What might stop you from volunteering to work with homeless people?

I will be honest and say it sounds as if you need more paid staff rather than volunteers. Some of what you describe is in my view asking a great deal of a volunteer particularly the safeguarding meeting. Sorry that might not be what you want to hear. Do you have a support organisation for charities in your local area, they are often useful in tackling volunteer recruitment.

A friend of mine used to work in a charity shop. some new person started working there and they were really horrible. Upset all the staff. She left and she wasn't the only one. How ridiculous to lose good staff and keep someone not nice.

Do you break the volunteering opportunities down into single tasks. When I read the list of the things you do I’m overwhelmed and think not for me.

But if I saw Wanted someone to deliver food twice a week to a site in a field, I’d think yup I can do that.

But nothing else. And you may be looking for more commitment over a range of tasks.

It’s not very clear here on Gransnet what you actually want, so maybe it’s not very clear to people in your area?

That is a wide range of clients and a wide range of support that is offered. It also sounds like a broad range of skills and knowledge are required.
Who are the caseworkers that you mention? Are they paid members of your team?
I may be barking up the wrong tree completely but wondered if it may be something that could be approached by offering unpaid internships to younger people who may find the experience useful when applying for paid posts in future.

peaseblossom made a very good point. Be more specific in what you are asking for?

Is it perhaps the age and demographic of your team?
Are you wanting to attract young blood?

I'm going to be really honest, I think most people want to get paid for working - especially if it is with complex issues/people.

Thank you everyone for your replies - they’re all helpful.

Galaxy I spent a long time as a senior social worker and so it’s often been because of my intervention that Safeguarding meetings have been convened for people that had slipped through the net. You are right that the role I have would normally be a paid one, but one of the reasons we have such success with our clients is that we’re trusted more, simply because we’re working for free.

The Caseworkers are doing ‘higher level’ tasks, such as attendance at PIP Tribunals, liaison with professionals, Inter-Agency negotiations etc., we’re very experienced in public facing roles (we’re aged 65+ and have had significant roles in our previous professions). What we’re looking for are people who can take on the more pragmatic tasks - and someone to deal with the logistics of co-ordinating the various jobs.

We have been offered interns, but to be honest there’s only me who’s qualified to supervise them and that would take me away from what I need to do.

The good news is that my lovely husband is now working from home running our own business, which means that he’s able and willing to join the team and help out when he can.

That’s a very interesting post, GrannyActivist, explaining what you do. It all shouts ‘professionalism’ to me, though, and not the kind of thing many volunteers would feel capable of doing. Most of the tasks you mention, I’d have no idea of how to go about doing! You mention training but do people want to do much of that? Older people lead busy lives nowadays and maybe don’t want that much commitment?

I'm just to busy.

GrannyActivist, I used to do volunteering like you mention, I also had a part-time post in a unit for dug abusers. All of it very interesting and the people were not frightening. I then started suffering with long term back pain and sciatica despite every medical intervention for my physical pain I still have days when I cannot do much. I could not commit to anything as one day I was okay the next I could barely walk up the road. I miss the work and think you are doing a much needed and worthwhile role.

I am full of admiration for you ga and what would stop me volunteering with homeless people isn't what sparks my interest.

My interest was sparked by a friend being unable to access help when her dh (a contemporary of dh's at dental school) was diagnosed with dementia. That sparked my interest and I have never looked back.

So, in my case it was happenstance!

It’s a very good question grannyactivist and it’s made me think.
For me, both centres, in cities near me are a distance away, and volunteering, active opportunities, are in the evening/night, I wouldn’t feel comfortable on my own going to either for anything, even shopping. So it’s my confidence really, irrespective of what I’m going for, if it was in my village or town, possibly different.
As peaseblossom said, broken into tasks,I’d willingly do remote admin, transport during the day ( I voluntary drive now).
You are admirable, I wish I had more confidence, maybe I’ll get there.

