Yesterday, Step Together ran their first Veterans in Volunteering (ViV) programme, which was held at Tedworth House.
ViV offers veterans and others with experience of life in the Forces, the opportunity to be trained and supported as volunteers to help provide additional help to veterans in local communities.
The training, which started with individual inductions with volunteers, not only offered ViVs a chance to come together as a group and meet members of the Step Together Team, but also provided them with an understanding of the organisation and the ViV volunteer roles, information about good practice when volunteering and an opportunity to reflect on, and test out, the qualities and skills helpful for a successful volunteering experience.
The fun and interactive day provided a lot of opportunities for people to discuss different scenarios, learn more about the different volunteer roles, and ask questions.
With our funding, Step Together were able to ensure that they had the right procedures, processes, and tools in place for a new programme model that will allow them to support more wounded, injured and sick (WIS) clients in the future. Our grant has helped them to develop the training and the supporting materials and resources for this. This training can now be used and developed to enable and empower new volunteers to provide appropriate support to WIS veterans in their communities and help them into volunteering opportunities which would benefit their recovery.
Demelza Penberth, Step Together’s National Volunteer Coordinator who co-delivered the training, said, “it was fantastic to have a group of such enthusiastic volunteers, all of them bringing their own experiences and skills to the team and what we do. We are really grateful to these volunteers and for our grant from ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, as these ViVs will really add value to our programme and extend our reach to provide more support to a greater number of wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans in our communities.”
About Step Together
Each year, Step Together helps over 300 wounded, injured and sick (WIS) service personnel and veterans across the UK to rebuild their lives. They support WIS service personnel, veterans and their families across the UK to make significant change in their lives, through one-to-one support and active engagement in community volunteering as a part of their recovery and resettlement.