Freelance Roles – Sickle Cell Family Retreat

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25 Jul 2024

Freelance Roles – Sickle Cell Family Retreat

Freelance Roles – Sickle Cell Family Retreat

Freelance Roles Available:
1 x Volunteer Liaison and Parent Programme Lead (FULL WEEKEND)
1 x Children and Youth Activity Coordinator (FULL WEEKEND)
1 x Under 7s Creche Leader (9am-6pm Saturday, 9am-1:30pm Sunday)

 

Sickle Cell Family Retreat

30th August (3pm) to 1st September 2024 (3pm)

Whitemoor Lakes, nr. Lichfield

Pay: £400 – for the weekend + any prep work beforehand
(freelance – responsible for own tax)

**Food and Basic Shared Accommodation included if required**

We are looking for three enthusiastic, organised and energetic freelancers to support our Sickle Cell Family Retreat from 30th August to 1st September 2024 at Whitemoor Lakes near Lichfield. The three freelancers will work with our Family Retreat Coordinator to deliver an educational and exciting holistic experience for around 30 families who have at least one child aged between 6 and 15 years old who has sickle cell, a painful genetic blood condition.

Role Descriptions:

Volunteer Liaison and Parent Programme Lead:

  • Supporting and empowering the Sickle Cell Society volunteers who are helping to facilitate the retreat – some of whom may be leading activities – making sure they have the perfect amount of things to do and are getting enough rest!
  • Ensuring all Sickle Cell Society volunteers are happy, know what they are doing, and are in the right place at the right time.
  • Leading volunteer check ins and debriefings each day
  • Coordinating volunteer arrivals, ensuring they’re shown to their rooms, any delays are covered, emergency taxis are coordinated etc
  • If there are any cancellations, re-assigning volunteer jobs to ensure ratios are kept to
  • Making sure the retreat is well documented with photos and videos. This can be assigned to a volunteer, and will be supported by Jessica (Family Retreat Coordinator), but they may require support
  • Meeting Parent Programme facilitators (largely volunteers), assembling parents and starting off each session, ensuring that everyone knows what is happening. 
  • Helping to troubleshoot any issues and proactively providing solutions

 

Children and Youth Activity Coordinator:

  • Leading (and/or supporting volunteers to lead) pre-planned activities for our group – both fun (e.g. arts and crafts) and educational (e.g. Girls and Boys advice sessions)
  • Accompanying groups to centre-led activities and modelling excellent interactions with children for volunteers
  • Helping to make sure everyone knows what is happening and when, keeping the programme running to time. This may involve getting children into groups, taking them to the right location etc
  • Facilitating conversations and friendships between families wherever possible
  • Helping to troubleshoot any issues and proactively providing solutions
    Supporting quieter children or those finding things difficult to find a way to enjoy the retreat – noticing the families who are on the sidelines or overwhelmed and need some extra support to get involved
  • Leading games to fill gaps between activities, encouraging volunteers to take the lead with this too
  • Encouraging children with sickle cell to take breaks and drink lots of water and general monitoring to ensure that pain is not hidden – and ensuring activity providers are doing the same, or are aware so that the activity is appropriate for our group.
  • Helping to set up and tidy up activities, helping with health and safety (hand sanitiser, wiped tables, medication access, redistributing bed pads etc) – anything where our Retreat Coordinator may need to be in two places at once otherwise!
  • Making fun things happen! This might look like dancing at the disco, leading an action song in the dining hall, putting on face paint etc
  • Ensuring all safeguarding and health and safety rules are followed
  • Reporting any safeguarding concerns to our Safeguarding Lead

Under 7s Creche Leader:

  • Planning and delivering an interesting non-messy activity programme for 8 children aged between 1 and 6 years old, supported by two volunteers
  • Providing an equipment list for purchasing for the Under 7s activity programme in good time
  • Keeping all children safe while they are under your care, while the parents take part in their own activity programme in the room next door.
  • Helping to troubleshoot any issues and proactively providing solutions
  • Ensuring all safeguarding and health and safety rules are followed
  • Reporting any safeguarding concerns to our Safeguarding Lead

The creche will be open from 9:30am-1pm and 3:45-4:45pm on Saturday 31st August, and 9:30am-1pm on Sunday 1st September. The Creche Leader will also be required to supervise, along with some parents and volunteers, a ‘party’ activity on Saturday 31st August between 2pm-3:30pm. You will not be expected to do any personal care (toileting, dressing etc) or deal with mealtimes.

The first two roles may involve early mornings and/or late nights, depending on the requirements of the programme, though breaks will be scheduled. It is likely the role will involve some degree of speaking in front of the whole group.

Freelancers will be accountable to Jessica, our Family Retreat Coordinator, for the duration of the event.

Person Description

The ideal candidates for these freelance positions will:

  • Have lots of energy and enthusiasm
  • Be able to take initiative, problem solve and think on their feet
  • Be able and willing to lead
  • Have previous knowledge about sickle cell (though not essential)

For Volunteer Liaison and Parent Programme Lead specifically:

  • Experience working with and coordinating volunteers
  • Happy to speak in front of a group of adults
  • Experience of facilitating briefings
  • Good listener

For Children and Youth Activity Coordinator:

  • Experience working with children and young people
  • Experience with leading exciting activities and making things fun!
  • Can adapt activities to the needs of the group
  • Can advocate for the needs of children and young people with sickle cell with outside facilitators
  • Good at directing large groups
  • Has had safeguarding training

For Under 7s Creche Leader:

  • Experience working with and planning fun activities for under 7s
  • Warm, welcoming and calm – someone small children are comfortable with
  • Happy to instruct volunteers in order to keep children safe and having fun
  • Has had safeguarding training
  • Ideally: Childcare qualification

A DBS check is necessary for all freelancers – you must already have one of these or be willing to get one.

To Apply

Please send an up to date CV and a short covering letter (no more than 500 words), ensuring you state which role you are interested in, to jessica.boatright@sicklecellsociety.org by 7th August 2024. Applicants need to have right to work in the UK.