Volunteering at Sahil

Voluntary Service is an essential part of Sahil's services. The volunteering service was expanded in March 2002 via funding from the Community Fund. The Volunteering services offer the following:

BEFRIENDING- Someone to talk to in complete confidence.

ESCORTING- If a woman is accessing our befriending service, then we can and will provide escorting / accompanying to hospital, doctors, solicitors etc. we do not offer this as a individual service.

OUTREACH AND HOME VISITS - Most of our services will take place in the Service Users home, however we will provide a service anywhere else where it is requested. All service users are visited prior to any befriending takes place - this is primarily to assess the right service as well as health and safety reasons.

SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF- Due to language barriers - many women feel anxious about receiving a letter or a bill from organisations - we telephone on their behalf to clear up any queries. We do not provide an interpreting or translation service.

DROP IN FACILITY - our services are accessible from 9.00am - 5.00pm (Monday - Thursday) and 9.00am - 4.30pm (Friday). Women are able to come to us and we have a safe and protective environment whereby they are able to talk in complete confidence.

We Open pathways for the women - but it is their decision as to which route they choose to take.
We do not judge but support and encourage.

At present a pool of 9 volunteers have been recruited - All Asian women speaking a number of languages and from different religious backgrounds. All the volunteers have been assigned to service users with a cultural and religious match.

Six of the volunteers have completed the in-house "Basic Counselling Skills Training".
The volunteers have been able to access further training via the community fund to enhance their educational skills.

For many of the volunteers - this is the first time they have been able to work within the community and feel that they are putting something back into it through community work. They are able to gain a vast amount of experience, knowledge and skills.

The volunteering service is not just about the above it is more about teamwork!!