Volunteers on the helpline provide emotional support and practical information to anyone who has experienced any form of domestic abuse. They also provide support to the family, friends, and professionals supporting survivors. Interviews and training will be via Teams and our online training platform, and Helpline work is carried out in our Central Brighton office on Monday and Tuesday mornings.
Training will take place via e-learning in your own time during the training period, with regular live online sessions to discuss what you have learnt at key stages. With your consent we will apply for a DBS for you during this time. You will then start to come into the office during your allocated 4 hour shift for further hands-on practical training during live helpline sessions.
*This post is open to female applicants only as being female is deemed to be a genuine occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Paragraph 1 of the Equality Act 2010.
We're looking for volunteers who are:
- Passionate about supporting survivors of domestic and sexual abuse
- Compassionate and resilient to the experiences of domestic abuse
- Good listeners who want to develop their listening skills even more
- Organised, reliable and comfortable using computers and smartphones
- Ready to commit to one helpline session per week for at least 1 year
Main Duties
- Supporting clients to assess their needs.
- Supporting clients to assess any risks which may be present for them.
- Prioritising the risk, needs and safety of clients and their children.
- Triaging clients to the service which is most appropriate for their needs.
- Offering clients signposting and referring to local and national services.
- Providing clients with safety advice.
- Providing clients with education on Domestic Abuse and the dynamics of this.
- Providing clients with emotional and practical support.
- Providing administrative support including recording on case files, maintaining duty systems, letter/email writing, and processing referrals.
- Answering calls/emails, arranging appointments, completing initial assessments and updating case files.
- Recording, triaging, and responding to completed online referral forms
To apply for this role, please download our application form here and return completed forms to us at [email protected]. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
Due to the extensive training needed to prepare you for this role, we ask that you sign up to volunteering with us for a minimum of 1 year. Please do consider whether you will be able to make this commitment before applying.