Volunteer Coordinator

As a Volunteer Coordinator, you will be responsible for the recruitment, training and coordinating the activity of volunteers, who will support our patients, their families and staff. You will work collaboratively with teams across the hospital to ensure we deliver a high quality service at our hospitals.

Experience required:

• Building and maintaining strong relationships with volunteers
• Supervising and motivating volunteers
• High level of relationship skills: empathy, caring, acceptance, mutual affirmation, supportive and can give constructive feedback
• Good IT skills including the use of Microsoft Office applications
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritise own workload and work autonomously and as part of a team
• Lateral thinking and problem solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing and emerging needs
• Experience of data collection, administration and recording procedures, use of a bespoke database, production of reports

Main duties of the job:

• Support in delivering Trust strategic aims and enhancing the experience of patients, visitors and staff
• Focus on the recruitment of new volunteers in line with the Volunteer service guidelines, and the retention of existing volunteers through appropriate support on a day to day basis
• Collaborate with clinical and non-clinical teams across the hospital to support requests for volunteer support and the development of volunteer role descriptions and risk assessments
• Maintain accurate and up to date data and administrative systems with the ability to use a database
• Ensure volunteers are appropriately trained
• Produce reports on service activity as required and contribute to the development of evaluation and outcome measures
• Assist with marketing and promotion of volunteer roles, testimonials and successes, including social media, website content and presentations

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• Volunteer Recruitment and Programme Development - A key part of your objectives will be to increase volunteer numbers and placement opportunities. Support the management and development of a quality volunteering service designed to enhance the patient experience, maintaining continuous volunteer recruitment across the RNOH.
• Ensure all volunteering activities meet the Trust's service needs and are carried out in line with policies regarding health and safety, legal requirements, environmental, equal opportunities and general duty of care.
• Take responsibility for the volunteer recruitment process from enquiry to interview, induction and placement, working with the Volunteer Lead and Administrator to oversee all related administrative processes including taking up references, arranging DBS checks and health screening.
• Collaborate with wards and departments requesting support to develop role descriptions, identifying appropriate tasks, carrying out risk assessments against personal, environmental risk and job substitution, and matching individual volunteer skills to our patient and ward/department needs.
• Assist with identifying gaps in service that volunteer support could alleviate, negotiating and arranging appropriate placements for volunteers throughout the Trust to maximise support to patients, their relatives, visitors and staff.
• Place and induct new volunteers; introduce new volunteers to placement staff and ensure both parties understand the tasks to be completed; encourage the development of volunteers within placements in conjunction with staff; ensure safe practice that is compliant with national guidance and provide ongoing support to volunteers and staff.
• Maintain accurate and up to date records and administrative systems including the database.
• Monitor new volunteer starters to ensure wellbeing, appropriate support from the placement area and overall role satisfaction, addressing any immediate issues.
• Be accessible and offer support to all volunteers as needed in an open and friendly manner, and proactively engaging with them on a regular basis.
• Discuss and resolve difficulties and sensitive issues between volunteers and staff, assist staff with (HR) advice appropriate to volunteers.
• Identify any additional specialist training requirements through an ongoing training needs analysis and coordinate the delivery of any relevant training - facilitate and encourage the development of volunteer skills, knowledge and experience.
• Where required, work alongside and supervise volunteers within the hospital, explaining tasks and working guidelines ensuring that they are understood.
• Collaborate with nursing, therapies and other service leads to ensure volunteers receive appropriate training to gain the knowledge and skills required to enable safe, confident and effective support.
• Assist with the organisation of training events for volunteers and contribute to the delivery of this training.
• Authorise expenses for volunteers, and maintain and monitor budget relating to this.
• Produce monthly, quarterly and annual reports on service activity.
• Respond to general office enquiries.

Strategic and Management Responsibilities:

• Support the Involvement & Volunteer Service Lead enhancing the experience of patients, visitors and staff.
• Guide, support and direct members of the team in achieving personal development goals whilst contributing to Volunteer Service objectives.
• Deputise for the Involvement and Voluntary Services Lead as necessary in handling issues and queries relating to volunteers.
• Assist in the delivery of well managed, high quality volunteer services focusing on the recruitment and retention of appropriate volunteers to fulfil service requests for support.
• Establish and maintain positive working relationships with relevant stakeholders to promote best practice and offer support to peers.
• Be able to innovate and offer creative solutions in the development of new volunteer roles to address patient and service needs.
• Be self aware with strong interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills and be able to work with and support team members and volunteers from diverse communities, ensuring inclusivity and respect is maintained.
• Uphold and lead by example in relation to the Trust's values.

Communication and sharing knowledge/best practice:

• Demonstrate a high level of verbal and written communication skills in relation to all aspects of service and project delivery.
• Communicate complex information to a wide range of volunteers, staff and managers at all levels of the organisation.
• Communicate effectively and appropriately with patients, carers, families and colleagues.
• This involves demonstrating awareness of sensitive issues and dealing with difficult situations, plus an awareness of barriers to effective communication e.g. hearing loss, altered perception, dementing illness, memory loss, pain, fear and the effective use of verbal / non-verbal communication as appropriate.
• Work as part of a team and include the sharing of skills and coordination of issues in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the Voluntary Services.
• Contribute to the compilation and assist with the dissemination of information to volunteers about the Voluntary Services department, including newsletters.
• Assist with educating ward and department staff across the Trust on the remit and value of volunteers.
• Be proficient in IT skills, including Microsoft Office applications to enable effective communication.
• Participate in networking across the region and nationally via the National Association of Voluntary Services Managers, NHSE and other relevant platforms, to share and learn developments in best practice and innovation.

Service Promotion and Events:

• Assist with arrangements for functions/events as part of the Trust's support for volunteers.
• Contribute to appropriate working groups/meetings that are relative to volunteer involvement.
• Assist with articles for internal and external publications, social media posts, website, intranet and notice board updates, plus targeted recruitment campaigns.

Retention and Service Deliverables:

• Increased volunteer numbers across the Trust and efficiency improvements in volunteer recruitment timelines and processing.
• New volunteer roles developed for volunteers to meet service user needs.
• Continuous service improvement including visibility and awareness across the Trust with increased understanding and appreciation of volunteer support.
• Contribute to the enhanced Trust reputation as a respected quality volunteer service provider.
• Contribute to the development of outcome measures to assist service evaluation and growth, including through record keeping, assisting with audits and surveys, and ideas for service development.

Person specification:

• Previous experience within a volunteering service - 2 years
• Educated to a minimum of GCSE/O level standard
• Knowledge of volunteering and relevant legislation and frameworks
• Experience of supporting or training individuals or groups of people to develop their skills
• Analytical & Judgment Skills
• Experience of recruitment, retention & induction of volunteers
• Ability to maintain an objective approach in gathering information following receipt of an incident involving volunteers
• IT and communication skills
• Experience of using a database and strong communication skills, written and oral.