About Sussex Nightstop: At Sussex Nightstop our aim is to reach people who are at risk of homelessness before they have to sleep rough and are therefore made vulnerable to all of the risks associated with street homelessness. To do this, we train volunteer Hosts to safely offer emergency accommodation in their homes to those people referred to and assessed as suitable by Sussex Nightstop. Whilst clients are accessing the service our partner agencies work with the client around their wellbeing and long term housing plan.

Role title: Nightstop On-call Volunteer

Responsible to and supported by: Nightstop Coordinator

Hours and Commitment: Our on-call service is supported by 4-5 volunteers who agree their availability on a monthly basis. Most of the team cover 3-5 on-call slots per month including weekends. Some volunteers have fixed days or weekends they like to cover, and others gap-fill. Our on-call rota is agreed on a monthly basis allowing for some flexibility.

We are ideally seeking a minimum commitment of 1 year to the on-call role to allow for training, settling in and service continuity.

Location: From home

Purpose of the Role: Nightstop volunteer Hosts provide a service to people who are vulnerable and who may come with a variety of low-medium needs.  Nightstop provides a range of wrap around support to Hosts to ensure that Nightstop stays are as safe as possible for all those concerned. This includes regular host supervisions, post Nightstop stay check-in calls, training and a thorough risk assessment of all Nightstop guests to assess suitability.

Our on-call service forms part of this support. It is there to provide a point of contact and reassurance for Nightstop Hosts and guests outside of the main service hours which are 9.00-5.00pm.

The purpose of the on-call volunteer role is to:

• facilitate keeping Nightstop guests and host safe
• facilitate a safe and appropriately managed ‘hosting arrangement’ between host and guest
• respond to and, where possible, bring to a resolution concerns raised by hosts or guests in relation to their Nightstop stay as arranged by Sussex Nightstop staff

Our on-call volunteers are not asked to:

• broker or re-negotiate Nightstop stays
• replace emergency frontline services
• provide advice to Nightstop guests outside of that outlined in the on-call procedural guidance

Benefits:

• The opportunity to be involved in a vital community project that helps to prevent homelessness in our city
• Access to training, guidance and support from Nightstop staff and on-call volunteer peers
• The chance to be a part of the Sussex Nightstop community with the opportunity to meet and make friends with other like-minded people at our host social events throughout the year
• The opportunity to develop your volunteering role to other areas of Sussex Nightstop such as supporting community events if desired

Key Tasks: Delivering this role requires the following key tasks when you are on-call as well as a willingness and ability to meet the administrative requirements that are necessary for Sussex Nightstop to adhere to Nightstop UK quality standards.

We ask our on-call volunteers to:

• Be available to cover a minimum of 3-5 on-call slots per month (weekend cover is always highly desirable)
• Liaise with the Nightstop team on availability to produce on-call rota a month in advance
• Be fully available during the on-call time slot you are covering (5.00pm – 9.00am weekdays and 9.00am – 9.00am weekend days)
• Refrain from drinking or partaking in any other recreational substances (both legal/illegal) whilst on-call
• Follow the procedural guidance relating to on-call when responding to calls
• To acknowledge receipt of and read a Nightstop log of information when you are on-call providing you with any need-to-know information for that night’s young guest stays
• Ensure that you have sight of your phone and are able to respond within 15 minutes of receiving a call
• Provide a post on-call report (usually brief and by email) and, where necessary, be available to participate in a post on-call telephone call the follow day
• Delete Nightstop log data from all devices (mobile, laptop, computers both home and at work) the day after on-call
• To participate in 3-4 monthly on-call peer support meetings
• To meet the recruitment requirements outlined below and from therein to participate in any supplementary training deemed necessary to the role

Skills, Personal Attributes and Practical requirements:

• Due to our beneficiary group our On-call volunteers must be over the age of 25 years
• Ability to stay calm and patient
• Reliable access to a phone and email account that will support secure email exchange (we currently use Egress and can support this set-up)
• Ability to reliably follow administrative tasks
• A good understanding of boundaries particularly in relation to personal data
• Commitment to safeguarding young people and adults and promoting their welfare
• Excellent communication and listening skills
• The ability to understand and work within procedural and policy guidance
• Ability to be non-judgmental and to treat all clients with sensitivity and respect, irrespective of their backgrounds, opinions, cultural and ethical beliefs

Recruitment requirements and DBS checks

Recruitment is subject to the satisfactory completion of:

• A face-to-face interview with Nightstop staff member
• A Basic[1] DBS check (upon application and then carried out every three years as set out in our DBS Policy)
• 2 x satisfactory references
• Attendance at core Nightstop training: Training includes introduction to Sussex Nightstop and homelessness, Policies and Procedures, Equal Opportunities and Diversity and Health & Safety, Safeguarding young people and adults, Boundaries and Communication skills
• Attendance therein at 2-yearly on-call refresher training
• Attendance at Suicide Prevention training and other training from time to time deemed necessary for the safe and effective carrying out of the role

Support and Training:

We place great emphasis upon supporting our volunteers and ensuring that safety and wellbeing is paramount. Support to on-call volunteers includes:

• On-call induction with Nightstop staff member
• Post on-call check ins with Nightstop coordinator
• 3-4 on-call support meetings facilitated by Nightstop staff
• Annual one-to-one supervision with Nightstop staff member
• Ongoing access to Nightstop coordinator and staff team on a bespoke basis as needed
• Access to wider training supplied by Nightstop

Out-of-pocket volunteer expenses are covered as agreed with Nightstop Coordinator.

Enquiries and applications to: Mitchelle Dsouza at [email protected]

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[1] As updated and assessed by GBG Online 13.04.2020