Volunteering in our Shared Lives service  

Volunteering in Shared Lives is a great way to meet new people and get involved with your local community. 

What is a panel volunteer?  

As our Shared Lives panel volunteer, you’ll sit on our carer recruiter panels. You’ll be working with other volunteers, staff, current carers and people who are supported by Shared Lives to assess potential Shared Lives carers by making sure they’re the best carers they can be.   

This is a super important role as we have to make sure we’re only recruiting carers who match our values and have a passion for helping others. The panel have the big responsibility of making sure PSS Shared Lives is providing the happiest and safest future for the people who use this service.   

What will I do in my role?  

As our panel volunteer, you’ll put the P in professionalism. You’ll have a big role to play in giving someone the life they deserve with a carer who’s perfectly suited to support their journey. You’ll be given clear guidance and support from the scheme, which will include recommendations you can give when considering a Shared Lives carer at assessment or during review.  

You’ll also need to understand our panel processes inside out and put these into practice. This might look like this:  

  • Keeping up-to-speed on the requirements needed to qualify as a carer; 
  • Support the assessment process in line with our procedures and codes of conduct; 
  • Be open and fair in everything you do, especially in your decision-making; 
  • Review panel reports that have sensitive information, making sure they’re kept confidential – how you’d want to be treated if it was your own information. 
  • Be clued up on our health and safety policies and guidance on risk assessment and management.   

Learning and development 

As one of our ace volunteers, we'll make sure you have the right training to be the best you can be in your role. You’ll also have access to our Learning Hub, where you can access lots of additional learning opportunities if you want to.  

The training for this role will involve the below.  

Training 

Details 

Commitment 

Volunteer induction session 

This is a welcome session that will give you an insight into the world of PSS. We’ll introduce to each of our services and what they do. We’ll also talk about what we’ll expect from you as a volunteer at PSS and the perks of being a volunteer at PSS. This session will also be an introduction to health and safety, equity diversity and inclusion and the importance of confidentiality.  

One-off attendance face to face-to-face or online to suit your schedule. 

This role will require you to take part in the six-monthly 'panel big chat'. The focus of the big chat is to bring together our PSS panel members to chat about our experiences and share learning in relation to the panel process. This is a great way for us to get together, learn, share and support each other. 

What we need from you  

  • You’ll have the gift of the gab and be a people person through and through. You’ll have great communication skills and feel comfortable talking to new people.  
  • You’ll be an advocate for all things Shared Lives – but who isn’t anyway? It’s such an amazing service.  
  • You’ll feel confident following the policies and procedures we have in place around health and safety and risk management.  
  • You’ll be non-judgmental and passionate about getting the right carers to join Shared Lives. 
  • You’ll show commitment to our PSS values; by using your big heart, open mind, genuine nature, determination, and professionalism to make sure PSS Shared Lives is being the best it can be. You’ll be a shining example to other carers to show them how things are done at PSS.

Role application requirements - This role will require two references, a volunteer agreement, and an interview with our panel development worker.  

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, get in touch with our volunteer coordinator via Volunteer@pss.org.uk or 07764469365.