Volunteering

We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and provide reasonable adjustments for individuals with disabilities or additional needs. We want our volunteers to reflect the diversity of the people we support and welcome applications from individuals across all the communities we serve. Volunteers, like all people in the NHS workforce, are required to undertake recruitment checks, which include:

• right to work in the UK
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
• occupational health
• appropriate references

Please note that having something on your DBS does not automatically stop you volunteering - the Trust simply completes a risk assessment.

You’ll start by looking at volunteering opportunities available. When we have a vacancy, we list it here on our website.  When you find a role you like, you’ll complete a short application form, which you can download to apply. Pay particular attention to the requirements for the role. Once your application has been reviewed, you may be invited for an informal chat or interview to help us get to know you.

To keep everyone safe, all volunteers complete standard pre-volunteering checks outlined in the previous ‘Who can volunteer?’ section before starting. Our team can support and guide you through the recruitment process to complete these requirements.     

A volunteer role description will be available for you to review before completing your application form. This outlines duties, boundaries and requirements of the role you are applying for. A volunteer role enhances (but does not replace) paid staff.

At GMMH, we are committed to providing you with the required training, induction and support to enable you to work safely in an NHS environment as a volunteer. A named member of staff will be identified to support and supervise you. This helps ensure the volunteering experience is meaningful for you and supports safe practice for all, as our service users are often vulnerable adults and children. 

Once you have returned your completed application form to the contact detailed in the advertisement by the closing date, the process can generally take six to eight weeks, but sometimes longer. This includes time to receive clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), health checks and appropriate references. Before you start, you’ll complete some essential training and sign your Volunteer Agreement – which is a shared understanding of what you can expect from GMMH and what the Trust expects from you.

Service:  Achieve Bury, Salford and Trafford

Location: Achieve Sites, Community and Online

Supervisor: Structured Interventions Practitioner / Recovery Coach

 

Role Summary/Purpose

To facilitate and / or co-facilitate a wide range of group work for service users within the substance use and recovery setting; to be delivered at various sites across Bury, Salford and Trafford at the direction of structured intervention team (SIT).  

 

Please see below the requirements that you must be able to meet in order to apply for this role.

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

·       To offer individuals the opportunity to develop their recovery skills in a structured, focused group setting; to communicate and engage with members and help them to participate more confidently in activities offered

·       To co-facilitate structured group work interventions alongside structured intervention colleagues

·       To assist with the planning and organising of activities for groups. To encourage and discuss suggestions for activities and to support service users in putting their ideas into practice

·       To assist and encourage service users to access other community-based resources as appropriate

·       Welcome new group members and encourage existing members to do the same

·       Tailor support to enable more vulnerable group members to make the most of attending the group

·       Support SIT colleagues to publicise group-work opportunities; liaising with front line staff regarding access criteria

·       Support delivery of SIT information sessions as required

·       To encourage and support service users to adopt safer practices and healthier lifestyles

·       To actively promote service user and family/carer involvement in the planning and delivery of services

·       Provide information about other services offered by Achieve, support the staff conducting Service User Feedback Surveys, taking Fire Safety Survey referrals and others as required

·       Provide information about other agencies operating within the area, including providing information and referral to carers’ services. To offer support, reassurance and information to carers/family members who attend with service users

·       Actively work as part of a team in order to create working conditions conducive to providing better and fairer services to substance users, their families and the wider community. Elicit client views to enable continual service development

·       Regularly attend team meetings

·       Value, promote, and manage diversity, and to actively encourage equality of opportunity in all areas of one’s work

·       Ensure a safe environment for service users, colleagues and visitors in accordance with the Trust Health & Safety Policy

·       Adhere to Trust policies, procedures, protocols and guidelines at all times, in particular Trust Confidentiality and Information Sharing Policy

·       Work within agreed professional boundaries at all times

·       Maintain quality standards in every area of one’s work in accordance with quality assurance protocols for working within the substance misuse field

·       Make use of regular supervision and support; and to take responsibility for updating personal knowledge and skills in order to meet the objectives of the post

·       To actively promote service user and carer involvement in the planning and delivery of services

 

If you are interested in applying for this voluntary role please complete the application form below and email it to Helen Meal (PSI Team Leader): Helen.Meal@gmmh.nhs.uk

https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n10672.docx&ver=13755

 

 

 

Service:  ReFReSH

Location: The Riverside Centre, Recovery Academy, Prestwich.

Volunteer Supervisor: Marie Ainsworth

 

The Riverside Centre provides secure treatment for forensic mental health men and women in Greater Manchester. The unit is situated on the Prestwich site.

Role Summary/Purpose

The Mindfulness Activity Assistant helps deliver sessions that promote mental well-being, relaxation, and emotional balance. You will support patients by creating a safe, welcoming, and calm environment for all participants.

