Adult Buddy - Presbyterian Support Otago

Adult Buddy - Presbyterian Support Otago

$0.00

Organisation

Presbyterian Support Otago

Purpose

Presbyterian Support Otago works for a fair, just and caring community. Motivated by their Christian heritage, and in partnership with others, PSO works across the generations for positive change, strong families and healthy communities.

Description

Do you want to make a positive difference to a young person? Friendly and reliable volunteers who can relate to children are required as big buddies to enhance the life of a young person in this fun and rewarding role.

IMPORTANT: Time Commitment is 2hrs per week and for a minimum of 12 months.

The Buddy Programme is a preventative programme for children between the ages of four and 12 who are matched one-to-one with a trained adult buddy. The service is offered by Family Works Otago, a Presbyterian Support Service initiative, which was developed in 1992.

The children are referred from a variety of different agencies as well as by their own families. They are referred for a variety of reasons. They are all children whose life circumstances indicate a need for additional adult support.

The aims of the programme are to:

Offer friendship, support and guidance
Increase child’s self esteem
Develop social skills and help children make positive choices
Offer opportunities for new social experiences
Enable fun and happiness

Volunteers are matched to their buddies depending on gender, personality, skills level geographical proximity and professional judgement from the coordinator. Once accepted and trained volunteers will be introduced to their buddy at the child’s home and activities decided upon. Group activities are also organised by the Buddy Programme which offer new experiences for the children and buddies.

Full training is provided which covers communication skills, boundaries, child development, child abuse and family dynamics. Once accepted volunteers are invited to attend further training including grief, first aid and managing difficult behaviour.

The majority of matches are very successful with some relationships in place for a number of years. We hope volunteers enjoy their role and will develop:

Interpersonal skills, particularly with children
Better understanding and appreciation of the needs and feelings of others
Insight into how actions impacts on others

Requirements

To be eligible for this role, you need to be able to commit to a minimum of 12 months volunteering service or longer.

Adult Volunteers need to be over 20 years of age and be committed and reliable, to be good listeners, be unafraid to offer their ideas about what is right or wrong (when appropriate).

They should be able to relate to and understand children whilst developing and maintaining a positive relationship with the child and their families. Volunteers should have an acceptance of differing cultural backgrounds and lifestyles.

Please note, all our volunteers need to complete a Police Check. All volunteers will receive appropriate training and supervision for their role and will be required to sign a Code of Conduct.

As part of PSO’s COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, this volunteer role has been assessed as high risk, meaning that anyone doing this role is required to be fully vaccinated. You do not have to disclose your vaccination status if you do not wish to, however that would mean that we would need to treat your vaccination status as unvaccinated.

Time commitment

Volunteers meet their buddies approximately once a week for 2 hours. Volunteers need to be able to commit to at least 12 months volunteering from the time they are 'matched' with a young buddy. Initial training takes 10 - 12 hours, followed by monthly evening training/catch ups with other adult buddies, between 1 and 2 hours.