New recruitment drive for VCHP volunteers

Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP) is calling for volunteers to work in its eye care clinics.

The charity, which has 10 clinics, including one that recently opened in Scotland, is looking to fill local team lead volunteer roles in every one of its locations.

Local team lead roles are described as ‘strategic,’ and involve a commitment of six to eight hours of remote work per month.

The role is likely to include arranging regular team meetings, discussion surrounding the operation of the clinic, community liaison, social activity planning, and general operational needs, Helen Harms, VCHP’s manager of volunteer operations, said.

Harms described the local team lead role as “hugely important for the successful running of our clinics.”

The focus will be “on bringing the clinic team together to aid communication, planning and troubleshooting,” she said.

Those with good organisational and communication skills are encouraged to apply.

Other roles currently advertised on the VCHP website, some of which have the possibility of being remote, include:

• Optometrist
• Local partnerships coordinator
• Administrator
• Clinic assistant
• Clinic manager
• Clinic assistant
• Branch support team.

VCHP currently runs clinics in the following locations:

• Birmingham, SIFA Fireside, B9
• Bristol, The Compass Centre, BS2
• Brighton, BHT First Base Day Centre, BN1
• Edinburgh, Crisis Skylight Canongate, EH8
• Gloucester, Gloucester City Mission, GL1
• Exeter, CoLab/The Clock Tower Surgery, EX4
• Leeds, St George’s Crypt, LS1
• London, Crisis UK, E1
• London Stratford, Doctors of the World, E15
• Manchester, The Cornerstone Day Centre, M15.

The days and times each clinic runs are available on VCHP’s website.

The charity has a target of reaching 24 clinics within the next five years.

A clinic in Plymouth, based at the Shekinah Centre in Stonehouse Creek, is due to open in early autumn 2024, with volunteer training already underway.

Harms said: “With statistics continuing to show a steady increase in those experiencing homelessness across the country, we need more volunteers to ensure that we can continue to provide free eye care and glasses to those affected by homelessness.

“As always, VCHP is looking for wonderful volunteer optometrists and assistants to help run many of our vision care clinics.”

All details can be found on the VCHP website and applicants should fill in the relevant 'Tell me more' form, Harms said. Once submitted, a member of the VCHP team will be in touch to arrange an initial conversation.

The full list of advertised roles can be viewed online.

Those who want to find out more about volunteer roles before applying are encouraged to email Harms directly.

Read OT’s interview with Hannah Telfer, chief executive of VCHP, here.

Lead image: David Brown, VCHP's development director, in the dispensing room of the charity's newly opened Edinburgh clinic