Nightstop is a low-risk service where volunteer Hosts offer a place to stay for the night to young people who may come with a variety of low to medium needs. Our Nightstop team carefully risk assesses all guests before they stay and we provide wrap-around support to hosts and guests to support the placement.
Our on-call volunteer team is part of this support. They are there to provide a point of contact and reassurance for Nightstop hosts and guests outside of the main service hours of 9.00-5.00pm.
The purpose of the on-call volunteer role is to:
- facilitate a safe and appropriately managed ‘hosting arrangement’ between host and guest
- respond to and, where possible, bring to a resolution concerns raised by hosts or guests in relation to their Nightstop stay as arranged by Sussex Nightstop staff.
On-call volunteers are not asked to:
- organise or re-negotiate stays
- replace emergency front-line services
- provide advice to guests outside of that described in our guidance.
Skills
- Ability to stay calm and patient
- Reliable access to a phone and email account that will support secure email exchange (we currently use Egress and can support this set-up)
- Ability to reliably follow administrative tasks
- A good understanding of boundaries particularly in relation to personal data
- Commitment to safeguarding young people and adults and promoting their welfare
- Excellent communication and listening skills
- The ability to understand and work within procedural and policy guidance
- Ability to be non-judgemental and to treat all clients with sensitivity and respect, irrespective of their backgrounds, opinions, cultural and ethical beliefs.
Benefits
- Involvement in a vital community project that helps to prevent homelessness in our city - hosts tell us it’s good to be part of the solution and they get a huge sense of satisfaction from their role.
- Access to training, guidance and support from Nightstop staff and on-call volunteer peers and the opportunity to develop your volunteering role to other areas of Sussex Nightstop such as supporting community events if desired.
- The chance to be a part of the
Sussex Nightstop community with the opportunity to meet and make friends
with other like-minded people at our host social events throughout the
year.
Practical Considerations
This role can be done from home. We ask our on-call volunteers to:
- Be available to cover a minimum of 3-5 on-call slots per month (with some weekend cover being desirable)
- Liaise with the Nightstop team to provide on-call rota availability a month in advance
- Be fully available during the on-call time slot you are covering (5.00pm – 9.00am weekdays and 9.00am – 9.00am weekend days)
- Refrain from drinking or partaking in any other recreational substances (both legal/illegal) whilst on-call
- Follow the procedural guidance relating to on-call when responding to calls
- To take receipt of and read a Nightstop log of information when you are on-call providing you with any need-to-know information for that night’s Nightstop stays
- Ensure that you have sight of your phone and are able to respond within 15 minutes of receiving a call
- Be available to participate in (usually by telephone) a post on-call check-in the following day
- To participate in 6 monthly on-call peer support meetings
- To participate in any training deemed necessary to the role including suicide-prevention training
- To meet the recruitment requirements and from therein to participate in any supplementary training deemed necessary to the role.
When do I need to be available?
Details | Our support worker liaises with the On-call team each month to set up a rota for the next month. We ask that volunteers: • Be available to cover a minimum of 3-5 on-call slots per month (with some weekend cover being particularly desirable) • Be fully available during the on-call time slot to which they are allocated which is 5.00pm – 9.00am on weekdays and 9.00am – 9.00am on weekend days. |
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- Interests
- Homeless and Housing
- Older People
- Young People
- Details
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Disabled Access
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Equal Opportunities Policy or Statement
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Expenses
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Health and Safety
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Induction
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Insurance Cover for Volunteers
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Other
Must satisfy a Basic DBS check -
Suitable for 13 - 16 years
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Suitable for 16 - 18 years
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Suitable for a group of volunteers
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Suitable only for (e.g. 18+, LGBT, BAME, Women only)
People over the age of 25 years only -
Support on Offer
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This role is adaptable for different abilities
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Training