Telephone Support Volunteer – Greater Preston, Chorley & South Ribble

Support sought from people in the West Lancashire, Greater Preston, Chorley & South Ribble areas. Although you’ll be volunteering from home – living in these areas is important for making sure we get to spend time with you, and the bond having that local knowledge and connection evokes for the people you’ll be helping.

As a Telephone Support Volunteer you would be contacting people living with dementia or affected by dementia after their support has been delivered by their Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Adviser. This would include:

• Follow up calls to check problems or concerns have been benefited or if further support is needed
• Reassurance calls to help someone’s confidence with ideas from their support plan
• Evaluation calls asking what we did well or could do better, perhaps finding ideas that will help people more in future

You would be providing people a friendly voice and another connection to their community, helping them to know Alzheimer’s Society is here with support and ideas as and when needed.

You’ll be bringing that friendly voice to people who may be experiencing a lot of difficulty or emotion and have opportunity to help them in those moments, and the comfort and support of referring back in to our Dementia Adviser service for further in-depth support as required.

You’ll be working from and recording notes needing sound IT knowledge and confidence. We’ll supply a phone, and you’ll access us off your own computer using a virtual desktop.

The local team will support you by:

• Spending time with you so you know what the team and the work we do is like
• Helping you learn more about dementia and the support and ideas faced
• Staying in regular contact
• We’ll have a key buddy and someone available for questions or just to talk to as needed while you’re volunteering

And we’ll ask that the commitment from yourself includes:

• With us for a minimum 9 months. This is to give you and us plenty of time to learn, develop, find rhythms, and have plenty of time to make lots of lasting impact
• Good communication. This will be a flexible role for timings through the week, daytime Monday to Friday, but for us to support you we’ll need to know when you expect to be active so we and you know who your buddy for that time is.

Interested? To apply for this role please click on the ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the page.

You’ll be great for the role if you:

• You want to enable people using our service access the right support.
• You have good verbal communication and listening skills, particularly on the telephone.
• You are perceptive and able to demonstrate empathy with others.
• You are flexible, willing to learn and enjoy being part of a team.
• You are over the age of 18

If you find completing online applications difficult, please don’t let this stop you from applying….please call or email us and we can support you with the application process. You can contact the Volunteering Support Team by emailing volunteering@alzheimers.org.uk or call on 0300 222 5706.

Dementia is the biggest health and social challenge of our time.

There are currently estimated to be 900,000 people in the UK with dementia. Many are undiagnosed and facing the realities of their condition alone.

At Alzheimer’s Society we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. We do this by giving help to those living with dementia today and providing hope for the future. We’re here for everyone living with dementia.

As a Society, we are made up of people with dementia, carers, trusted experts, campaigners, researchers and clinicians. We are the UK’s largest collective force of people with unparalleled knowledge and over 40 years of experience addressing the biggest challenges facing people living with dementia.

Our Values

We are Determined to make a difference when and where it matters most, by being passionate, focussed and making a lasting impact for people affected by dementia.

Every one of us is a Trusted expert, listening, learning and using evidence and experience. We are Better together by being open, combining our strengths, helping us to achieve more together. We are Compassionate, we are kind and honest, and we don’t shy away from challenges.

Through our values we will make the greatest difference for people affected by dementia.

Equal Opportunities

We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer’s Society.

We are committed to building a diverse organisation that represents the communities we serve and ensuring inclusion in everything we do. During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and be at your best.