Volunteer Mentor

The Bristol, Gloucester, Somerset and Wiltshire (BGSW) Community Rehabilitation Company provide a range of probation services for adult service users on community orders or licences. Our aim is “to change lives and inspire public confidence by cutting crime”.

Job description

Do you believe people make mistakes and everybody deserves a chance to change their lives for the better?

If you are:

Empathetic – able to understand their perspective;

Assertive – able to help them make decisions and find routes of assistance;

Reliable – to be there to help the Service User when agreed/required

If you think you have these abilities we need your time to help and support our Service Users to make positive changes to their lives, as well as your local communities. It is a challenging but rewarding experience and ultimately reduces the potential to reoffending.

You will spend time getting to know the service users, taking an interest in their lives, supporting them emotionally and practically thorough advocacy work and providing some consistency at a difficult time.

If you are thinking of starting a career in criminal justice, substance misuse, debt, advocacy and counselling, this opportunity gives you the ability to gain new skills and an invaluable experience.

Or you may like to use your own personal experiences to help support others, or would simply like to give back the community whilst still learning new skills

Formal training is provided to enable you to deliver the highest quality of mentoring.

A full 2 days training is essential with additional ongoing training throughout your volunteering career

The volunteer unit provides supervision to our volunteers and reasonable out of pocket expenses, including travel will be reimbursed.

We require a commitment of two to three hours per week. The minimum age of applicants is 18 years old with any upper age limit dependant on the physical and mental ability to undertake the role, however we will considered on an individual basis.

We consider applicants with criminal records as we believe everyone can bring their own skills and life experiences to the role.

We require no formal qualifications, just an open mind and a desire to help others.

A DBS certificate is required for this voluntary opportunity.

If this is sounds like an opportunity for you then you can apply for this role via our website which will automatically take you to an online application form. 

Industry: Government

Benefits:

• Flexible working hours
• Reference ID: VMSOM1