Homeless Mentor Volunteers – Cambridge City

We are not currently recruiting volunteers but will update this page when we start again, so please visit us again soon

What do mentor volunteers do?

Mentor volunteers are matched with those experiencing homelessness who have similar interests, hobbies or skills. Social connections can be vital for people who have been homeless to help them stay off the streets. This role enables volunteers to offer more to help people on the streets to make positive changes in their lives.

What will you get in return?

Volunteering with CHS will give you the chance to make a positive difference to the lives of people living on the streets of Cambridge.

You will get the chance to share your interests, hobbies or skills with others, as well as gaining or developing skills in one-to-one relationship building and mentoring.

How can you apply to be a mentor volunteer?

To become a mentor volunteer, simply fill in our application form enclosed to tell us what skills, knowledge and experience you can bring to the role, as well as what skills you would like to share. We ask for two references from people who have known you for at least 12 months. It should take no more than 15 minutes to complete the application form.

We aim to get back to you within one month of receiving your application. If you are a suitable candidate then we will arrange an informal interview where we can find out more about you and you can find out more about the role.

Could you be a Mentor volunteer?

We are looking for people who are:

Passionate about helping those experiencing homelessness to move forwards
Reliable so others can trust you will do what you say
Available and committed for an initial period of 12 months

We are looking for people who have:

Any interests, hobbies or skills they want to share with others
Strong people skills and the ability to communicate with people from all walks of life
Mentoring skills or experience – but this is not essential

Next Steps

If you think you may enjoy this role then we definitely want to hear from you.

We are really keen to get this project moving to the next stage, so please do complete an expression of interest form at the top of this page as soon as possible. We really look forward to hearing from you. We will work through each enquiry as it comes through so, please bear with us, we may also need to operate a waiting list at times too, which will be communicated with you.

Training Requirements/Expectations

What training and support do we offer?

We are committed to training our volunteers so that everyone has the knowledge and skills they need to contribute to what we do at CHS. We are also committed to giving our mentor volunteers the on-going support they need to feel confident in their volunteering.

Mentor volunteers will be managed by CHS’s Homelessness Projects Co-ordinator who will manage group training, e-learning and supervision sessions and provide 1:1 support, as needed.

Case Studies

It has been a pleasure to work with Dave since starting the mentoring and employability projects. Dave feels the Covid pandemic has had a really positive impact on his life. When the pandemic hit, he was rough sleeping in Cambridge, and was quickly moved into hotel accommodation and engaged with the food delivery team and those supporting the service. He was then moved into a shared house in Cambridge, he self-referred into the employment project and has also requested to have a mentor though the project. Dave has just completed a construction training course and is hoping to gain volunteering and employment opportunities soon.

“Covid has changed my life, I’ve settled down and stopped offending. Looking to gain employment and training to get my life back on track. It has been a really positive experience and I feel really lucky to have this opportunity.”

Expenses, Time credits

Time credits

Mentor volunteers can claim time credits as a reward for giving their time. Time credits can be spent on accessing activities and venues in Cambridge and further afield. They can be exchanged for a variety of things, from exercise classes to cinema and theatre tickets.

You can find out more about time credits, including where they can be spent, on the time credits website: https://timecredits.com/.

Expenses

We offer out-of-pocket expenses to our volunteers, including travel expenses to and from training, events and meetings.

Already a Volunteer?

For useful documents and forms

Click here