Volunteers in our Charity on Volunteer Recognition Day
Today is Volunteer Recognition Day and it wouldn't be right to end the day without sharing how volunteers are the life-blood of OUR charity. In the 26 months since Call4Backup's inception we have thrived on volunteers to keep us running and this is a prime opportunity to explain the roles of the Volunteers in our charity.
We currently have 8 Support Agents in the charity with a further 14 currently going through training to become a Support Agent. The Trainees are giving up their free time to complete high levels of training. This training makes sure they are adequately prepared for providing support to those who contact us.
Once qualified as a Support Agent they will join a team that were formed over a year ago. This team provides support to Police Employees and volunteers across the UK. They take about 1 call a month and an email a week, based on the latest figures, and provide the required support and direction to those in need. They volunteer for two 3 hour shifts each a week to cover what they can around their own lives, jobs and families and we use an online system to allow them to book the shifts they want. To find out more about the Support Agent Role Click Here.
Our Support Agents are so passionate about their role and the charity most of them also Champion the charity. However we have large number of volunteers who Champion the charity in their force area by putting up posters, talking about the charity and doing what they can to combat the stigma around Mental Health in the Police.
This role is one that is at the grass roots. We have always been a charity that promoted itself by word of mouth and from the front line up. This is the reason for creating Champions, those who want to show their colleagues that there is help out there and that its okay to not be okay. If you want to become a C4B Champion then why not read a little more about the role before applying.
The final Volunteers that we want to recognise are those who are fundraising for us every day to keep us going. We want to begin with thanking the amazing Stithians Community who, through the Seven Stars Inn and the Annual Craig Pledger Memorial Rugby match between Essex Police and Stithians RFC raise tons of funds for the charity. There are also a number of other volunteers to thank, Scott Davies, our Marathon runner who this week will be running out inaugural London Marathon Entry. We also want to shout about the 3 runners in the Vitality 10K, 6 runners in the Great North Run, 2 swimmers taking part in the Great Newham London Swim and all those other fundraisers who are taking part in their own events to raise much needed funds for the charity.
It wouldn't be right to end this recognition of volunteers without recognising those who talk about mental health and what our charity does to combat that. This are the people who volunteer their time to have a word with a colleague with little recognition for the work they do. Those who share a post saying that they are there to listen during a colleagues hard time, those who send a text to ask if that colleague is okay. These are the people we would implore to come and join our movement and support more colleagues.