MySight York

MySight York MySight York has 2 types of befriending servivces: Home Visiting and Keeping in Touch.

The aim of the home visiting service is to support individuals living with sight loss to remain as independent as is appropriate to their circumstances. The Home Visiting service provides volunteers on a long-term basis and can include helping them get out and about, provide practical support, such as reading correspondence or provide companionship. The service is about doing “with” rather than “for”. The Home Visiting service is open to residents within the City of York Council boundary.

Our Keeping in Touch Volunteers provide a telephone based befriending service. Volunteers telephone their clients on a regular basis for a friendly chat to help reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation. The Keeping in Touch service is open to residents living in York and the surrounding area.

The home visiting service seeks to enable people to retain as much independence as possible and to reduce social isolation. Volunteer visitors provide practical help, emotional support and companionship.

Volunteers are carefully matched and can visit people in their own homes or at other locations, depending on the individual needs and interests of those using the service. Visits usually take place weekly or fortnightly and last for around 2 hours.

Examples of things a volunteer and client might do include: Reading and sorting mail, non-essential shopping, writing cards, reading out loud for pleasure, going for a walk, exercising or participating in a hobby together or having a chat over a cuppa.

Please note that volunteers do not carry out any personal care, undertake cleaning, food shopping for clients, helping with finances or household chores.

Information for volunteers

Our home visiting service is a free service which aims to enable visually impaired people to be as independent as possible. Home Visiting volunteers provide companionship and support, and can be a real life-line to help people maintain independent living skills and social contacts.

Volunteers may undertake a variety of tasks, ranging from visiting at home for a chat, helping with light practical tasks, reading and helping with correspondence to going out for a walk, shopping or day trips. Some volunteers help clients to continue with hobbies or to find new ones, such as gardening, playing games or using the computer.

Most visitors visit regularly either weekly or fortnightly for a couple of hours on a long-term basis. They are carefully matched with clients, taking interests, availability and location into account. Volunteers will usually visit clients in their own homes which can be anywhere within the City of York. MySight York will meet reasonable travel costs.

Our 'Keeping in Touch' service is free and provides clients with a friendly weekly phone call.

No previous experience of working with blind or partially sighted people is necessary as full training will be given. A friendly nature, empathy and an interest in people, especially older people, is a must. You would also be a good listener and have a non-judgemental attitude. Most importantly you must be ready to allow the client to make choices.

If you are interested, you will need to complete an application form and meet with the Volunteer Manager. We normally ask for two references and you’ll be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check before training and an induction is provided.

Contact

MySight York
14 Merchants Place
Merchantgate
North Yorkshire
YO1 9TU

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