dyscover – rediscovering communication

There are many reasons why our volunteers come to Dyscover to help us deliver our services. They may wish to gain hands on experience in a new field; they may have retired and want to be part of a team within their community; they may have been touched by stroke or aphasia themselves or they may simply have a little time on their hands to give to others and want an interesting role. Whatever the reason, our volunteers are vital in helping us deliver our service to our members.

“Without our wonderful and dedicated volunteers, Dyscover could not provide the unique service that is provided to us” Mike, Dyscover member

By volunteering with us you will benefit in many ways and find it a very rewarding experience. You will:

•  Gain new skills, knowledge and experience
•  Be fully trained to help you deliver the best to our members
•  Meet new people, make new friends and work as a team
•  Get to know the local community

“The training and support I have received from Dyscover has given me the opportunity to join a group of people and help them to improve their quality of life. The experience is very rewarding and worthwhile.” Pamela, volunteer

“Since volunteering for Dyscover I can truly say I have never volunteered for such a caring group. They not only care, so much, for members but also for us volunteers with wonderful support and very interesting ongoing training. From day one, I was welcomed with open arms and never felt that uncomfortable feeling of being ‘new’. We are appreciated beyond belief by both members and staff. My time spent with Dyscover is both rewarding and fulfilling” Anne, volunteer

“Becoming a volunteer at Dyscover has enabled me not only to give something back but to also be in the enviable position of engaging with the community. At Dyscover there is great team spirit where members, professionals and volunteers support each other to ensure positive outcomes” Gillian, volunteer

We have a range of opportunities for volunteers to become involved in our work:

Group volunteers: The majority of our volunteers support our conversation groups and the work of our speech and language therapists. This is usually for one regular morning or afternoon a week (4 or 5 hours) – during term time (40 weeks a year) although many help us out at our events too. We have a termly programme of events including small group discussions, talks, games, outings, social events, relatives’ support group.

All our group volunteers receive initial and ongoing training, and are supported by their team leader and volunteer co-ordinator.

Office volunteers: we also have volunteers who help us out with IT and software issues, write our newsletters, support our Community Aphasia awareness Project (CAAP) and we also recruit volunteers to help us out on an ad hoc basis with mailings and other office duties.

Profile raising volunteers: we are intent upon raising the profile of aphasia – we know that 9 out of 10 people have not heard of the condition. Although based in Surrey, we would like to contribute to the national awareness of this disability and therefore are always looking for people to help us do this. But we also need to make local people and communities aware of aphasia and of Dyscover. We welcome members from anywhere in Surrey or beyond providing they can reach us. Please contact us if you are interested in PR or marketing volunteering roles at Dyscover to help us spread the word.

Fundraising volunteers: we are involved in many activities throughout the year to raise much needed funds to help us provide our services for our members. From local village fairs to large fun runs, we depend upon the help and skills of volunteers to help us make these a success. From organising whole events to being there on the day, we are always in need of enthusiastic people to make all the difference.

“The training I received was excellent” Tom, volunteer

If you would like to find out more about the current volunteering opportunities and our forthcoming open mornings please contact us.

Please do contact us if you are interested in volunteering with us.

Information: we will send you a pack with information about Dyscover, our volunteering opportunities, and open mornings.

Open mornings: we hold open mornings each term for those interested in volunteering for Dyscover. Here you will get a chance to hear all about Dyscover and our work, and then join one of our conversation group sessions and meet some of our members and volunteers. Please note that places are bookable.

Apply: If you then feel volunteering for Dyscover is for you, we invite you to complete a volunteer application form. On this form you will be able to tell us a bit about yourself and your interests and we will require the names of two people who will be willing to give a reference for you. They can be people you have worked with either in the paid or voluntary sector or can be others who have known you over many years.

Interview: We will then offer you an interview which is a meeting which enables you to tell us more about yourself and what kind of volunteering role you are looking for, and it enables us to decide what kind of role we can offer you at Dyscover.

We will then let you know whether we will be able to offer you a volunteering role, take up your references and seek your approval to carry out a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check. This is a necessary procedure for anyone who is working with “Vulnerable Adults” and our members fall within this category.