Volunteer

Description

We are Acts of Radical Kindness( ARK) Outreach, a charity dedicated to helping spread the importance of physical and mental health across Ireland and Nigeria. Our vision is that people in need are offered a glimmer of hope and opportunities to reach what once seemed hopeless through radical acts of kindness.

We have provided annual free medical outreaches to different regions in Nigeria since 2017. We are branching out to recognise the important work our Cork taxi drivers do. They do not just provide transport but also often advise their passengers and carry some of their burden with no training. During COVID, they continued to transport people despite the risks and all these need to be acknowledged. As such, we want to provide them with refreshments, wellbeing check-ins and support services that they can give to people to help them reach their full potential. 

As a token of our appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our local taxi drivers, we're providing complimentary refreshments to help them stay refreshed and energized throughout their day. We are aware of the physical and mental toll the job has and have learned that some of their passengers usually disclose quite distressing things about their lives which can be hard to hear. We decided to create this outreach to support them more by providing free training and resources that they can use to help their passengers and themselves. We are working closely with the resource officer for suicide Prevention cork city and county on this project.

Leaflet of the outreach is attached.

Is training provided?: Yes

Tasks that the volunteer(s) will be expected to undertake:

In this role, you will be supporting us with some or all of the following tasks: 

• Providing refreshments (tea, coffe, biscuits etc) to taxi drivers at no charge

• Engaging in low level conversation with the taxi staff. 

• Engaging with taxi drivers to share the work of ARK Outreach 

• Working together with the outreach team and dividing tasks where appropriate. 

• Engaging with our clients with sensitivity and respect. 

• Adhering to ARK’s Policies and Procedures at all times. 

• Appropriately promoting ARK Outreach’s work. 

• Providing the taxi staff with resources they can share with passengers as required.

Skills required for this role:

Communication skills 

Interpersonal skills 

Details of time commitment needed for role:
Friday and/or Saturday evenings from 6-8pm

Minimum time commitment per week:
2 hour p/week

Additional screening required for this role:
Informal interview