Surrey Association for Visual Impairment. Making a visible difference in Surrey.
Home Visiting
Home Visiting
The Home Visiting is the flagship volunteer service that SAVI offers and as such represents our aims and goals of achieving greater independence for people with a visual impairment. The Home Visitors are the eyes and ears of SAVI and help to form a vital link between us and our Service Users. This can have benefits to VIPs in terms of accessing our other services and also receiving extra help from external sources as and when it becomes neccessary.
Helping to give someone a little more independence and the benefits this can have are often imeasurable. To relieve the worry of what may be in the pile of post that has been sat unread for a week or to give someone the confidence to venture out on your arm for a walk, for the first time in weeks, has massive beneifts for the wellbeing of that person. It is in helping to do the little things, that sighted people take for granted, that the HV role really shines and proves so important and timeless.
We have more Home Visitors (HV) than any other volunteer role and we still need more volunteers than for any other role. We receive a constant flow of referrals for people wanting a home visitor from both external and internal sources so we are constantly looking to recruit to meet the need.
Typically a home visitor will be matched up with one person but we also welcome volunteers who ultimately take on more VIP. This 1-2-1 way of working helps to build a strong relationship and pretty quickly the volunteer/VIP thing breaks down and a real friendship develops. This allows a trust to develop and can lead to a highly successful and rewarding relationship that provides benefits for everyone involved.
HV's receive training and induction as do all volunteers. They will also be supported a little more during the initial phase of the volunteering while they settle into the role and get to know the person they are matched with.
The average time commitment for the role is about 2 hours a week. This is flexible and may be more or less depending on your time and the needs of the VIP. You can find out more about this and our other roles at our volunteer support page.
If you would like to know more about this role or any aspect of volunteering for SAVI, please do get in touch. Call Jason, the Volunteer Co-ordinator, on 01372 377701 ext 250 or Email to: jspinney@sa-vi.org.uk
Sight Loss
Learn about the most common eye conditions that can cause visual impairment.
Macular Disease
Cataract
Diabetic Retinopathy
Glaucoma
