Volunteer Pet Visitor

Do you have a pet registered with Pets as Therapy?

Would you like to brighten our patient’s day and visit them with your pet?

We are looking for a friendly, and enthusiastic people and their pet to visit our patients on our mental health wards.

If you want to gain experience, improve your job prospects, or just want to give some of your time to help others, this volunteering role could be for you

The role is intended to enhance the experience of those people using our inpatient services by them having a visit from/spending a little time with a pet.

**What the role involves**:

- Give patients time with a pet
- Visit at a mutually agreed time
- Follow the set protocol attached
- Inform staff of any issues that arise during their visit.
- Discuss with staff on arrival if anyone is present that may have issues with pets visiting the ward/unit.

**DBS Level for this role is**: Enhanced with adult barred list

**The knowledge, skills and attributes required for the role**:

- Good communication skills.
- Pet registered with Pets as Therapy
- Punctuality and reliability.
- Ability to effectively engage with service users, carers and staff

What we hope you gain from the role
- Our thanks and appreciation
- New skills and knowledge
- Satisfaction from helping others

**Please note**: To meet our Trust’s safeguarding obligations applicants for this volunteer role must be aged 18 or over.

We offer opportunities in other services for people aged 16 and 17, please contact the volunteer service to discuss these roles.

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.

Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We're really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we are a great place to work.

Volunteer Recruitment

Please be aware that due to the robust process, recruitment can sometimes take a few weeks.

Throughout the process you will have informal meetings with us and the service where you will be volunteering. In addition to this we will require you to:

- Complete an identity (ID) check
- Complete a Disclosure and Barring Service* (DBS) check,
- Complete an Occupational health assessment
- Give details for two references
- Complete relevant training.
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

DBS checks for volunteers arefreeand the level of check is dependent on the role you are undertaking.

We look forward to you joining us and making a difference.