We are looking for volunteers with experience of adult social care services to join one of the local adult social care Partnership Boards.
Use your lived experience to help improve how health and care services support older people, disabled people and carers. And tell NHS and local authority decision makers what is working and where care needs to be better.
There are five Partnership Boards, these are: Carers, Learning Disability – includes autism services, Older People’s, Physical Disability and Sensory Impairment.
The Partnership Boards are paid for by Cambridgeshire County and Peterborough City Councils. And include the local NHS, voluntary and community organisations who plan, pay for or provide care.
Main tasks
With support from our Partnership Development Manager and team of staff, you will:
- Attend Partnership Board meetings every two or three months - depending on the Board that you join.
- Act as a voice for people of lived experience of disability, who are older or are carers.
- You will talk with people of lived experience (friends, colleagues, or at support and social groups) about the services they are receiving.
- Join focus groups and workshops to look in detail at issues.
- You will give out information about the Partnership Boards and Healthwatch in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Read the volunteer role description here
Ask us if you need a copy of this in a different format.
How we will support you in your role
We provide training, ongoing support and pay reasonable out of pocket expenses.
This includes providing any communication support you may need, such as a British Sign Language interpreter or information in Easy Read.
We'll make sure you know about things like our health and safety policies and give you training in listening skills and other areas as needed.
Last year we were awarded the 'Investors in Volunteering' award for our commitment to supporting our volunteers.
Kate wants her experiences to help other families
Parent carer Kate Gravett from South Cambridgeshire has joined the Partnership Boards because she wants to make things easier for families to get help for themselves and the people they care for.
She has an adult daughter with an acquired brain injury, three of her four children are neuro-diverse, and Kate has her own disability, living with a neurological condition.
“I want to use any experience I have to make things a little better, fill a gap, or highlight a need that may have been missed. I know so many carers and parents that I want to help represent and advocate for."