Issue two, October 2021
This blog is intended to be read by our amazing and valued volunteers, who together make everything possible.
We have volunteers active in the following roles:
Activities Dementia Support Volunteer
Activity Assistant
Kitchen Assistant
Transport Minibus Driver
Fleet Car Driver
Own Car Driver
Driver's Assistant
Places Retail Assistant
To all our volunteers, thank you for anything and everything that you do for your communities.
A warm welcome to our newer volunteers. As new volunteers start with TIMEtogether, they will work their way through a 4-part process:
Register
Safeguard
Meet Us
Prepare
The latter can be started before volunteer completes the other elements, however must be complete before starting. Prepare includes learning about the role you have volunteered to do, as well as to learn about the charity policies, and also some really specific things directly from their line managers. We would like to make sure that all of our volunteers have enough information to do their role comfortably and safely.
You can find out more information for the three role groups at the following webpages (get password from your line manager):
THEME: TIMEtogether Activities
We are delighted to see the return of more of our activities, and to meet our wonderful members again. Thank you to everyone who are making adjustments following the restrictions to make that all possible. We still operate with our local restrictions, which have been in place following a reviewed risk assessment; you know we do not want to put anyone at risk by operating so we have our own Covid Rules - the latest version is found on the top right hand side of all of our website pages.
To understand risk control, we start by understanding the benefit of the action, and work forward from there to make a balanced control of benefit vs risk. Our controls need to be respected and we look to everyone to be responsible in every way, and the best way to do that is to prevent infection.
Please consider these requests whilst volunteering:
testing frequently
masking if close to people (to prevent anything you have being passed on to others
clean your hands
ensure the space is well ventilated
You will notice at groups how well our members and other volunteers are doing great to stick to the rules; the rules help to be safe and also to feel safe.
As of the beginning of October, we have the following groups active and running:
Monday Emley Dementia Group
Tuesday Kirkburton Dementia Group
Wednesday Kirkburton Film Club
Thursday Mirfield Dementia Group
Marsden Memory Cafe
Denby Dale Cream Teas @CafeConnect
Friday Emley Dementia Group
Kirkburton Cream Teas @CafeConnect
Other activities, without specific venues include:
Walkie Talkies
Online Connection
Community Helpline
In the next issue, we will talk about our transport projects.
NEWS | Mirfield Dementia Support Group new service
We are delighted to announce the amazing launch of the Mirfield Dementia Group. This group started with 50% of the places taken, and with interest and referrals in the other places. Congratulations to the Dementia Team for making that such a successful launch.
We received feedback on the day from our new member's carers:
Carer comment:
"...well that is the first time I saw mum smile this year, thank you so much..."
New member comment
"...I have so enjoyed being with other people again, I cannot wait to come next week..."
Our Dementia Support Groups operate for five hours, weekly, with a cooked meal and transport - we are working out how to restart our monthly trips for our members, and through September were doing visits to our key destinations to evaluation the risks and control measures. We are all hoping we can get the trips up and running again sometime soon.
NEWS| Kirkburton Film and Food Group
We were delighted with the response to restart the Film Club, with all places filled and we welcomed new volunteers who have made the reopening straight forward with great ideas and some great work. Our members told us that they did not want to watch a film for the first week, as they just want to get used to being together again.
NEWS | Denby Dale Cream Teas new weekly service
We are delighted to announce the return of the cream teas however we have decided to try it as a weekly event. The logic behind that is that the usual 20+ customers may be spread out over a few different days, with fewer people per session, making it more covid secure with less risk. The cream teas has moved out of the charity shop and into the room that the office has moved out of, unit 12b in Springfield Mill.
TRAINING CENTRE NEWS | Easier ways to make your role better
We have worked with our wonderful volunteer teams and listened to feedback, trying to help you understand and prepare for your roles in a friendlier and reasonable manner; we hope you like our approach.
For each role, we have a Google Form with links to training documents and short 1-2 minute films to watch, which you can do when it is convenient to you. Just tick the check-box to say you have done it and submit. You can use our devices in the office or shops if you cannot access the internet at home.
In addition to these, we have put some of them together for each role in a Coffee & Cake session for our teams to unite to talk about the role, expectations, experiences, chance to feedback and also for ourselves to learn too.
Of course, we continue to offer the usual courses, which we sell to local businesses, but you get them FREE:
Emergency First Aid 6 hrs - 11/10/21; 4/11/21; 6/12/21
Emergency First Aid 3+3 hrs - 29/10/21 & 5/11/2021
First Aid at Work 18 hrs - 12-13/10/21
Food Safety 6 hrs - 28/10/21
CPR 3 hrs - 12/11/21
Basic First Aid 3 hrs - 19/11/21
If you take Basic First Aid and CPR in the same week, you will qualify for Emergency First Aid.
Here are links to information to help you in your roles:
These pages are password protected; please see your line manager for your password.
SAFEGUARDING | Where to get help if someone is at risk of harm?
It is very important to understand how someone can be at risk from harm, especially if they are vulnerable. But what does that mean? Our Safeguarding Policy has definitions about what the different ways someone could experience harm and how we can spot it, and report it. This document and a safeguarding poster can be found at www.ddc.org.uk/about_us
HEALTH & SAFETY | Are you safe where you volunteer?
It is very important to understand your own role with respect to your own health and safety and that of others around you. We have our Health & Safety Policy on our webpage www.ddc.org.uk/about_us which you can read, but importantly be familiar with its concepts and know where to refer back to.
Please do speak to your line manager about our health and safety courses to help you to be safe in your role.
FEEDBACK | You can tell us what your thoughts are
Talk to Us About It is the name of our feedback poster, encouraging people to let us know when we do good or not. We genuinely would like to know, to help us improve or just to know that the rationale we had in a previous decision was right for you.
This poster is found at webpage www.ddc.org.uk/about_us and has links to feedback over the phone, in person, in writing or on-line.
It would be great to let us know what your thoughts are to this blog, your Volunteer News!
Here is our generic poster about everything that we do...
