Students / School Volunteer Roles

Purpose of the Role:

To support patients transitioning from hospital to home, ensuring their discharge is safe, smooth, and successful. By providing practical assistance and emotional support, you will play a key role in helping individuals regain independence, prevent readmission, and access community resources.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assist with transport, helping patients travel safely from the hospital to their homes.

• Shopping for groceries or other essentials.

• Carrying out simple home safety checks to ensure the environment is suitable for recovery.

• Offer emotional support and reassurance during the transition period.

• Support patients for a minimum of 4 weeks (maximum 6 weeks) post-discharge, either in person (at their home or in the community) or over the phone.

• Help patients connect with local services, activities, and support networks to aid recovery and prevent isolation.

• Encourage and support individuals to re-engage with their community, reducing the likelihood of hospital readmission.

• Guidance and training will be provided on using the Care For Me platform to assign patients, obtain details of patient support, record visits, and monitor attendance.

Skills and Qualities Needed:

• Empathy and the ability to build rapport with people from diverse backgrounds.

• Good communication skills and patience.

• Reliability and commitment to supporting individuals during a vulnerable time.

• Practical problem-solving skills to assist with day-to-day tasks.

• Understanding of confidentiality and safeguarding principles (this will be covered in training)

• Proficient use of the internet. 

• Access to email and a smartphone to use Care For Me. 

Time Commitment:

Flexible, depending on patient needs, with a minimum of 4 weeks (maximum 6 weeks) of support per individual. You might need to be available evenings and weekends.

What You’ll Gain:

• The opportunity to make a meaningful impact in someone’s recovery journey.

• Experience working in partnership with healthcare and community services.

• Training and ongoing support from Age UK Lambeth.

• The chance to develop new skills and connect with your local community. 

Training and Support Provided:

• Full training on hospital discharge processes, safeguarding, lone working and patient support.

• Ongoing support from the Hospital Discharge Community Support Coordinator and the Volunteer Coordinator.

We are looking for Activity Leaders and Activity Assistants to help deliver activity session for various groups of young people and children visiting Cameron's Cottage.

Cameron's Cottage is a outdoor nature education centre for children and young people, based at RSPB Franchises Lodge on the edge of the New Forest. The Cottage has capacity to sleep up to 19, and welcomes both day visiting groups and those coming for a residential stay. RSPB staff lead the groups in a range of different activities, including nature walks, team building games, wildlife surveys known as 'bioblitz', conservation tasks, mindfulness walks and so much more! We are looking for volunteers who would be able to assist RSPB with delivering these activities, and there is the possibility for you to build up confidence and ability to lead these activities, if you are interested.

Please visit our volunteering page to find out more info and fill out our online form to help us connect young people back to nature!

About the Trust

The Great Learners Trust, a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) based in Buckinghamshire, comprises 11 primary schools and serves nearly 3,000 pupils. The Trust is seeking a new Chair of Trustees to guide the board through its next exciting phase of development. The Trust comprises seven primary schools, one infant school, and three junior schools, and is a mixed MAT meaning that it has both Church of England schools as well as community (secular) schools.

After the retirement of the founding CEO, a new CEO was appointed who has a strong track record for driving standards and outcomes. The Trust is now looking for a Chair to join the Trustees and CEO in developing the Trust’s medium- and long-term strategic plans and drive forward a renewed ‘GLT Brand’. Trustees, Governors and staff are passionate about the Trust’s redefined Scheme of Delegation and refreshed vision and values. The Trust is currently undergoing a review of governance (Autumn 2024) to further develop and strengthen strategic operations within the Trust. The Trust has made a strong appointment to the role of CFO who is new to the Trust in September 2024 and they, alongside the CEO, are keen that the Board drive forward a strategic plan to further develop central operations and support to further increase impact for all the Trust’s pupils and staff.

The Trust has two ASD (Autism Spectrum Diagnosis) provisions set across two of its schools and serves some communities with high levels of EAL (English as an Additional Language). The Trust faces some challenges with there being an increase in families moving to the area and sending their children to private education, however the Trust is passionate about the mission to inspire and empower all and is now looking to be ‘Brave, Bold, and Ambitious’ in plans. The Trust is currently leading the way on DfE Digital Strategy and has a number of ongoing initiatives to support pupils’ wider development such as their school bank initiative which teaches students valuable financial literacy skills, promoting responsible money management and savings habits from an early age. 

The Trust’s Requirements 

Great Learners Trust is looking for a Chair to join, and lead, the Board and work alongside the CEO and CFO to bring their strategic vision to life. The CEO has established a thirst for change among staff and the leaders who are keen to work together to champion the Trust’s vision and strengthen strategic leadership to support growth.

