AMHA has a long tradition of using volunteers, indeed from its very inception, and is governed by the national quality assurance standard ‘Investing in Volunteers’.  Volunteers are recruited in all areas of AMHA and play a pivotal role in delivering services.  The use of peer volunteers to help lead and facilitate services is of considerable importance and it is enshrined in the value base that influences the recruitment of peer volunteers within the Connect and Discovery Services.

Recruiting volunteers has multi-faceted benefits, not just for the agency, but likewise for communities and individuals.  As a respected and benchmarked quality assured provider of volunteer placements AMHA is well placed to use its volunteer arm and not just for service delivery as suggested.  It can be used to promote and increase:

• Self-esteem and confidence
• knowledge
• Raise awareness of mental health
• Community engagement and inclusion
• Social and economic capacity

Throughout our services we need volunteers to work in partnership with staff and service users to maximise the benefits gained from the work of the Association. A number of people already contribute their time and skills within the various projects in a variety of ways. By taking the time to have a chat with someone, to producing posters, or to enabling someone to go down the street to the local shops volunteers can fulfil important roles.

WHAT HELP AND SUPPORT CAN YOU EXPECT AS A VOLUNTEER?

As a volunteer in a professional organisation you may expect support from the paid staff. Volunteers are very much valued by the Association and are at its very core. Put simply, without volunteers the Association would be unable to provide their much needed and invaluable services. That is why when you make a commitment to volunteering we in turn make a commitment to you:

The Association and Project Co-ordinators will:

• Provide relevant training and, in future, pertinent ongoing training.
• Re-imburse travel costs pertaining to the voluntary work you undertake.
• Re-imburse reasonable out of pocket expenses.
• Provide regular supervision.
• Out with supervision a relevant member of staff will make themselves available should a volunteer seek or require assistance
• Support you throughout your voluntary work.
• Organise monthly support meetings and/or social events on a volunteer led basis.

We anticipate that under mutual agreement a volunteer will:

• Offer a level of commitment that can be reasonably maintained.
• Be reliable and consistent.
• Commit time to supervision and appreciate its purpose.
• Not exchange money in order that potential misunderstandings may be avoided.
• Consider and respect others (be it colleagues or service users).
• Not undertake a task or activity that he/she feels uncomfortable with.
• Report any concerns to a relevant member of staff

If you would like to volunteer with AMHA or find out more, talk to one of our project Co-ordinators via the Contact Us page.