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Anyone volunteer for Childline (or similar)?

spacecadet_99, 27 May, 2009 at 09:15 Posted on Off Topic Posts 0 3

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I want to meet new people and I want to do something a bit different from my normal work, I've been toying with the idea of volunteering for some time but been busy with OU stuff. Now that that's coming to an end I had thought about contacting Childline (there's an office not far from me) and seeing if they need any admin volunteers at the moment - with a view to possibly doing switchboard or even counselling if I feel I can manage.

Just wanted to get a rough idea of what it's like really before I contact them as I don't want to waste their time. What sort of hours do they usually want you to commit to? I could manage a shift a week most weeks I think (2-3 hours?) and could be quite flexible about the days as I don't have any time-sensitive commitments. What is the work like and is there a good community to support you if some of it is emotionally difficult (which I assume it would be)?

TIA ?

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Latest activity by marmalade atkins, 27 May, 2009 at 14:01

Beginner June 2007
Champagne · 27 May, 2009 at 10:12
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We have a friend who's a Samaritan. She received some fairly intense training, has access to counselling should she need it and does minimum 1 overnight shift per month.

Best thing is to contact them and ask what you could do, training, hours etc.

HTH. Good luck.
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cherry_bomb · 27 May, 2009 at 11:52
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I volunteer for Samaritans. It is a pretty big commitment - as Champagne says, quite intense training (all day Sundays for about a month) and then a regular shift commitment which is one morning/afternoon/evening shift per fortnight (approx 4-5 hours) plus one overnight shift (either 10pm-3am or 3am-8am) per month. I believe other branches have slightly different shifts, this is at central London branch.

I'm not sure about at Childline, but at Samaritans we don't have any admin volunteers, everyone is on the phones and there's no switchboard as such, you just answer the phone and then talk to the person calling - although again, because we're a big branch we have some paid full-time staff who do things like building management and filing, so possibly some of the smaller branches would need help with things like this. I would really recommend being a listening/counselling volunteer though - it's really rewarding and the training is great so you're very well prepared for it.

It is a great way to meet new people too - there are a lot of regulars on my shift and the support is fantastic, we're on a Friday night so always go out for a drink together after we've finished.
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Beginner May 2005
kierenthecommunity · 27 May, 2009 at 12:58
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I looked into childline once, but it kind of fell by the wayside with shift work and all...

they have two types of volunteers iirc...on the phones or fundraising
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Beginner January 2008
marmalade atkins · 27 May, 2009 at 14:01
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I looked in to volunteering for Childline but was unable to commit to the full 10 weeks of training (one night a week for 4 hours) as I had a holiday booked. When the runts are bigger, I intend to reapply. When I learn to drive, I'd love to be a Help the Aged/Age Concern volunteer as well.

At that time you could have been a counsellor or fundraiser as KTC says.
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