Placement Volunteers at the British Red Cross are highly valued for the skills and energy they bring. We aim to provide our placement volunteers with an insight into the daily workings of the world's largest humanitarian organisation. They will have access to relevant in-house training and development opportunities during their placement with possible ad hoc opportunities to get involved in other areas of activity. Our volunteers will help make a great contribution to the work of the British Red Cross and will be responsible for achieving specific agreed objectives within one of our various departments. **About this role:** Our casework placement Volunteers work one-to-one with refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants at a time which many will find difficult and distressing. We help to make sure people have choices and opportunities available to them to move forward with their lives in a new country. **The expected start date for the placement will be 28 October 2025 and will run for a period of 12 weeks, 3 days a week of which 2 days will be based at the British Red Cross office in Sheffield (S9 2RX) and 1 day remotely.** We are looking for empathetic placement Volunteers to help people access the vital services and opportunities they need. Volunteers will be supporting vulnerable clients over the phone, via email and in person at our fortnightly Sheffield based drop in and office based face to face appointments. You will enjoy being part of a supportive team, who will guide and train you to develop the skills you need to become one of our Casework Volunteers. You will start by shadowing and supporting experienced Caseworkers to develop your learning and understanding of how to provide appropriate support to service users, for example this may include; advice on asylum support, destitution, accommodation, accessing legal support, education and healthcare, signposting where appropriate and agreeing a plan of action to help people access their rights and entitlements. **Typical tasks include:** - Giving one to one support to people e.g. advice on asylum support, accommodation and healthcare, - Leading sensitive conversations and interviews with people to assess their needs as part of triage and comprehensive casework appointments, - Agreeing a plan of action to help people access their rights and entitlements, - Using your Red Cross training to give emotional support to adults and children, - Maintaining client databases, - Referring people to other support services e.g. mental health and loneliness support, - Working effectively with interpreters as well as people from the Home Office and other charities, - Identifying and responding appropriately to safeguarding and protection issues. **We would like volunteers who:** - Have strong communication skills and empathetic about the situation and needs of refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants, - Are able to volunteer in a multicultural environment, - Are emotionally resilient as you may need to deal with challenging or difficult situations. - Previous experience of face to face client work or casework would be helpful. - Speak English; knowledge of another language would be helpful (particularly one used in the current local refugee population), - Keep the people we support at the heart of what you do. **Bursary Scheme** The British Red Cross offers a bursary scheme to those placement volunteers from low-income households. Eligibility will be determined through a separate application process open to all short-listed candidates. All British Red Cross volunteers are entitled to out-of-pocket reasonable expenses. For this scheme we are defining low-income households as: Inside London: Living with family or partner £25,000 or under. Living independently £22.500 or under Outside London: Living with family or partner £18,500 or under. Living independently £16,500 or under **Diversity** We welcome applications from people of different backgrounds, experience and circumstances. We seek to ensure that our organisation and our services are relevant and accessible to all, with equality, diversity and fairness at the core of what we do. We invite applications from individuals regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or political belief and are committed to promoting fair participation and equality of opportunity for all of our applicants. The British Red Cross is committed to being inclusive, with a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from people from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds, cultures and experiences – including disabled and ethnic minority candidates. We value fresh perspectives and insights gained by involving and welcoming people from the widest possible diversity of background, culture and experience. This is to contribute to the breadth of experience we need to respond to people in crisis.
Why we want you: We need volunteers to help us 'behind the scenes'. It's up to you how you choose to help. You could be undertaking some admin tasks, offering your specialist knowledge or supporting in another way. Whatever you do, you will be getting involved in a great cause.
* Tasks: General admin tasks
Other tasks as required by the team
See advert for further tasks
* Skills: Good communication
Flexible and willing to help the team with a range of tasks
Reliable, organised and able to work independently
Good IT skills
* Benefits: Meet new people and be part of a supportive and inclusive team
A great opportunity to develop your existing skills and gain new ones
All training and induction for the role (there is no charge for training)
Reasonable pre-agreed travel expenses for the role including for attending training
An opportunity to be part of the world's largest humanitarian organisation and the knowledge that you are making a difference to people's lives