Mencap Volunteer Visitor - (Relaxed Companionship, Leytonstone, London)

We’re looking for a kind and patient volunteer befriender to spend time with a man in his 60s whom we support and who thrives on calm, reassuring company. Some of his happiest moments are spent sitting in his favourite armchair, listening to soothing classical music. As his visitor, you’d share these peaceful moments with him, perhaps offering a gentle hand massage while you relax together and enjoy the music. As your connection grows, there may be opportunities to join him on one of his regular local walks, take a short bus ride, or visit his much loved local curry house. He communicates using single words and will often echo words spoken to him, so spending time together is less about conversation and more about companionship, warmth and presence. The essence of this role is simply being alongside him in a quiet, gentle and reassuring way. He lives in a shared home with three other people and is supported by a team of kind and helpful staff who will welcome you and help you feel at ease. If you enjoy creating calm moments, building trust slowly, and making a difference through simple acts of kindness, this could be a deeply rewarding role for you.

This is a Stop and Stay visit role, meaning that the person you’ll be visiting might have some verbal communication skills or they use sounds and/or facial/body expressions to communicate with you. The person you visit might choose to take part in simple activities or watch you doing the activities. Your volunteer manager will be happy to help you with ideas and suggestions for things you can do. Visits will vary in length but tend to be around half an hour to an hour long.

Watch a video about this role: Stop and Stay visit role 

In this role you will spend quality time with the person you visit and could do a range of different activities like: 

As a Mencap volunteer visitor you will be:

• Friendly and approachable
• Accepting of others who might be different to yourself
• Reliable and patient
• Passionate about supporting people with a with a learning disability.

As a Mencap visitor you will:

• Have the opportunity to help make a difference to the life of the person you visit
• Receive a personalised volunteer induction and training
• Have agreed out of pocket expenses reimbursed
• Meet new people
• Get on-going support, and feel appreciated and valued