Volunteering with Carer Support Carlisle & Eden is an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable experience. As a local charity, we are looking for people who would like to give something back in our community.

Carer Support Carlisle & Eden has people from all sorts of backgrounds, and all age groups presently volunteering their time to support the vital work we do with our unpaid Carers in the Carlisle and Eden areas. As a Volunteer you will receive training, support and become a valued member of our team. YOU can make a difference to the lives of unpaid Carers in Carlisle and Eden.

We are constantly looking for new Volunteers to join us, and help us improve and expand the kind of activities, groups and events we offer. Our Volunteers often come to us with many positive qualities and there is always opportunity to learn new skills. It looks great on a CV if someone can evidence that they have given their time and experience to Volunteering.

Many of our Volunteering roles only require a commitment of a couple of hours a month and these times can be arranged to suit the Volunteer.

We are currently recruiting Volunteers for the following roles:

Volunteer Companionship Sitter:
Our Volunteer sitters visit with a ‘Cared For’ person for up to 2 hours at a time. These ‘sits’ are with ‘Cared For’ people who have no personal care needs, but are too vulnerable to be left alone. The Volunteers will often chat, do jigsaws or go for a walk during the visit.

Sitting Volunteers need to have a patient, calm and understanding nature and will receive full training and support. Once a ‘sitter’ is matched with a Carer we will normally offer 8 visits over an extended period of time, with ‘sits’ normally taking place once or twice a month.

The Companionship Sitting Service is the most in demand Volunteer service which we offer as it allows our unpaid Carers to have a much needed break, with peace of mind that the person they care for is safely looked after.

Carers’ Hub Volunteer:
Our Carers’ Hub Volunteers come along to chat with Carers, sometimes about caring and often just to be sociable and help reduce feelings of carer isolation. We also have a few roles for Volunteers who would like to organise and lead Hubs. The time commitment for a Hub Volunteer is 2 – 3 hours per month on a set day.

Supporting a local Hub can be very rewarding, as the Hubs provide an opportunity for Carers to take a break from their caring role, and have some time for themselves. The Hubs consist of Carers in a local area who meet once a month for coffee or lunch. The Men's Hub gives male Carers an opportunity to get together and share their interests. This monthly Hub meets in a range of local cafés and also organises activities such as bowling, archery or gentle fell walking. 

Organised Trips and Events:
There are opportunities for Volunteers to work alongside Carer Support Carlisle & Eden staff members to escort groups of young people and/or adults on organised trips away, for example a day trip to Lightwater Valley, Chester Zoo or to attend an Afternoon Tea at a local hotel. Commitment for this role is on an ad hoc basis to fit in with the organised trips and events.

Administration Volunteers:
Carer Support Carlisle & Eden, as an organisation, creates a lot of administrative tasks and we greatly value our regular Volunteers who support our work by taking on some of the office based tasks.  If you would like to gain office experience or you're retired and want to give something back, please share your time and volunteer with us.

IT Support:
Carer Support Carlisle & Eden has Volunteers who are confident in IT and who very kindly pass on some of those skills to Carers. They can advise on many things like emailing, social media and other methods of keeping people in touch through their computer. These skills can be invaluable to a Carer, who may be housebound for most of the time due to their caring role. This support is generally provided within the Carers’ own home when a need arises.

Carers Champions:
These ‘micro’ Volunteers add value to the work of Carer Support Carlisle & Eden by operating within their own organisation or community to help us to identify unpaid Carers. They also raise the profile of the work of Carer Support Carlisle & Eden to enable more Carers to access our services.

Carers Champions need to be active members of their community/business, who will signpost new Carers to Carer Support Carlisle & Eden; they will distribute promotional material and promote our services, sometimes by giving presentations, and talking to local groups and organisations.

‘Carer Aware’ is a new quick e-learning course from Carers UK designed to help people identify carers, recognise the impacts of caring and understand how to help carers better.   It takes just over 10 minutes to complete and includes a digital badge to recognise that the learning has been completed.  This course will give you a good overview of a Carers Champions role.

Volunteer Support:
Carer Support Carlisle & Eden greatly values its Volunteers, and supports them to ensure they have a positive experience while volunteering. In addition to paying travelling expenses, we also offer training and relevant skills development, which can be used to enhance CVs and job prospects.

Do you think you may be interested in Volunteering for us? For more information about any of the above roles and an informal chat, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator on 01768 890280 (Penrith) / 01228 580214 (Carlisle) or email us at enquiries@carlisle-eden-carers.org.uk.