Volunteers are at the heart of our charity
"Volunteers are a very important part of the Sensory Centre. Our volunteers bring experience, enthusiasm, and energy into all of our activities. There are so many benefits you can gain from volunteering - meeting new people, being part of a valued community, learning new skills and feeling that you are making a difference all add to the value and fun that can be found in volunteering."
- Jacquie Winning, CEO
Volunteers are the backbone of all that we do and we are eternally grateful for their support. There is no need to have previous experience with blindness, D/deafness, or BSL as sensory awareness training will be provided as required. What we look for in volunteers is enthusiasm, flexibility, and the desire to be involved. Volunteering opportunities are available for everyone, including those with health conditions or additional support needs. Our open opportunities below give a flavour of the current roles we’re looking to fill. Please contact us if you're interested in any of them. If you have any other volunteer interests or ideas, please still contact us and we can see if it’s something we’re able to accommodate.
Thank you kindly for your interest in volunteering from all of us at the Forth Valley Sensory Centre.
What We Offer
All of our volunteers are a valued part of our community and we make sure that they are supported in their volunteer role.
Volunteers have access to:
- A variety of sustainable, bespoke opportunities and events to become involved with
- Sensory awareness training
- Induction training
- Sighted guide awareness training
- Ongoing regular support from a dedicated staff member
- Annual thank you and recognition event
Opportunities
Sighted Guides
Volunteer sighted guides go out on the minibus or travel to events to support blind and partially sighted people getting to and from the Centre or at specific events. Sighted Guide training is provided.
Skills required: Communication, enthusiasm, patience.
Event Volunteers
Do you enjoy flexible and varied volunteering opportunities? We run a regular programme of fundraising and promotional events and are looking for an enthusiastic team of volunteers who would be happy to get involved and turn their hand to whatever is required to help run an event or promote the Centre.
Skills required: Events experience, ideas, enthusiasm, initiative
Garden Volunteer
Are you an enthusiastic and knowledgeable gardener who enjoys sharing their knowledge? We are looking for volunteers with some gardening knowledge and enthusiasm who would enjoy working in the Sensory Garden or our new kitchen garden. This could involve helping to grow produce, carry out maintenance and support Centre Users and other volunteers to get involved in the garden.
Skills required: Some gardening knowledge, Enthusiasm.
Art Group Volunteers
We are looking for volunteers to help out with our art group. Our art group is every fortnight on a Wednesday from 1:15pm - 3:15pm and is mainly for blind individuals, though everyone is welcome. There is a tutor who leads the class. Volunteers will need to act as the group attendee's eyes and help them as asked.
Skills required: Patience, understanding and a willingness to help
Cookery Classes
We are looking for volunteers to help out with our cookery classes. The classes are on Tuesday and Friday from 11am - 12/1pm. Our deafblind chef David Black leads the class and we need volunteers who can act as his eyes and help out as asked.
Skills required: Patience, understanding, a willingness to help, and awareness of basic kitchen safety
Car and Minibus Drivers
We are looking for volunteers to help us with car and minibus transport. We offer transport for our groups and require volunteer drivers to help us with this. Full MIDAS training will be provided for all minibus drivers.
Skills required: UK drivers license, patience, and understanding
Volunteer Experiences
Why Volunteer?
Volunteering is a great way to learn new transferrable skills and to become involved with your local community. We welcome all types of volunteering, from event volunteers, to individuals who give their time on a regular basis with our groups and classes, and even corporate volunteers who provide knowledge or skills that we might not otherwise be able to access. Volunteering is very rewarding for all involved and we have some great feedback which you can read about below.
DWP Corporate Volunteering Case Study
Staff from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) volunteered in the Centre as part of their Community 10k challenge, to provide 10,000 hours of unpaid work in the local community. Here’s what they had to say about the experience:
On Friday 24 November I volunteered to attend Forth Valley Sensory Centre in Camelon, Falkirk.
Forth Valley Sensory Centre is a place where people with a visual or hearing loss, their friends, families, carers and the wider community can access quality services and advice from partner organisations. The centre is not just for people with sensory impairment and is open to the wider community. Some of the facilities on offer include a café, sensory garden and sensory room.
The centre is owned and run by Forth Valley Sensory Centre Trust. The Trust is a partnership between Action on Hearing Loss, Falkirk Council, NHS Forth Valley, RNIB Scotland and Stirling Council.
Each year the centre hosts a Christmas Fayre and they rely on volunteers to decorate the centre and set up the event. The event was scheduled for Saturday 25 November.
Myself and three other volunteers from DWP were met by Caroline who is the volunteer co-ordinator. Caroline gave us a tour of the centre and introduced us to the staff and some centre users. It was very interesting to see some of the gadgets and gizmos that the centre can supply to people with hearing and/or sight loss to assist them with every day tasks. This included talking microwave ovens, suction coffee cups which cannot be knocked over and flashing smoke alarms.
Most memorable person I met was David, who makes the soup each day for the café and also runs a personal safety course for centre users. David also makes intricate models of people and animals from aluminium foil, some of these models are dotted around the centre. David was a cheeky chap who had plenty to say to us when he heard we were from DWP – most of it positive, despite the fact that he has had some not so positive encounters with this organisation in the past! David is completely blind, and is one of the most positive, energetic people I have ever met. He buzzes around the centre using only his white stick to assist him and he interacts with pretty much everyone who walks through the door!
I had lunch in the café and David’s leek and potato soup was delicious, as was the banoffee muffin I had for dessert!
Between the four DWP volunteers we set up and decorated three Christmas trees, set up Santa’s grotto, decked the halls with lots of tinsel and set up the tables in the main hall for the fayre. A very busy but satisfying day was had by all.
The centre really does rely on volunteers throughout the year and I would encourage my colleagues to volunteer through C10k for any future advertised events. Failing that, if you are in need of a nice bowl of soup or a cake then pop into the café and support this fabulous organisation.
Karen Forsyth, DWP
If you would be interested in volunteering at Forth Valley Sensory Centre, please contact: hannahwilson@forthvalleysensorycentre.org or call 01324 590 888
Volunteer Support
At Forth Valley Sensory Centre we support best practice when it comes to volunteering and we are proud of our Volunteer Friendly status. In accordance with this, the links below will take you to our various policies and procedures. If you need more support, you can email Hannah Wilson, Volunteer Coordinator directly by clicking here.
Interested?
Please contact Hannah Wilson at hannahwilson@forthvalleysensorycentre.org to register your interest.
Thank you.