{"id":1487,"date":"2022-03-10T16:04:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T16:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2023-04-20T09:52:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T08:52:57","slug":"volunteer-from-home-with-virtual-buddying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/news\/services\/volunteer-from-home-with-virtual-buddying\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer from home with Virtual Buddying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"is-style-intro\">In an era of&nbsp;hybrid and remote working, what\u2019s the best way to give your time? Virtual Buddying lets you volunteer from home, while making a real difference to disabled people facing social isolation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Virtual Buddying?&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sense matches volunteers with disabled people to meet for an hour a week on Zoom or over the phone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, Sense&#8217;s volunteers have already spent thousands of hours with their buddies, learning new skills, having fun, and forming fantastic friendships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The programme is designed to help people form strong connections with their buddies.&nbsp;Sense matches each volunteer with someone&nbsp;who has similar interests, to make sure you have a great time.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why\u2019s it important?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The pandemic and recent lockdowns have worsened social isolation and loneliness \u2013 especially for disabled people.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shielding vulnerable people often comes at the cost of social interaction, which is a crucial part of wellbeing and mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch Saihan, one of the participants on the Virtual Buddying programme, talk about&nbsp; what&nbsp;it&nbsp;means to him<a href=\"javascript:;\">.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube is-style-primary wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Saihan explains why Virtual Buddying is so important\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YgrVsJ6tuDU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How does it work?&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Express your interest using the link below to receive an application form&nbsp;<\/li><li>Sense will call for a quick chat to learn about your interests so we can find the right match&nbsp;<\/li><li>You&#8217;ll receive some e-learning courses to prepare you. If you\u2019re volunteering with an under-18, we\u2019ll also request a DBS check&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s it \u2014 time for your first session with your buddy!&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/our-services\/meeting-people\/virtual-buddying-befriending-service\/\">Sign up<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can you do with your buddy?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What can\u2019t you do!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to pick up some new skills, you can request materials from Sense. Want to learn Tai Chi with your buddy? How to dance, paint, or play an instrument? Sense can set you up!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bethany studies PTUK at&nbsp;Leeds Becket University and volunteers with Olivia \u2014 here\u2019s what buddying has meant to her:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-textured-grey-tint-10 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;I just know that on a Thursday I\u2019m going to be laughing at the end of my day. It&#8217;s a really positive part of my week.&#8221;<\/p><cite>Bethany<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n  <div class=\"wp-block  box  ctaBox    is-style-textured-yellow-tint-10\">\n    <div class=\"ctaBox__row\">\n      <div class=\"ctaBox__content\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How can you get involved?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fill in a short registration form and we&#8217;ll call or email you and then send you what you need to get started.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <div class=\"ctaBox__cta\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/our-services\/virtual-buddying-befriending-service\/\" class=\"button  button--secondary\">Sign up<\/a>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an era of&nbsp;hybrid and remote working, what\u2019s the best way to give your time? Virtual Buddying lets you volunteer from home, while making a real difference to disabled people facing social isolation.&nbsp; What is Virtual Buddying?&nbsp; Sense matches volunteers with disabled people to meet for an hour a week on Zoom or over the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[237],"tags":[],"display_author":[90],"class_list":["post-1487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-services","display_author-sense"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1487"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=1487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}