Home-Start Better Start volunteer Shafia started volunteering with Home-Start Bradford District as lockdown began. Thanks to the skills that Shafia has gained and could demonstrate in her quest for employment, she is now leaving Home-Start Bradford to start a job as a Teaching Assistant in a local Primary School.
Shafia’s Home-Start Better Start Volunteer Journey…
I decided that I wanted to volunteer as I was doing a Working with Children and Young People and Families under-graduate degree in. While the degree taught me the theory behind working with children and families, becoming a Home-Start Bradford volunteer meant I could put what I was learning into practice.
Not long after I had completed the Volunteer Preparation Course, we went into lockdown, which meant that we could only support our allocated family over the phone. While lockdown was challenging, I found it made me more driven and I adapted myself so that I could offer meaningful support to the family that I was supporting.
As a volunteer, I received so much support, ongoing online training and guidance from the Home-Start Bradford team especially Julie and Jane. If I needed any advice in addition to our six-weekly meetings, I always knew they would get back to me with what I needed and would support me in perfecting my techniques and knowledge.
Thanks to my volunteering experience, I have developed many new skills including good communication, excellent listening techniques, hands on experience of supporting young children and families, team working, integrity, understanding values, learning to adapt to circumstances and much more.
Now that my under graduate course has come to an end and with all of the ‘hands-on’ learning I have experienced, I have had the confidence to apply for a job as a Teaching Assistant in a local school. When completing the job application form, I had so many transferable skills that I could evidence, and these really stood out in my application and interview.
I can’t wait to start my job – I am so excited. Thanks to volunteering with Home-Start Bradford District, I will be tackling my new role with an holistic approach when working with the children by supporting their families too and sharing and transferring my skills and knowledge with them too.
Supporting Home-Start Bradford volunteers
Before our volunteer recruits are ready to support a family, they are required to complete a Volunteer Preparation Course, which arms them with the skills, knowledge, mechanisms and techniques to support our families.
There are a wide range of topics that are covered including safeguarding, values and attitudes, communication, supporting parents and meeting the needs of parents, confidentiality and the importance of how diary sheets are completed.
Our volunteers have access to ongoing training opportunities to develop and improve their skills during their volunteering journey with us.
To find out more about what it takes to become a Home-Start Bradford District Volunteer, read here.
