Background
This role provides the opportunity to reduce period inequality, offer people who menstruate a ‘period of dignity’ whilst engaging with your local community. Scotland became the first country in the world to offer free period products to people in 2020 and we work in partnership with Glasgow City Council to fulfil this groundbreaking bill.
Our Period Friendly Project has been around since 2017 and offers free period products to people who menstruate and are experiencing homelessness. The Project has expanded over the past five years and we now have Period Friendly Points (bathrooms in public buildings with warm water and clean facilities) in over 150 venues around our city where people can collect Period Products and clean underwear. We have now introduced reusables period productsinto the project as these products are proving popular and are a cost effective alternative with huge environmental benefits.
Role Purpose
Period inequality contributes to poor mental health and wellbeing which can be the experience of many people who are excluded from the basic essentials of sanitary and hygiene products. Everyone who menstruates deserves access to sanitary products and our Period Friendly volunteers allow people to have a ‘period of dignity’ every month.
Volunteers will have specific Period Points in the city where they liaise with staff on a monthly basis and deliver products to suit the venues needs.
Specific Tasks
* Liaise with the Project Coordinator to allow the smooth running of the project
* Collecting and delivering products to suit your venue(s) needs
* Creating a warm line of communication with the staff in your venue(s) so that they can easily contact you when they need their stock replenished
* Updating monthly hours/deliveries through our volunteer reporting system
* Raising awareness of the project in your local community and helping with fundraising events to provide other items that people experiencing period inequality may require, such as underwear
Skills and Qualities Required
Successful Period Friendly Volunteers will:
* Be passionate about providing people with a ‘Period of Dignity’
* Have good communication & people skills and be able to work on your own initiative
* Enjoy meeting and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds
* Be able to approach your volunteering role and tasks with a flexible attitude
* The willingness to travel to venue(s) on public transport if no access to a vehicle
* The willingness to select a venue (s) from the list available.
* Good organisational skills to try toensure that there is a steady flow of products to your venue(s)
Commitment
* We welcome volunteers to stay with us and continue to help make a difference in people’s lives
* 12 months would be the ideal minimum but we respect your time and commitments elsewhere
* For this role, we ask for a minimum of six months where possible
* The role is flexible and doesn’t require a huge time commitment – the requirement is often between 1-4 hours of volunteering every month.
Support and Training
* Our recruitment follows the Safer Recruitment process, which means giving consideration to safeguarding arrangements at every step
* We will ask you to attend an informal interview, provide us with two references and attend our Mini IMPACT training – a shortened version of our dynamic 5-day staff programme
* Out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed as per our Policy.
* A full and comprehensive Volunteer Handbook is provided for this role
* In-role training is available – we value our volunteers and want to ensure you are equipped with the skills you need to fulfill your role
What’s in it for me?
For as little as 1-4 hours per month, you have the chance to meet new people and be part of an amazing team who are passionate about what they do.
Everything we do is about and for people: the people we support, our staff, our partners and everyone affected by homelessness. Each person involved brings their individual skills and creativity to the work we do. This is a chance for you to make a real difference to the most vulnerable people within your community and pick up essential skills that are valuable to employers.
Our expectations?
We need people who care about our client group and who are enthusiastic and able to respond flexibly to the role.
We need you to be fully committed to Simon Community Scotland’s Mission and Core Values and adhere to our policies/procedures and Code of Practice.
If you need any help completing this form please contact us: volunteering@simonscotland.
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