Befriender for Young Asylum Seekers and Refugees
HIAS+JCORE
Volunteers will be required to: - Meet with an unaccompanied asylum seeking or refugee young person fortnightly for at least one year. - Establish a warm, supportive friendship with the young person within JUMP befriending boundaries. - Help to build up the young person’s self-esteem and confidence.
Volunteers will be required to: - Meet with an unaccompanied asylum seeking or refugee young person fortnightly for at least one year. - Establish a warm, supportive friendship with the young person within JUMP befriending boundaries. - Help to build up the young person’s self-esteem and confidence. A JUMP befriender will be someone the young person can talk to. They must be prepared to support the young person with a range of possible activities, such as: developing everyday life skills, getting around London, taking part in recreational or educational opportunities, applying for work experience or a job. They should be prepared to offer support with English, and where possible other types of academic work. They must make time to travel, if necessary, within London to meet with the young person. While we try to match people who live reasonably close by, this is not always possible, and young people can often have precarious housing situations and move neighbourhoods. It is important to consider the travel time, as well as contact time, potentially involved in befriending. A JUMP volunteer should be prepared to enjoy cultural/ sporting activities with the young person, and to take advantage of free entertainment and other opportunities in London. They should regularly communicate with the project coordinator after meeting the young person, providing feedback once a month about activities undertaken and to attend supervision face-to-face twice a year. They must submit monthly expenses incurred during the activities undertaken with the young person, and immediately alert the JUMP project coordinator or JCORE Safeguarding Lead to any safeguarding (child and young person protection) issues.
Advice, information & support,Befriending, buddying and mentoring
Initiative/Self Motivation, Verbal Communication
● Able to establish good relationships with young people. ● Able to use a non-judgemental, non-directive approach to working with young people. ● Empathy, sensitivity and patience ● Strong communication and listening skills. ● Reliable in making and keeping commitments, including arrangements to meet up. ● Aware of the needs of young people. ● Sympathy for the difficulties that asylum seeking/refugee children and young people face. ● Willing to enhance own awareness of the issues facing asylum-seeking and refugee children/young people through training. ● Aware of safeguarding and child protection issues, and: Willing to enhance this through JUMP training. Willing to follow HIAS+JCORE’s safeguarding policy and procedures. ● Willing to ask for help when uncertain when befriending and to discuss the experience of befriending through regular updates and supervision
The role of the HIAS+JCORE's Unaccompanied Minors Project (JUMP) volunteer befrienders is to provide informal support and friendship to a refugee or asylum-seeking young person for a year and potentially beyond. The young people JUMP support might benefit from a befriender because they’ve left their families behind and often feel isolated, bewildered and lonely. Some have no one to talk to. Some want to improve their English. Some would like to get to know London better. The impact made by our befrienders is long-lasting and varies depending both the befriender and young person's interests.
N/A
SW7 1BX
https://hiasjcore.org/
The role requires volunteers to meet with young people at a mutually decided location.
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