Good Neighbours Coventry is supporting lonely elderly people to have a friend. Due to the pandemic's increased isolation, 360 local residents are asking for a volunteer friend - and this number is growing every week. They desperately need volunteer befrienders from all walks of life - the only qualification is that you are age 18 or over, have from 30 mins spare fortnightly or weekly, and are willing to chat & listen. Volunteer times & days are very flexible. Befrienders are carefully matched and always supported.

They have informal information sessions for anyone to find out more about Good Neighbours Coventry and how they match lonely older people to the right volunteer. Small children and dogs are also welcome to participate in befriending. If you could chat to someone about baking / dogs / football / history / TV or anything else, go along to find out more. Book on via tinyurl.com/bookGNCsession or email goodneighbours@hopecoventry.org.uk.

Upcoming information sessions:

Carriers of Hope is a local charity, supporting refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants in Coventry with short-term and longer-term needs. We do this in lots of different ways and always welcome volunteers to help.

We need people who can offer a weekly or fortnightly commitment of at least an hour a week - on our community allotment, in our warehouse, on our admin team (can be done from home), on our communication team (especially if you speak another language), on our delivery team, or in our ESOL classes.

If you're interested in any of these opportunities and are compassionate and reliable, please get in touch with pip@carriersofhope.org.uk

You can visit our website www.carriersofhope.org.uk or find us on Facebook to see more of what we do.

Leigh Church of England Academy is looking for a community governor to join their friendly governing body.

This is an exciting volunteer position that offers:

• The opportunity to work as part of a team working together in a school setting to support young people
• The chance to develop your personal and professional skills
• A sense of achievement in helping to enrich the lives of young people enabling them to reach their potential and preparing them for their future as positive members of their communities

Their governors come from a range of different backgrounds, skills and experience but all share a common interest of wanting the best possible education for the children in our academy.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a governor please contact: Head Teacher Mrs Lynn Lee (Lynn.Lee@Leigh.covmat.org) or Chair of Governors Mrs Sue Patterson (Sue.Patterson@Leigh.covmat.org).

Do you have an old laptop at home that you no longer use? There are still a lot of children in the local area who are unable to access their online learning due to a shortage of devices. Older laptops can be converted into Chrome Books that will enable pupils to learn from home.

If you would like to help, more information is available on the project webpage; including laptop eligibility, how to donate and what happens next. Read more here.

Coventry is hosting its very own positive images festival which aims to celebrate the best of Coventry’s heritage. You can help to put on a calendar of events that Coventry can be proud of and to nurture talent within our communities.

Volunteering options include stewarding at the festival to marketing, planning and working behind-the-scenes.

For more information, visit the Positive Images Festival website.

Cov Harvest Hub is a new community garden helping to grow more food for foodbanks and deliver fresh local veg; trying to fill the gap for fresh fruit and vegetables in their food provision.

They need some help to get up and running, via their flexible roles, including:

• Odd jobs and light construction - can you help with DIY? (Ad hoc, starting ASAP)
• Horticultural assistants - learn to grow/ weeding/ watering (weekly)
• Garden maintenance - hedge trimming and lawn mowing (monthly)
• Collections and deliveries - in your car, on your bike, however you like (ad hoc / weekly)

For more details and to get involved, visit the Team Springboard website.

(This opportunity was shared with us by a colleague in Warwick Mathematics Institute. If you know of volunteering opportunities that address local needs, please email us some details on community@warwick.ac.uk.)

Time Union is a time bank which aims to help people use their time to build their sense of self through relating to others, connect to Coventry as a community, and enable socially positive changes to come from individual acts of sharing.

A time bank is a system of mutual exchange. Members share their time, assets, and skills on an hour to hour basis – share an hour with one member, and get an hour back from another. Current members exchange language lessons, fitness, DIY, career and life coaching, filmmaking lessons, crafts, Reiki, cinema trips, and more.

Visit the Time Union website to sign up.

Chat Central is a project that aims to help people to find others with similar interests, to have fun, to join in with a hobby, to get involved with their community and to find new friends, tackling loneliness and isolation in all its forms in Coventry. The project is open to anyone aged 18+ experiencing loneliness, social withdrawal, low self-esteem and low self-confidence for any reason and from all across the city.

They are currently running events to try and get people socialising and engaging with the community. They have weekly art and craft sessions, chair yoga, dance, a drop in where people can find out about what is happening in Coventry and a culture club (like a book club but on wider topics).

They also run a telephone befriending service, for which they are looking for volunteers. There are some one-off events that would benefit from some volunteers too. Another important role available is volunteering at events to help keep the conversation flowing.

If you would like to get involved, visit the Chat Central webpage and email chatcentral@vacoventry.org.uk

The Community Resilience Team are currently working closely with members of the local community who may be a ‘Community Leader’ or well networked within Coventry to be part of the Community Messengers Network, helping to spread Public Health COVID19 messages. The role of Community Messengers is to work closely with the team to help spread the most up to date Covid-19 health protection messages, updates within the city on testing, cases and vaccinations and highlight to us incorrect advice. Community Messengers act as a support to their communities by giving up to date guidance and reassurance as and when needed.

If you are someone that lives, works or volunteers in Coventry and well networked within your community and feel that you can help get these messages out to a wider audience they would be pleased for your support. People can commit as little or as much time as they are able to and full support is given.

If you are interested in becoming a Community Messenger or would like to find out more about what’s involved, please get in touch with Ben Hayday on community@warwick.ac.uk and ask for some more information. He can then put you in touch with the team at Coventry City Council.

There are various roles that are part of the NHS Volunteer Responders programme. The roles most needed include the simple yet invaluable support of shopping for food and essentials and collecting and delivering prescriptions for someone who is isolating or shielding.

Read more about the roles and register to be an NHS Volunteer Responder here.