Resource

Telephone Peer Support Volunteer

Our Telephone Peer Support Service is run by our Information and Support team as part of the helpline offering.  Anyone calling our helpline can request a phonecall from a volunteer who has RA or adult JIA. For many, this will be the first time they have spoken to someone with the same condition. Sharing experiences and connecting with someone who understands can be really valuable.

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Description

As a Telephone Peer Support Volunteer, your experience of living with RA/JIA is at the heart of your role. You will be asked to support a range of people in diverse communities, while making sure everyone feels welcomed, supported, and valued for who they are.

You will use your own experiences to empathise with and reassure the caller. This may be someone who is in distress, needs your insight, or would just like a sympathetic ear.

Main Role

Following guidance and training by NRAS, you will take a pre-arranged call of up to 50 minutes. The caller will lead the call, deciding which topics they would like to discuss in relation to their RA/JIA. You will draw on your lived experience in an appropriate way to offer support.

Essential Skills:

  • Excellent listening skills.
  • A passion to empower people by offering tips and reassurance.
  • A good ability to communicate in a respectful and non-judgmental way with a range of people.
  • Empathy, kindness, and patience.
  • The ability to share challenging personal experiences and self-management strategies where appropriate.
  • The ability to deal with all conversations with tact and sensitivity.
  • An understanding that anything discussed during these calls is confidential.
  • Excellent emotional Intelligence.

Person Specification

Personal Attributes:

  • Living with RA or AJIA.
  • In a good and secure place mentally on your health journey.
  • Empathic and kind.
  • Reliable.
  • Able to build rapport.

Where and When:

Location:

  • Home-based.

Time commitment:  

  • Occasional – approximately 1 – 2 hours weekly/every other week (Up to 50 minutes per phone call).

Volunteer Availability:

  • Daytime or evening depending on your availability.
Apply for this role