Mental Health and Wellbeing Volunteering Project The Mental Health and Wellbeing Volunteer Project, funded by SBUHB and managed by SCVS, is a Social Support Project for people with mental ill health. About the Project The Mental Health and Well Being Project works with volunteers to support anyone that has been affected by mental ill health. Based at SCVS, working from locations across Swansea and Port Talbot volunteers are recruited, vetted, trained and supported to offer social support for individuals. Volunteers normally support groups or individuals on a weekly basis, both in the community and on local psychiatric wards; they are encouraging and will support people to make their own choices, increasing their confidence and building self-esteem. By accessing local services and facilities, creating new social links and developing wider social networks, individual’s well-being is significantly improved. If you are interested in finding out more about the project, please get in touch with Polly, Rachel or anyone within the Involve team. What can you do? Swansea: Supporting people with mental ill health in the community through our Tuesday Coffee Club. Supporting in-patients on psychiatric wards in Cefn Coed hospital. Supporting group activities in Cefn Coed hospital. Supporting recently discharged patients during their transition back into community life. If you have a dog, you can also go through the ‘Pets as Therapy’ process and bring the dog onto wards in Cefn Coed. (additional training required) Neath and Port Talbot: Supporting in-patients on the psychiatric ward in Neath Port-Talbot hospital. Supporting recently discharged patients during their transition back into community life. What you'll need to volunteer, and how to find out more We don't ask for formal qualifications, we feel it's more important for our volunteers to possess a caring, outgoing nature, and to have a general respect for all individuals; we would particularly welcome volunteers who have experienced their own mental ill health. To become a volunteer, you would firstly need to meet with us for an informal interview where we are interested to know why you would like to volunteer, what you hope to gain from it and so on. We then provide you with training, so you have the knowledge to carry out the role. We then meet with you to see how you found the training and how prepared you feel for the role or if you need any further information. Providing all is ok at this point we then complete a DBS check and a check against Social Services records. Then you are ready to start. Many of our volunteers are students and we actively recruit from local universities, however if you are a student, we do ask that you commit for at least 12 months– the people we support are extremely vulnerable, and it can be difficult for people when volunteers move on once they have formed a trusting relationship. If you would like to find out more about the Project and how you can get involved: Email: Polly Gordon [email protected] or Rachel Wood [email protected] Telephone: 01792 457299 If none of the above are of interest, please visit volunteering-wales.net where you will find lots of different opportunities throughout Swansea. You can also call 01792 544000 and book and appointment with our Volunteer Centre staff who can offer one to one advice and guidance about what volunteering opportunity might suit you the best. Manage Cookie Preferences