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Latest volunteering opportunities

Hi Team Lambeth! It’s a busy edition this week, and quite a variety. Thanks as always to all of you for offering your valuable time – groups and services across the borough need you more than ever.

This week’s photo is of Lambeth’s Cabinet member for Communities, Cllr Anyanwu, delivering PPE to Fatima, the manager at the Eritrean Muslim Community Association, helping with the great care taken to keep them Covid-secure. Lambeth is now in Covid Tier 2: High Alert. Please visit https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19 for help, advice and information about current restrictions.

Home-Start Lambeth – family support

Home-Start Lambeth volunteers provide support, friendship and practical help to families with at least one child under five who are experiencing difficulties. They’re reaching out for volunteers who can give about an hour per week for 6 months minimum. Times can be flexible to suit both you and the family you are supporting. Volunteers will:

• offer support tailored to the needs of the families over the phone, via Zoom and/or via socially distanced meet ups
• build a supportive relationship with the family in which the challenges of family life can be discussed, positive strategies encouraged, and also encourage parents’ strengths and emotional well-being so they can best support their children
• encourage families to widen their network of relationships and to use the support and services available in the community effectively.

Do you have parenting or childcare experience and skills which may benefit families? You’ll need to be able to maintain confidentiality but recognise that there may be occasions when disclosure of is essential to the welfare of a child. You’ll need to understand the importance of reliability and punctuality when supporting families, have good listening and communication skills, record keeping, inclusion, and be able to attend training as required.

Your own experiences and skills can help another family more than you could imagine – Home Start would love to hear from you.

Age UK – Phone Friends and helping the elderly

We’re right into winter now and with COVID still a topic of daily conversation, Age UK are still actively recruiting volunteers. Whether you would like to volunteer to have a 'phone friend' and be matched with an elderly member of the community and have a weekly conversation that will help and reduce isolation and loneliness, or you have some extra time and would like to help elderly members of the community who may be shielding or isolating - whatever way you may able to help, they would love to hear from you. If you would like to find out about how to volunteer for Age UK Lambeth, please send Age UK your details

Myatt’s Field Park Project – secretariat and minute-takers

Myatt’s Field Park Project is fantastically busy and very successful, run and managed by several specialist committees. They need secretarial support to take the minutes of their Events and Funding sub-groups, and also their main Board. They need a co-ordinator to ensure papers are sent out ahead of all meetings and then filed securely. MFPP hold 4 Board meetings a year, including the AGM; sub-groups currently meet monthly over zoom. Although one person could do all of this, they’d be really happy to have a minute taker for each committee, and a co-ordinator to circulate, collate and store all paperwork. If you are well-organised and timely, please let us know if you could help with the MFPP secretariat roles.

Millennium Services – social media and marketing

Millennium Services’ mission is to build better access to the internet for all people by using assistive technology, developing a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable online community, enabled by assistive technology, modern ways of working, and helping the elderly and disabled adults through the use of hardware/software tools and platforms. They’re looking for social media creators and marketing volunteers to give about 2 hours a week to help build their profile and reach – can you help Millennium?

Brixton Neighbourhood Forum – tech support

BNF’s administrator is on a sharp technological learning curve, using a laptop and software that she’s not entirely sure about. Are you able to give some time to work through with her what she’s got, and how to use it best? Currently communicating by phone because the sound on her laptop doesn’t seem to work – can you be the ‘help desk’ in her life?

Brixton Windmill – Winter Market volunteers & stewards

This is a one-off call for volunteers to help at the Brixton Windmill Winter Market on Sunday 13th December. The Windmill needs a team to put up gazebos and tables in the park in the morning (10am-11.30am) and then to dismantle and pack them away at the end (3.45pm-5.30pm). They also need stewards at the Centre on the day, helping the regular volunteers at the café and shop, and monitoring social distancing at the market. Induction provided in the morning on the same day.

Brixton Windmill – Café volunteers

The Brixton Windmill café will be open from Monday to Friday (2 hours per day plus extra time to set up) and every other weekend from April to November (5 hours per day), open to the public visiting the local park and the windmill. The café serves light refreshments and hot drinks, currently offering only a takeaway service, subject to Covid restrictions. Volunteers will run the café from setting up, through to serving light refreshments and drinks, to taking payments. Everyone will be offered training in food safety and processing iZettle payments, and shadowing with a more experienced member of the team. You’ll need to be able to commit to 3 months from April next year – fancy it?

Brixton Windmill – stewards and receptionists

The new Brixton Windmill Centre will be open Mon-Fri 10am-3pm for visitors and project participants, subject to Covid restrictions. On each shift, there will be one volunteer responsible for the reception area - greeting visitors, providing basic information about the centre’s activities and guided tours at the windmill. There is also a possibility to help with the basic admin tasks at the same time, e.g. monitoring email inbox for general enquiries, updating Excel data spreadsheets, collating Gift Aid claims, filing – subject to the training provided by Brixton Windmill staff. Volunteers will receive induction training with the Centre’s team and first aid training, subject to availability. You’ll need to be able to commit to three months…

Brixton Windmill – Education Team

The Windmill Education Team works Tuesday and Wednesdays, morning and afternoon shifts (3 hours each) during term-time, along with ad hoc days and times for other education programmes. They organise regular workshops for primary school groups. Each workshop will require assistance from two volunteers helping out the teacher. There will also be an opportunity to help with preparation for other education projects. Volunteers will receive induction training with the Education Team and first aid training, subject to availability. Again, you’ll need to be able to commit to a minimum of three months.

Let us know here if you would like to know more about any of the Brixton Windmill roles.

Lambeth Forum Network – Zoom host

The Lambeth Forum Network is holding it’s annual ‘away day’ from the comfort of their various living rooms on the afternoon of 17 December. The LFN has got access to a 'professional' Zoom account but needs support to get their online workshop on the road, set up and manage breakout rooms and presentations, and trouble shoot any technical challenges on the day. Have you figured out the technicalities of Zoom and can lend your help to a network of volunteers setting their local priorities for the year ahead? The LFN would love to hear from you.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Please encourage your friends and neighbours to sign up to Team Lambeth too – so many groups and vital services could benefit from the time, energy and experience of even more generous Lambeth residents.

If you have any questions or feedback about Team Lambeth, or would like to recruit some volunteers yourself, please contact Gerry

Gerry Evans

Team Lambeth