Discovery

Would you like to make a real difference to someone's life?

Glenda loves her drumming class on a Friday and would like a friendly volunteer driver to help her get to and from her class!

You can either use your own car or drive one of the people we support's vehicle, a Seat Alhambra.  Please note that Glenda has a wheelchair which would need to be transported too

Activities will include:

• Driving Glenda (and potentially others) to and from the drumming class (Fridays, 10.30am - 12pm)
• Driving from Glastonbury to Burnham-on-Sea, and back
• Ensuring passengers are safely secured in the car
• Chatting and being friendly
• Activities will NOT include: Personal care, medication or financial assistance.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Is aged 21 or over, with at least 2 years driving experience
• Holds a full, clean and current UK Driving License (or equivalent)
• (If using your own car) Has a road worthy vehicle, with up to date road tax and MOT
• Is reliable, conscientious, friendly and calm
• Willing to commit to volunteer regularly (ideally once a week for at least 12 months)

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role.

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Discovery supports people with learning disabilities and autism, helping them to live more independently at home and in the community.

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details. 

Do you enjoy going to the theatre to see a show or watching a film at the cinema?   

If so, this role would suit you.  The people we support in the Castle Cary area love nothing more than going out for the evening or an afternoon, they would love some company and to communicate about the film or show they have seen.

Your ticket would be paid for and you can meet them at the venue. 

The first stage would be to get to know the people we support and build up a rapport before your first trip.

We’re looking for someone who is:

• A clear communicator
• Reliable
• Friendly & relaxed

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role. 

Activities will NOT include: Personal care, medication or financial assistance

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details.

Would you enjoy sharing your love of cooking and getting people started in their cooking journey?

We support a group of people who like to try new things and we know they would enjoy learning some basic cooking skills!

If you enjoy interacting with a wide variety of people, can break down the steps in a cooking task and you would like to experience the satisfaction of seeing people produce a dish, possibly for the first time, this is the role for you. 

Our colleagues will be there to support you and we have a modern kitchen facility available for use.

Activities will include:

• Planning a cooking session
• Shopping for the ingredients (the cost can be reclaimed)
• Clearly communicating the simple steps in a recipe
• Encouraging people to have a go
• Celebrating the successes
• Motivating the group to clean up at the end of the session

Activities will NOT include: Personal care, medication or financial assistance.

We are looking for a volunteer who is:

• Passionate about cooking (but not necessarily Masterchef standard!)
• Friendly, patient, organised and open-minded
• A clear communicator
• Comfortable chatting with people with learning disabilities and autism (experience desired, but not essential)
• Willing to commit to volunteer regularly (exact times and days can be discussed)

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role. 

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Discovery supports people with learning disabilities and autism, helping them to live more independently at home and in the community.

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details.

Help bring our garden to life!

Are you a keen gardener? We're looking to create an enthusiastic volunteer gardening team to maintain our garden, so that the people we support can enjoy it more!

It would be great if you could spend one session a week in our garden, but once every couple of weeks could also work.

Activities will include:

• General garden maintenance – weeding, pruning, planting and grass cutting.
• Advising on health and safety in the garden.
• Trips to garden centres and local green spaces for inspiration!
• Activities will NOT include: Personal care or financial assistance.

We are looking for volunteers who are:

• Enthusiastic about gardening
• Good communicators
• Willing to volunteer as part of a team
• (Desired but not essential) Able to do the odd job!

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role. 

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Discovery supports people with learning disabilities and autism, helping them to live more independently at home and in the community.

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details.

Do you enjoy the freedom of driving, and getting out and about? Could you be the person to make a real difference to a person we support?

Rebecca loves going out for fun day trips. She would like a friendly volunteer driver to help her to get to and from the activities and appointments that are important to her!

Activities will include:

• Driving Rebecca’s car from her home in Frome, to a variety of locations
• Assisting Rebecca’s support worker with passenger safety routines
• Planning driving routes or using Google maps app.
• Chatting and being friendly
• Activities will NOT include: Personal care, medication or financial assistance.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Is aged 21 or over, with at least 2 years driving experience
• Holds a full, clean and current UK Driving License (or equivalent)
• Is kind and supportive
• Is flexible and a good team player

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role.

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Discovery supports people with learning disabilities and autism, helping them to live more independently at home and in the community.

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details. 

Are you passionate about music?

We are looking for volunteers to make a real difference to the lives of people with learning disabilities and autism that attend our day service, by facilitating a space for their musical talents and interests, in partnership with Discovery colleagues.

Generally groups are quite relaxed with an informal structure but you are very welcome to bring your own ideas and plans for the group!

Activities will NOT include personal care or medication 

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Passionate about music!
• Able to play an instrument or sing
• Able to instruct others to create music
• Able to commit to a regular timeslot of your choosing each week
• Previous experience of group facilitation is desirable but by no means essential
• Be able to communicate clearly and if possible to have experience of working with people with learning disabilities
• Willingness to complete online training to develop you in your volunteer role

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role. 

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details.

"My name is Steven, I love to go out and about to the theatre, visiting interesting places and listening to classical music. 

I also love Liverpool football club and I want to visit the stadium one day.

My other hobby is visiting classic car shows.

I’m a mature man and I like to be independent, I do go out on my own but it would be fun to find a friend to come on adventures with me, someone who shares my interests and I can have a good chat with."

Do you enjoy the finer things in life?  Classical music, a trip to the ballet or visiting stately homes? 

If so then you might enjoy sharing your interests with Steven by volunteering as an out and about buddy!

We are looking for a volunteer who is:

• Knowledgeable and interested in different cultural activities
• Friendly, chatty and a good listener
• Comfortable chatting with people with learning disabilities and autism
• Willing to commit to volunteer regularly (exact times and days can be discussed)

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role. 

Activities will NOT include: Personal care, medication or financial assistance.

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details.

Do you enjoy the freedom of driving, and getting out and about?

Would you like to make a real difference to someone's life?

Being a volunteer driver gives you the opportunity to do that, as you would be helping the people we support get to and from the activities and appointments that are important to them!

Activities will include:

• Either using your own car or driving the vehicle of someone we support (this can be discussed)
• Agreeing arrangements with local Discovery colleagues and the people we support as suitable
• Driving one or more passengers around the local area - this may involve both a pick-up and drop-off, or sometimes just a drop-off only
• Ensuring passengers are safely secured in the car
• Planning driving routes or using Google maps app.
• Chatting and being friendly
• Activities will NOT include: Personal care, medication or financial assistance.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Is aged 21 or over, with at least 2 years driving experience
• Holds a full, clean and current UK Driving License (or equivalent)
• (If using your own car) Has a road worthy vehicle, with up to date road tax and MOT
• Friendly, reliable and calm
• Willing to commit to volunteering regularly (eg once a week) for at least 12 months

A DBS check and two character references will be required for this role.

What you’ll gain from being a Discovery volunteer:

Discovery supports people with learning disabilities and autism, helping them to live more independently at home and in the community.

Our volunteers play a vital role in our work and in return, we support them with:

• Free certificated training (with access to 800 plus courses)
• Free membership to an online shopping discount scheme
• Comprehensive support from professional, friendly and trained Discovery staff
• Agreed travel expenses reimbursed
• An opportunity to gain real experience in the social care sector

Want to apply for this role?
If you’d like to be a Discovery volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!

• Simply click here to fill in an application 
• Or contact Vanessa Glasgow on 0300 303 9162 or volunteering@discovery-uk.org for more details.