Key Responsibilities

• Set up the space by arranging seating, lighting, and mats to create a tranquil environment.
• Welcome participants warmly as they arrive, helping them feel comfortable and settled.
• Deliver guided meditations, breathing exercises, or gentle movement.
• Provide one-to-one reassurance to participants who may feel overwhelmed or need extra guidance.
• Help pack away equipment and gather feedback from attendees at the end of each session.

Skills and Qualities Required

• A warm, empathetic, and excellent listening approach.
• A calm demeanour with a strong interest in mindfulness, meditation, or mental well-being.
• Reliability, punctuality, and a commitment to confidentiality.
• Good communication skills and comfort interacting with diverse groups.

Time Commitment

• Hours: Approximately 1 hour per week.
• Schedule: To be agreed upon (usually aligned with scheduled group session times).
• Minimum commitment: We ask for a minimum commitment of 3 months to provide continuity for our participants.
• Co-facilitate/co-deliver the group sessions that you have co-produced using a range of teaching methods and resources.
• Reflect recovery principles in all aspects of your work, ensuring that you, and the resources you use, portray messages of hope, empowerment, possibility, and aspirations.
• Actively promote the work of the service and the Riverside Recovery Academy and encourage people to get involved.
• Understand and comply with all Trust policies, procedures, protocols and guidelines relevant to this role.
• Understand the services goals and how you can help to achieve them in this role.
• Take responsibility for your own learning and attend regular supervision.

 

If you are interested in this voluntary role please complete the application form in the link below and email to Marie Ainsworth:

https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n10672.docx&ver=13755

Email: Marie.Ainsworth@gmmh.nhs.uk

 

Please note that we strongly recommend that you check with the Benefits Agency that your commitment to volunteering does not penalise you in any way and does not affect your benefits.  This role is unpaid, however, we will refund all travel expenses for training and volunteering in line with Trust Policy.

 

 

 

 

Service:  Achieve Drug & Alcohol Treatment & Recovery Service

Location: Achieve Sites in Bury and/or Trafford (Community and Online)

Supervisor: Ross Darbyshire

 

Role Purpose

To use your own lived experience to support, motivate, and encourage service users through their recovery journey, working safely within a clinical community team. 

 

Key Responsibilities

Professional Responsibilities & Support

• Develop recovery skills:  Promote engagement under the direction of a Recovery Coordinator or clinical team.
• Deliver recovery interventions:  Assist GMMH staff in the community, including joint home visits.
• Organise service activities:  Encourage user suggestions and help put their ideas into practice.
• Access community resources:  Assist and encourage service users to utilize outside support.
• Manage new referrals:  Gather information both face-to-face and over the phone.
• Publicise recovery opportunities:  Support colleagues and liaise with external agencies regarding access criteria.
• Deliver information sessions:  Support and facilitate presentations as required.
• Promote family involvement:  Actively encourage service user, family, and carer input in planning.  

Clinical Safety & Risk Management

• Practice safe working:  Follow community procedures and alert relevant authorities when required.
• Report concerns immediately:  Escalate any potential risks directly to a GMMH colleague.
• Minimise lifestyle risks:  Support service users to adopt safer practices and healthier habits.
• Staff needle exchanges:  Maintain sufficient stock levels and identify when to reorder supplies.
• Manage healthcare referrals:  Connect users to primary and secondary care for health problems and blood-borne viruses.
• Tailor vulnerable support:  Enable high-risk users to attend appointments and interventions.

 

Person Specification (Requirements for the Role)

Essential Criteria & Experience    

• Lived experience:   Possess personal experience of the effects of substance use.
• Support experience:   Provide previous support to vulnerable or socially excluded individuals.
• Core values:   Demonstrate respect, compassion, dignity, and a commitment to equal opportunities.
• Communication skills:   Possess strong interpersonal and communication abilities.
• Teamwork:   Work collaboratively and effectively as part of a team.

Knowledge & Understandings

• Recovery process:   Understand how to motivate and encourage service users through recovery.
• Professional boundaries:   Maintain clear boundaries, confidentiality, and proper information sharing.
• Safeguarding:   Comprehend basic safeguarding protocols for vulnerable adults and children.
• Digital literacy:   Utilise basic IT skills, including email and online platforms.

Mandatory Training & Development

• Peer training:   Complete the GMMH Level 2 Peer Worker training course.
• Core compliance:   Finish all mandatory training within 4 weeks of starting.
• Onboarding:   Complete the local induction and any role-specific training.
• Specialised training:   Complete or show willingness to take harm reduction and group work facilitation training.

    

If you are interested in applying for this voluntary role, please complete the application form in the link below and email it to:  Ross.Darbyshire@gmmh.nhs.uk

https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n10672.docx&ver=13755 

 

This role description reflects the role at the present time and should not be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive. 

Please note: we strongly recommend that you check with the Benefits Agency that your commitment to volunteering does not penalise you in any way and does not affect your benefits.

This role is unpaid, however, we will refund all travel expenses for training and volunteering in line with Trust Policy.