Another thought that’s come to me, GrannyActivist (sorry, my brain is working rather slowly!) is that if someone mentioned volunteering with a charity for homeless people, I’d immediately think it meant working in a hostel. That would not be on my radar at all and all the things you mention that you do would not be part of what I imagined volunteering would mean.

I have worked with drug addicts in the past and yes, they are people just like you and me.

Several of my friends do. Some patrol the streets at night giving the homeless cups of tea and making sure they are as ok as possible. They link up with the police, social services and emergency services. It is done through their church. Another friend works once a week in a canteen providing lunch for the homeless.

Personally I work as a volunteer for a local football club.

I was quite surprised to read of the actual tasks you need people to do, not what I had imagined, so you need to spell out exactly what help is needed, breaking it down into specific tasks.
I volunteer for Citizens Advice. I started soon after I retired, and I enjoyed the training, keeping my mind busy, meeting new colleagues, both staff and volunteers. It was incredibly well structured, with very high professional standards. There was a lot to get your head round but I was up for the challenge.

The clients come from all walks of life, including some who are homeless. I have only once felt unsafe with a client, but there is a panic button and staff around. I am currently working from home, and limit my work to an aspect I am very familiar with. I would not want to wfh taking random calls.

It seems to me there will be people with a few hours to spare who might volunteer for one of your specific tasks eg delivering food, filling in claim forms, admin, catering etc, rather than a lot of hours doing a variety of tasks. I hope you are successful in finding some. Or are there any schemes you could enrol with to give work experience, Kickstart, perhaps?

grannyactivist wow I'm full of admiration for you.
I agree that you might need to break down the volunteer roles you have into more specific duties. I also wonder do you have a particular person who is responsible for dealing with the volunteers? I think it is abslutely essential to have this. People will come to meetings, listen to the details and think they would like to help, but take no action. A phone call from someone they have met asking for help at a specific event or role will bring them back, if that person is around when they come to volunteer and begins to build a relationship with them they will be more likely to return.
I think volunteering involves more than just wanting to do good. People do it to fill in their time, to meet new people and make new friends and to extend their knowledge and skills. Big charities recognise this and always have someone coordinating volunteers and organising support and events for them. Hope this is helpful.

Interestingly, the people who do volunteer for the support group we run (meeting socially with our clients), are all in their mid 80s. They’re wonderfully kind, compassionate, non-judgemental and don’t mind playing dominoes, or listening to long tales from our clients. They use humour brilliantly and are some of the most delightful people I know.

One of our volunteers simply collects and delivers a repeat prescription every week for a client who has a learning disability, but she has recently visited the support group and I think she’ll eventually attach herself to that too.

Another of our volunteers got a paid job with an advice agency, but left there after a short time as she felt the support she received was inadequate compared to what she got volunteering with us.

So, when we do find lovely people to share their time and talents with us they enjoy being part of our team, but most can only give us a year or two before age and/or other personal issues draw them away.

Thank you all once again for your responses. ??⭐️

P.S. We’re having several ‘events’ from December through to February to see if we can drum up some extra bodies - I’ll aim to come back and let you know how we get on.

I would say that the volunteering responsibilities you listed sounds too much like a paid role to me. Also if you aren’t able to have a supervisor to supervise potential interns, how would you manage volunteers? Any charities I’ve had have had a dedicated volunteer coordinator managing the volunteers.

For me my worries would be the same, the potential worry as a small woman of being stalked, or worse. Even with all the evidence in the world, I wouldn’t feel safe around strange men that may have addictions/significant mental health concerns.

Sorry that is being blunt. All my volunteering has been for children’s groups and local groups raising funds for local causes.

I would have absolutely no worries at all about working with the homeless. My problem is twofold 1) All the charities and facilities for the homeless are in the local big town/city, which is nearly 15 miles and the journey to and from would take an hour each way. 2) I cannot commit to a regular weekly slot as I am away from home a lot. This has limited the voluntary work I can do.

