Community Volunteer - Cafes

Interested in Volunteering? We are looking to build our team of volunteers. Are you over 18 years old and interested in working within an adults drug and alcohol service supporting people in their recovery and engaging in the recovery community? If so, the Community Volunteer Recovery Café role may be for you!

The Recovery Café runs twice a week in the afternoons, with two locations in West Lothian: Blackburn on a Monday and Livingston on a Thursday. The cafés are a place for the recovery community to come together, relax, and socialise while enjoying tea/coffee and some light snacks.

This is a rewarding role for someone who has approximately 4 hours once or twice a week while the Recovery Café is running on Monday and Thursday afternoons. The role is suitable for someone who is reliable, friendly, punctual, and wants to help support people to connect and engage in the recovery community.

The West Lothian Recovery Service has a small team of volunteers, and we are looking to add to this team to continue developing this resource and make recovery more visible and accessible through our Recovery Cafés.

The community Recovery Cafés are run by staff with the support of our volunteers. They are open to our service users and those of the local recovery community, providing an opportunity to enjoy social activities, light snacks, and learn more about our service and how we can support people in recovery. This helps to promote positive feelings of wellbeing and inclusivity through individual and group interactions, addressing loneliness, isolation, and fostering a sense of connection and togetherness.

Volunteers should possess good communication skills, be aware of the recovery community, and have the ability to work within professional boundaries while maintaining confidentiality at all times. You will work alongside the staff team, other volunteers, and people in the recovery community. Training will be provided on how to administer Naloxone, and you will be equipped to support people with information about this to keep them safe.

Additionally, volunteers may have the opportunity to gain other skills and support the team by covering the duty volunteer rota, which may involve undertaking light office tasks relevant to your role.

Successful applicants, if interested, may also have the opportunity to extend their skills at our Friday Box-fit group. For this, we are looking for someone who can support the staff member and follow instructions.

Please note that you must be 18 years of age or older to be considered for this volunteering role. This post is subject to a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme check at an enhanced level.

Contact: Ann Holloway | ann.holloway@cgl.org.uk