Family Support - Helpline Support (Supporting our SENDIASS hotline)

Barnardo’s is committed to providing ‘Better Outcomes for More Children’. Our children’s services volunteers help the charity to deliver essential services in local communities, providing support to over 300,000 children, young people and their families. This role provides a great opportunity to join our fantastic children’s services and help make a real difference.

Barnardo’s Family Support - Helpline Volunteers provide an essential support service to children and families in our local communities. Our volunteers provide confidential and impartial information, advice and support for parents, carers, children and young people (up to 25 years) about local services and provision that may be useful to them. Contact will be mainly through our helpline, but may also be via email or face to face on occasion.

We are looking for individuals passionate about helping people get the right advice and support they need. You will be responsible for handling initial contact with family’s and young people who are contacting the service looking for advice or support; gathering information regarding their situation, needs, and contact information. That will be used to decide what support and referrals can be offered to help the contacting family. Volunteers will also have the option to undergo IPSA level 1 training, completion of this training will allow volunteers to have more responsibility regarding the handling of calls, including being able to give direct advice and support to callers of the SENDIASS hotline. The service is based in Hillside Family Centre; however, we can base you among any of the Sandwell family centres, if Hillside is not reasonable travel, please speak to your interviewing volunteer coordinator and they can discuss other centres to be based in.

We are looking for volunteers to respond to enquiries, who are excellent communicators and looking to make a difference in the lives of young people and their families.