Volunteer Telford

Read Easy Telford and Shropshire East is affiliated to Read Easy UK, a national charity that helps adults learn to read and which has nearly 60 groups across England.

Read Easy Telford & Wrekin was established in 2019 and continues to grow to be a highly impactful local group with an increasing number of Reading Pairs (Reading Coach and Reader).

It is run by a hard-working, dedicated group of team members, all of whom are also volunteers.
The group is now seeking a new Volunteer Coordinator.

The Coordinator is central to the running of each Read Easy group as the first point of contact for adults wanting to learn to read. 

Role:

To support readers from the first time they contact the group, through to their pairing with a coach and on until they complete the Turning Pages scheme.

To also support coaches from their initial application and interview to pairing and coaching sessions.

What do you need to have?

In this role, you will be providing a puppy with a vital foundation for its future role as a guide dog. This is a full-time volunteering opportunity as a puppy will live with you in your home for around 12-16 months.

What you’ll be doing

We rely on volunteers like you to help us improve the lives of people with sight loss. In this role your support will include:

- Following Guide Dogs Puppy Raising for Excellent Partnerships (PREP) programme, to raise and prepare a puppy to become a guide dog.

- Using our guidelines to care for your puppy e.g., providing sufficient exercise.

- Familiarising a puppy to a wide range of environments.

- Teaching a puppy to be alone by gradually building up from a few minutes to a maximum of 4 hours.

- Attending regular puppy classes.

- Meeting regularly with Guide Dogs representatives to discuss your pup’s development.

- Completing regular on-line questionnaires to help us monitor puppy progress.

You’ll get

Volunteering is a two-way street, so in return for your time you will get a dedicated volunteer manager/key contact who will help you settle in and support you during your time with us. You’ll also get:

- The satisfaction in knowing you are supporting people with sight loss to live actively, independently, and well.

- The challenge and reward of seeing a puppy develop in your home.

- The opportunity to learn and develop your understanding in dog body language, learning theory, the human animal bond and the life of a guide dog.

Training and support

This role has 13 hours of training and then you’ll be ready to go! These modules include:

- Our bespoke Puppy Raising for Excellent Partnerships (PREP) training to support you at every stage of the puppy’s development.

- Ongoing training both virtually and face to face as part of the role.

If you have questions about the training requirements, we can answer these at your interview along with any other support or accessibility needs you may have.

Volunteering for Guide Dogs should never leave you out of pocket. We’ll make sure we pay any expenses related to your volunteering with us in line with our policy.

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We have opportunities for volunteers with experience in social media marketing and general administration.

Candidates would be home based and hours would be flexible.

Local homelessness organisations Stay, Maninplace and YMCA are looking for a handyman or women to carry out general DIY tasks in the flats/houses that we manage in Telford.

Please get in touch if you are able to offer some time to help us maintain the accommodation offered to the people we help.

You would be required to undertake internal and external DIY tasks such as repairs and maintenance. This could include building flat pack furniture, hanging pictures, putting up curtain poles, minor plumbing and electrical tasks, painting & decorating etc.