For 10 years I volunteered with Age Concern (as was) as a home visitor, where I had clients allocated to me, whom I contacted to arrange a mutally convenient visit time. It worked very well.

When that scheme closed down, after a while I found another charity, which I will not name, that worked in a similar way. Unfortunately it had an arcane computer system and no system for IT support. If the system didn't work, you couldn't activate help for clients. I waited a year for this to be sorted, then left.

Dilly the ‘interns’ would have been on placement from university and therefore would be entitled to (and need) a very close degree of supervision with practical tasks, and would also require comprehensive written feedback reports from someone in the organisation who has the necessary ‘professional’ qualifications - and that would mean me!

One of the roles we’re looking to fill is that of volunteer co-ordinator - our current one leaves at the end of the year. It is a vital role and one that needs the right skill set; I want our volunteers to continue to know that they are valuable to the charity, however much or little time they can offer, and one of the best things I can do for my clients is to look after the volunteers who I rely on to look after them. Our co-ordinator needs to carry that ethos forward.

The concerns about personal safety can’t really be got around I’m afraid. We have very robust ‘safe working’ policies and every meeting with a client is covered by a dynamic risk assessment, but our town is small and I know that many of my clients could very easily find out where I live without too much trouble, indeed many of my clients do know my address. In the past we’ve had homeless people actually living with us, so it’s not an issue for me, but I do understand why it might be for others.

What I will say though, is that working in a Children and Families team as a Social Worker put me in situations far more dangerous than anything I’ve experienced whilst working with homeless and vulnerably housed people.

janejudge I really do not agree with you. When I worked for, what is now, Age UK, it had a team of Home Advisors who visited people at home, sorting all kinds of problems and helping people access benefits.

The team included paid professionals and a large team of volunteers and we never lacked them. I also used to handle Social Service Appeals and support clients through them and was pardonably proud of my success rate.

Most of the volunteers were retired professional people and were eager to work as volunteers doing work that was as demanding as their professional work had been. No one felt they ought to be paid for undertaking this work because of the professional skills required.

I was recently involved in a fund raiser for a homeless shelter. I got into conversation with the lady in charge and was surprised to learn that very few of the homeless are drug addicts, alcoholics and all the usual stereotypes we assume. She told me that the majority were young men thrown out by discontented partners for whatever reason, and having to continue to work to support children they no longer live with whilst living on the streets.
Often jobs would be lost because depression took over or because personal hygiene suffered.
I picked up a leaflet with the intention of joining a ‘give a room for a night’ scheme where I could offer a bed and bath for a night or two while more permanent solutions were found.
On reading the small print I found warnings about locking away valuables, not granting access to unwanted visitors, having locks our bedroom door.
I’m afraid it was my own fear that stopped me in my tracks.
I’ll continue to fund raise but would need much reassurance before volunteering for closer involvement.
I do admire you grannyactivist and hope that the posts here help.

Monica, I think you have highlighted something important. Your group are retired professionals So presumably you have already paid off your mortgages and have retired at a comfortable age and are in a financial position to be able to volunteer. Cuts to services within local authorities have meant a lot of charities are now dealing with much more complex issues that would have been previously supported by paid professionals.

I don't mind you disagreeing with me though

I have volunteered with a homeless charity, and don't now because of my own health issues (I do a small amount of on-line work for another charity)

However, I wanted to add my 2 penn'orth to be helpful. I think most of what I wanted to say has been covered, but I would emphasise being part of a friendly welcoming team - I have left teams that have not felt comfortable to me.

I would also emphasise clarity about roles and especially responsibilities. I have found myself very muddled sometimes about what exactly was expected of me, who I reported what to, and who was responsible if a situation turned worrying.

Getting the right balance between something that is buttressed like a work situation, but has a more friendly atmosphere is difficult.

I do hope that helps - and thank you for what you do.