Playworker volunteer, term-time

LinkAble is a Woking-based charity supporting children and adults with learning disabilities for over 30 years. Our fun groups enable people with learning disabilities to enjoy activities and experiences they may otherwise struggle to access. We support people to learn new skills, form lasting friendships and lead fulfilling, independent lives. 

Every Saturday we run activities for kids and teens with learning disabilities, and we need volunteers to help us make these sessions fun and engaging. This incredibly rewarding role will give you direct experience of supporting young people with learning disabilities and enable you to give back to your community.

We run lots of different activities with kids and teens, so you can choose the age group, day and time that works best for you. We need volunteers to help support at the following groups:

Kid’s groups

·       8:30am - 12:00pm – Saturday Play

·       12:00pm - 3:30pm – Saturday Play

Teen groups

·       9:30am - 1:00pm – Saturday activities

·       1:00pm - 4:30pm – Saturday activities

·       6:15pm – 8:45pm - Mondays, Without Walls

·       5:15pm -7:00pm – Fridays, Stopgap dance 

What skills do I need?

How it works

During the sessions you will be:

·       supporting children and young people to get the most from our fun activities

·       encouraging and supporting them to be independent

·       playing alongside them and making sure they are having fun

At the start of each session, you will be given a briefing by the group leader about any key information you will need to know for the session. You will also be given a profile about the child or young person you will be working with that day, so you know how you can best support them.

At the end of the session, you will have a debrief with the group leader so you can discuss how the day went. We will support you every step of the way so that both you and our young people have the best possible experience.

Training

·       We will need you to complete a DBS check before starting, we will pay for this

·       For the first 5 sessions you will be shadowing a trained staff member. This is so you can get to learn how staff are interacting and supporting the children and young people.

·       You will complete a new starter booklet where you will learn about our policies and procedures.

·       You will need to attend LinkAble induction and safeguarding training