Volunteering Opportunity: Female Rape Crisis Support Specialist with Herts Area Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Centre

Herts Area Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre, (HARCSAC), provides a free and confidential service run by women, for women over the age of eighteen who live in the Hertfordshire area. We are only able to do this because of the commitment of our volunteers.

The service is currently run by fourteen women plus three part-time paid staff. Some of our volunteers act as Trustees alongside their client work and some choose only to work with clients.

Our volunteers come from a wide range of ages and backgrounds as do our clients and so we welcome applications from any women willing to invest time in this worthwhile work.

We provide face to face support at our Centre in Hatfield and video support to women who cannot attend the Centre. We offer daytime and evening appointments according to our and the client’s availability.

We are recruiting women to undertake training to enable them to volunteer to work directly with survivors of rape and sexual abuse.

Opportunity Type: Long-term Commitment

District: Welwyn/Hatfield

Location: From your office, From home, Indoor

Time of day: To Be Discussed

Practical Considerations: What you can expect as a Volunteer

In return for the time you invest with HARCSAC, you will receive high quality specialised training,
the opportunity to be part of a committed and friendly team and have the satisfaction that you
are making a real difference to the lives of women who have survived sexual violence.

Experience

No formal qualifications or specific experience are necessary, but an awareness of women’s
issues is essential.

Volunteers will show a willingness to undertake further training as necessary and keep up to date
with key issues and debates in this field as part of their ongoing personal development.

Successful candidates will show a commitment to the aims and values of the charity and be able
to comply with an enhanced DBS (formerly CRB) check


Volunteer Training

All of our volunteers participate in a full and thorough preparation training. An outline of the
course is contained in this pack.

Training will take place on Thursday evenings over an 11-week period starting in September and
will involve large and small group work and some reading at home.

The work that you do during the training will be continuously assessed and you may be invited
to a selection interview at the end of the course.

In addition you will be provided with training in relation to helpline procedures and processes.
You will report to a Trustee.

After the course

If you join the charity, you will be assigned a mentor who will support you through the induction
process.

Group Days

Group days are generally used for training and development purposes or social occasions. They
typically occur two or three times per year and are usually held on a Saturday.

Trustees

Trustees are responsible for how the organisation is run and managed. Opportunities to become a Trustee will come up from time to time and if you are interested in helping to run the organisation you may wish to apply. Training will be provided for this role

Requirements: Relevant qualification or training, Will require a criminal record check (DBS)

Suitable for: Aged 26 and over

Suitable for volunteers interested in: Crisis Support, Domestic Violence/Abuse, Health and Wellbeing

Does this opportunity provide wheelchair access?: No

Full Description:
The role of the Rape Crisis Support Specialist (RCSS) is to:
Face to face

Deliver face to face and video support to women. This is done in pairs working with another RCSS. This enables us to provide continuity to our clients. You and your co-RCSS will keep the rest of us updated about the progress of each client and share experiences and learning at our weekly peer supervision meeting.

Sessions with clients are provided on a fortnightly basis for up to one hour. Face to face sessions usually take place at our centre in Hatfield but in special circumstances, if a woman is unable to get to our centre or access our video service, we may be able to see her in her own home/or another location.

Online Service

Our online service works in a very similar way to face to face except that sessions take place via zoom. You will still work with each client as part of a pair for up to one hour every two weeks.
Rape Crisis Support Specialist


Helpline

We provide a helpline which can be accessed by phone ‘live’ on a Thursday evening between 7.30pm and 9.30pm and which is answered by an RCSS. Outside of these times, potential and existing clients and anyone seeking information can leave an answerphone message or email. Messages are accessed remotely by the on-call helpline volunteer and responded to as quickly as possible. Enquiries that require an in-person response will be referred to the RCSS on-call.

We operate a flexible rota for on-call RCSS volunteers. Each volunteer is included on the rota and the frequency of being on-call will be determined by how many volunteers we have working at any one time e.g. currently it is only once every fourteen weeks.

Supervision

You will be expected to attend weekly peer supervision meetings which are held between 7.30pm - 9.30pm on a Thursday evening. This is a friendly, safe space for us all to learn through constructive feedback and exchange of ideas which helps us develop new skills and techniques
and deliver the best possible service to our clients. One Thursday per month, the group has clinical supervision with a BACP qualified supervisor. You will be expected to attend peer and clinical supervision regularly.

Person Specification

Knowledge: An understanding of, and a willingness to learn how to support the needs of adult women survivors of rape/sexual abuse/childhood sexual abuse.

Skills:

▪ Good listening and communication skills
▪ Self -motivation
▪ Good interpersonal skills
▪ Reliability
▪ Ability to work as a team member
▪ High-level of self-awareness
ideas and prejudices

Attributes:
▪ Honesty
▪ Empathy
▪ Sense of humour
▪ Non-judgemental

Experience:
No formal qualifications or specific experience are necessary, but an awareness of women’s
issues is essential.
Volunteers will show a willingness to undertake further training as necessary and keep up to date
with key issues and debates in this field as part of their ongoing personal development.
Successful candidates will show a commitment to the aims and values of the charity and be able
to comply with an enhanced DBS (formerly CRB) check.