Koala NW volunteer support is at the heart of what we do and we know how much our families appreciate the support our volunteers offer.

As a Koala North West volunteer, you will be given the training and support to make a real difference to families in your community. You will also develop transferable skills which can support you in your life, whether that’s at home or at work. You will make friends along the way and join other volunteers for peer support sessions and join in celebrations like National Volunteers week & Christmas events. Once you have completed your 6 weeks training programme, you will be matched to a suitable family to offer emotional and practical support. You will be supported by a coordinator and given support and supervision regularly.

Every family we support is unique so the support that we offer is equally unique to that family and depends entirely on the circumstances and what they would like support with. We help parents identify what they are already doing well, and support them to build on this to improve their relationships with their children. You will be visiting families in their own homes once a week for an hour or two, if you have availability to support more than one family just let us know and you can be matched to additional families. Or you may be offering virtual support.

During the pandemic, we had to adjust our home visiting to virtual support, via zoom, telephone /What’s App video calls/ texts . It proved very successful as this was a regular contact for families during lockdown. Due to the success of virtual support, if families prefer this type of support as an alternative to home visits, that’s okay.

Support in one or more of the following areas could be offered:

 Social isolation/loneliness, support families to get outdoors, walking with them to the park or accompanying to appointments etc

 Poor emotional and/or mental health wellbeing

 Managing children’s behaviours/sleep issues

 School readiness  Family bereavement

 Disability/complex needs or ill health

 New baby/multiple births

 Difficulty with home management/routine.

Lived parenting experience is essential for this role.