Trust Board meetings are held six times a year, typically running 6pm-8pm. Times for the 2024-2025 academic year are open to review in consultation with the Board but will likely remain broadly the same/similar.

Board meetings are planned in advance and are usually held on Wednesdays. Board meetings are held face to face though remote options are available to Trustees in exceptional circumstances. There are also three sub-committees: Education Standards, Finance Audit & Risk, and Personnel. These committees each meet three times a year and also meet 6pm-8pm. Most Trustees sit on 1 committee and committee meetings tend to occur 1-2 weeks before the Trust Board meeting.

Induction for the new Chair will be developed based on the candidate’s previous experience. The former Chair will remain a current Trustee and continues to be a supportive and positive Trustee on the Board and, depending on the successful candidate’s experience, would be willing to support as much or as little as necessary with the transition of the new Chair.

The Trust Board also has access to NGA (National Governance Association), Confederation of School Trusts (CST) and Bucks Education Partnership to support its governance. Candidates will also receive access to ‘The First 100 Days as a Trustee’ immersive eLearning, through Governors for Schools (developed in partnership with CST). 

What difference will you make? 

Volunteering on an academy trust board is deeply rewarding as it allows you to impact the life chances of young people. Academy trusts support schools to give children a better future. For young people to have the best possible opportunities in later life, it’s vital we have individuals with the right expertise leading schools and holding executive teams accountable. Becoming a trustee is a fantastic opportunity to give back to your local community by strengthening education. 

As well as looking for new opportunities to give something back to society, you may be looking for opportunities to build your experience in strategic decision-making at senior level or demonstrate your ability to perform in a non-executive position as part of a portfolio career.

All roles are pro bono

People from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Governing boards should represent the communities they serve, as well as wider society. We welcome interest from underrepresented groups to ensure academy trust boards are diverse in background, skillset, and thought.

Diversity is a powerful instrument for effective governance. Trustees are required to make choices that impact the daily lives of children, from school finance all the way through to staff and pupil recruitment. It’s essential that boards possess a broad set of beliefs, experiences, and ideas to inform their final judgements. We believe that true representation at board level enables all children to fulfil their potential. 

Southend East Community Academy Trust has a total of six schools within 1.5-mile radius of each other:

• Shoeburyness High School
• Hinguar Community Primary School
• Thorpedene Primary School
• Bournes Green Infant School
• Bournes Green Junior School
• and Richmond Avenue Primary and Nursery School

All schools were judged 'Good' at their last Ofsted inspections and serve a diverse catchment area, covering different communities and needs. There are some areas of severe deprivation and others of relative affluence. For example, Shoeburyness High has 48% pupil premium - as measure of deprivation - with high numbers of children in care, high numbers of SEND (Special Education Needs and Disability) including c.80 pupils with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs). SECAT is ambitious to grow further, preferably with the future addition of another secondary school.

All schools are within their budgets and the trust has suitable reserves. The current board has a good mix of expertise and skills, with good diversity in age, gender and ethnicity. This includes two trustees who are parents of children in some of the schools.

Meetings

All trustees tend to join one committee, either Curriculum & Pupil Matters or Finance, Audit & Risk. The board meets four times a year - these meetings have been mainly virtual but there is a clear desire to move to more (if not all) face to face.

Remote access will still be available but likely to become the exception rather than the norm. Meetings held at Trust HQ (SS3 9NP).

The Trust's requirements

The trust is seeking to fill two Trustee vacancies who will be able to allocate 6-8 hours per month.
The first will be someone with a background in education, while the second priority is for HR skills. Ideally, they are looking for keen volunteers who will be interested in committee chair roles as part of longer-term succession planning. The trust has two committees, Curriculum & Pupil Matters and Finance, Audit & Risk. However, this is not an immediate need.

What difference will you make?

Volunteering on an academy trust board is deeply rewarding as it allows you to impact the life chances of young people. Academy trusts support schools to give children a better future. For young people to have the best possible opportunities in later life, it’s vital we have individuals with the right expertise leading schools and holding executive teams accountable.

Becoming a trustee is a fantastic opportunity to give back to your local community by strengthening education. As well as looking for new opportunities to give something back to society, you may be looking for opportunities to build your experience in strategic decision-making at senior level or demonstrate your ability to perform in a non executive position as part of a portfolio career.

All roles are pro bono

People from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Governing boards should represent the communities they serve, as well as wider society. We welcome interest from underrepresented groups to ensure academy trust boards are diverse in background, skillset, and thought.

Diversity is a powerful instrument for effective governance. Trustees are required to make choices that impact the daily lives of children, from school finance all the way through to staff and pupil recruitment. It’s essential that boards possess a broad set of beliefs, experiences, and ideas to inform their final judgements. We believe that true representation at board level enables all children to fulfil their potential.