Barnardos Parent & Toddler Group Volunteer

Location: Barnardos Lorien Project, 31 MacUilliam Crescent, Fortunestown, Tallaght, Dublin 24.

Barnardos are Ireland’s largest children’s charity working with children and families throughout Ireland. We are looking for a volunteer with an interest in play and positive parenting to join our team in the Barnardos Lorien Project. The service is provided in conjunction with an HSE Public Health Nurse Child Health outreach clinic.

Aim of Group

• Provide a safe welcoming environment for children and their families to play together.
• Promote children’s well-being and development through play and positive interactions with significant adult, via the roll out of the Peep programme (delivered by trained Barnardos staff). Peep stands for Parent Early Education Partnership and is about valuing and building on what parents already do.
• Parents and carers will receive peer support and also support and advice from Barnardos staff in relation to child development and parenting.
• Children and families will be supported with specific needs and referred to relevant agencies.

Tasks & Responsibilities:

• Preparing a child centred environment in line with the Peep programme
• Welcoming parents and children to the service
• Interacting in a positive and friendly manner with both parents and children
• Planning and supporting play activities in line with Peep programme
• Supporting parents to build friendships
• Assisting in the preparation of refreshments for parents and children (light snacks).
• Helping set up / tidy up toys and equipment
• Participating in the planning and reviewing of programmes
• Assisting project staff to ensure a high standard of health and safety and good practice (including Covid guidelines)
• Feeding back and completing with staff, when required, incident forms if any issues arise regarding child protection or health & safety
• Facilitating staff to promote the parent child relationship of service users
• Facilitating staff in encouraging parents to actively play with their children

Time Commitment:

• Tuesdays from 10am to 12pm
• Minimum commitment of 9 months

Training & Support:

• The service will provide induction, and hands on follow up training with volunteer as required.
• Where possible the volunteer will attend training as provided centrally in Barnardos, and where linkages are available locally to other training providers
• Supervised by project staff as assigned.

Desirable qualities/abilities:

• Friendly and polite.
• Confident (dealing with general queries – following training).
• Patience to deal with the various requests that can arise.
• Flexibility.
• Awareness of confidentiality in relation to service users.
• Understanding of child development.
• Have the capacity to work in a disadvantaged community.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Ability to respond in a positive and age appropriate way to children’s needs and behaviour.
• Ability to show initiative.
• A willingness to learn and experience new ideas.
• A willingness to accept and comply with Barnardos ethos, policies and procedures.
• A willingness to share experience, expertise and a willingness to accept support.
• To have a sense of humour.
• Willingness to play with children at their level, to sing nursery songs, to read stories and to engage in messy play (with paint, glitter etc).

Application process, Garda Vetting, and references required.

For more information or to register your interest in this volunteer role please contact 
Rachael Kenny, Barnardos Volunteer Service,  on 086 8570112 or email: volunteers@barnardos.ie