee may face.
• Speaking - You will become more attentive, practice on relevant and helpful conversations and how to guide a mentee.
• Teamwork - By working with your mentee in developing themselves and gaining perspective from your experience, you will work together on each other's confidence in relationship building and gaining networks.

What do I need to do?

• We welcome applications from people with at least 5 years industry experience or 2 years postgraduate experience. If you are retired or on a career break, we would also love to hear from you.
• To commit to a one to one, 1 hour a month over the academic year (October - July) for our programme at Barking and Dagenham college.
• Gain quality support and training by completing our online course. You can also attend a 2 hour mentoring workshop to connect with other mentors and receive a certificate in mentoring.
• To create goals and targets for your mentee with the help of your training. It's all mentee led!

Please click here to apply.

Reading Volunteer - Bookmark Reading Charity

Bookmark Reading Volunteers directly support children who are at risk of leaving primary school unable to read well. Struggling to read can contribute to poor educational attainment, lower literacy in adulthood and has even been linked to a lower life expectancy. You can help ignite the joy of reading and change a child’s story.

In this volunteer role, you’ll have 30-minute one-to-one reading sessions on 2 days per week. This is across 6 weeks with a child aged between 5 and 11 years old. Each session will involve reading stories and playing literacy games on our secure online platform or face-to-face. You’ll book your reading programme through Bookmark’s Volunteer Hub and select sessions on days and times that work with your commitments.   

To become a Bookmark Reading Volunteer, you should be: 

• 18 and over, and currently living in the UK.
• able to provide enthusiasm, encouragement, empathy and patience.
• free to commit to 30-minute one-to-one reading sessions on 2 days per week, across 6 weeks.
• able to provide two references for your application (for safeguarding reasons).prepared with access to a PC, laptop, Chromebook or iPad with a webcam and internet connection, and feel relatively comfortable using technology (for online reading programmes).

Volunteers tell us they find the role flexible, impactful and rewarding. More than 60% also say their own well being has improved because of volunteering with Bookmark!

Bookmark pays for your DBS checks, provides online training and offers volunteers ongoing support so that you can deliver fantastic and fun reading sessions, enabling all children to discover the joy of reading. 

Bookmark are proud to offer inclusive volunteering and work to deliver a greatly accessible volunteering role. Many of our reading programmes take place online, so there’s no need to travel or access a physical location to volunteer with Bookmark. Our application process and training are all completed online, and we have a helpful team at hand to offer support with technical or access requirements. 

Bookmark is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community. We aim to create an environment in which all individuals can make best use of their skills, free from discrimination or harassment, and in which all decisions are based on merit.

 Please click here to apply.