The courses are coproduced and co-delivered by people with professional experience and lived expertise.
The college have worked hard to support volunteers and there have been some fantastic outcomes attributed to volunteering:
Two volunteers have now gained paid employment (one within the organisation and one elsewhere).
Three volunteers have completed their accredited peer mentoring course and two other volunteers are due to attend later in the year.
One of the volunteers to have completed this now wishes to go back in to education and has signed up for a diploma in mental health.
One of the volunteers ran for local elections in recent months and won!
One of the volunteers is an elected member of the members council within the Trust.
One of the volunteers has her own successful craft business and in her spare time raises money for various charities across the Wakefield District with motorbike rides that she helps to organise.
Two of the volunteers have continued to volunteer with us, attending and engaging at all possible opportunities, overcoming life changing physical health issues.
We have also been able to provide support and offer a volunteering placement to a longstanding volunteer of the Trust who was unfortunately no longer able to volunteer at his original placement due to circumstances beyond his control. When he was no longer able to do this, his mental health began to suffer. This volunteer is now co-facilitating a baking course and is looking at putting together a cooking course for the future prospectus. He is also going to be taking up some other volunteer opportunities within the Trust; meeting and greeting in other areas. He has since informed us that he now feels he has something to look forward to and feels he is valued again. How fab is all this!
For more information please contact the College Coordinator [email protected] / @W5TRC, or Innovation Development Manager [email protected] / @rylatt_paula Both @allofusinmind