Specialist Play Volunteer

At Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, we run a range of specialist play and therapy activities for children who are seriously unwell and their families. Our Specialist Play Team develop and deliver play sessions that meet the individual needs of a child. Play sessions are child-led and all play is looked at from a holistic approach to enable positive outcomes for children and families.

Specialist Play Volunteers support our Specialist Play Team in the provision of play and entertainment to the children and young people who use the services within the hospice.

We are looking to recruit Specialist Play Volunteers to deliver play activities on weekends when Noah’s Ark have children and families visiting the Ark on the weekend for respite stays. Volunteers will be provided with appropriate training and guidance to deliver specialist play activities. We are also open to volunteers delivering their own activities with support from the Specialist Play team in making the activities accessible to the children and families that we support.

The role will not involve assisting with clinical procedures or administering medication and will not be left alone with a child / young person who is seriously unwell.

Noah’s Ark takes their responsibility for safeguarding the wellbeing of children seriously. This role is subject to two references and completing an Enhanced DBS Check.

 

Main activities/tasks:

 

• Delivering sensory and developmental play activities with children staying in the Ark for respite stays on weekends.
• Playing with children to help them access a range of activities (e.g arts & crafts, music and storytelling)
• Maintaining a kind, friendly and positive approach towards Noah’s Ark children, families and staff.
• Lead with the preparation of all specialist play activities for the shift
• Help with post-activity tidying, including cleaning and sorting toys
• Follow all instructions given by the Specialist Care Team and Shift Leaders
• If delivering your own activities, work with the Specialist Play team to adapt activities to ensure they are accessible for children supported by Noah’s Ark.
• Attend volunteer supervision sessions every 3 months.
• Adhere to all of Noah’s Ark’s environmental, health and safety policies and procedures when delivering activities

Qualities/ experience/ skills needed:

 

• Ability to work well with others and able to follow instructions and be part of a team
• Ability and willingness to learn specialist play activities to deliver
• Friendly and outgoing with a good sense of humor
• Emotional Control
• Understanding of confidentiality
• A good understanding of the role and of Noah’s Ark’s expectations of volunteers
• Good communication skills
• Reliability, commitment and engagement
• Initiative and problem-solving skills
• A good level of self-awareness

Experience of working with children, young people or families is desirable but not essential. We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds with all sorts of skills

Opportunities of the role:

• Gain rewarding experience of working directly with children, young people and their families
• Build knowledge of following delivering structured specialist play activities
• Develop communication sensitivity skills with children and young people in challenging circumstances
• You are entitled to claim reasonable travelling expenses at the current mileage rate for car users or public transport costs

Interviews, training and assessment process:

At Noah’s Ark, we value volunteer support, but we are also aware that not all roles are suitable for everyone.  The interview and training process is in place to ensure that the Noah’s Ark staff get to know more about you, that you are given the correct training for the role and that you can find out if this is a role you would like to undertake.  The training process is as follows:

• Volunteer Information Session: All potential volunteers have to attend one of these sessions before they are able to get involved in any capacity.
• Interview: This will take place at the Noah’s Ark Office at a mutually agreeable time.
• Core Training: A full day of training to educate and prepare volunteers on our approach to volunteering with families that Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice supports. Core Training is ran on weekend days at the Ark, Byng Road, Barnet EN5 4NP.
• Specialist Care Training Module: 3 hour training module on delivering specialist play activities and specific details on specialist play volunteering
• Safeguarding Training: 1 morning or 1 evening, depending on the schedule, this helps to ensure the safety of our service.

 

To apply, please click this link.