Wayfinder - Refer someone who needs support

Through Wayfinder, local volunteers equipped by Transforming Notts Together provide one-on-one support for people after a period of homelessness. Volunteers meet with the person they are supporting at locations near to the participant’s home for up to two years, providing invaluable social and emotional support.

What do Wayfinder volunteers do?

Wayfinder volunteers provide practical and social support to people who have been homeless. This includes helping participants to pay bills, order shopping online, or register with a GP. They help participants to access support services.

Wayfinder volunteers help participants to overcome social isolation by being someone to talk to, and by accompanying participants to local community groups or events. Wayfinder volunteers are a friendly face to talk to, and a helping hand when needed.

If you are working with someone who has been homeless and needs a little more community support, Wayfinder could be perfect.

Volunteers do not:

• Visit participants’ homes
• Provide counselling or therapy

Participant suitability

Criteria for entry on to the Wayfinder service:

• Over 18
• Experience of homelessness
• Would benefit from ongoing mentoring support with a volunteer mentor/befriender
• Have at least basic understanding of spoken English
• Not currently rough sleeping

Participants do not need to have recourse to public funds, or a local connection.

Referral process

Participants can be referred using our simple online referral form here. Please only refer participants with their consent. You will receive a confirmation email once we have received your referral.

You will be contacted by email within 5 working days to confirm if the participant you have referred has been accepted.

Participant journey

If the participant you have referred is suitable, we will email you to let you know. We will then phone the participant to confirm their interest.

After this, we will invite the participant in for a matching conversation. In this, we will find out more about their interests, and what support they would like to receive from their volunteer.

We will match the participant with a volunteer with similar interests and experience, and who is able to provide the type of support the participant is interested in.

The first meeting between the participant and volunteer will be attending by the Wayfinder Volunteer Coordinator, to introduce the participant and volunteer. The participant will be able to say after this whether they wish to meet with the volunteer again.

The participant will meet with the volunteer for at least six months, and up to two years. The volunteer and participant pair will meet on a regular basis, at public locations near to the participant’s home.

Participant refreshments will be paid for so taking part in Wayfinder will not cost anything.

Safeguarding

All Wayfinder volunteers are DBS checked before they can begin volunteering. Volunteers are provided with safeguarding training, and have on call support seven days a week.

We will ask you to provide risk information on the participant you refer. This will ensure that we are able to meet their needs. In some cases, we will not be able to work with participants due to their risk profile or support needs.

Where we have serious safeguarding concerns about the participant you have referred, we always inform you.

Contact

For more information, please contact Jemma Baldry by phone 07522381533 or by email:

What is Transforming Notts Together?

Transforming Notts Together is part of the Together Network – local partnerships between CUF and 19 Church of England Dioceses – which promotes collaborative, local social action through network building, strengthening of relationships, sharing of best practice and the development and delivery of programmes to tackle social issues including food poverty, loneliness and homelessness.

Transforming Notts together began operations in Nottingham in 2012.