Volunteer Arts & Crafts Assistant (Cirencester, Gloucestershire)

Are you never happier than when surrounded by ‘stuff’, making things?

Arts and crafts can be stimulating, challenging and relaxing too. Our volunteer Arts and Crafts Assistants share their creativity and skill with our residents and our team. All of our homes run activity programmes with art at the heart of many. We’ve had everything from a life-sized papier Mache nativity to a whole corridor decorated with paper planes to guide a former pilot to his room. If you’re resourceful and innovative this could be just the role for you.

Our Arts and Crafts Assistants are part of our Activities Team, supporting the Activity Co-ordinator to get people involved. You’ll be helping to set up arts and crafts activities, bringing people to the activity from their rooms and chatting to them to get their ideas for future projects. Not everyone is a natural artist or feels comfortable expressing themselves so our Arts and Crafts Assistants are on hand to help people do the best they can and create something they can be proud of.

You’ll build up relationships with people so ideally, we’d like a regular, longer term commitment of a couple of hours a week. Days and times are flexible; talk to us and we’ll see what suits us both

ROLE BOUNDARIES Our volunteers don't get involved in personal care. Below are the role boundaries for this role:

• All volunteers over 16 years old will require DBS clearance (Criminal Records check) and the Trust will cover the cost. • Volunteers aged between 14 and 16 years old can’t go into residents’ rooms on their own. • There are certain things only carers can do. Volunteers can’t provide personal care for residents. This involves help with dressing, visiting the toilet or eating. • Volunteers can’t support residents in moving, rising or sitting or move residents in wheelchairs until they have completed mandatory moving and handling and wheelchair training. • Volunteers must not hoist a resident. • Volunteers should not attempt to give first aid unless qualified to do so. • Volunteers can’t transport residents in their own car. • Volunteers should not give or accept gifts to or from residents, relatives or employees. All gifts offered should be declared to the Home Manager. • Our communications team are responsible for all our media postings. Volunteers should not contact or speak to the media unless asked to by their manager nor should they post anything on social networking sites. • Volunteers should ask their manager before making any decision outside the scope of their role that could affect OSJCT, residents, employees or other volunteers. • Volunteers are not expected to handle complaints or safeguarding issues. They should talk to their manager in the first instance.