RSVP West (Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset)

Schools volunteers work with pupils on a one-to-one basis to help them with reading, numeracy and other areas of the curriculum. Priority is placed on helping ‘disadvantaged’ children in areas of deprivation. Volunteers are placed in a school of their choice and gain great satisfaction in seeing the progress that children can make with their support

In Partnership with their own GP Surgery patient volunteers provide transport and wellbeing and befriending support for those patients identified by the surgery as being most in need. Volunteers work closely with the surgery staff and other volunteers in their team.

Volunteer drivers help bridge the gaps in rural public transport where people would otherwise be isolated and unable to get access to important services. They use their own cars to bring elderly people or those with mobility issues to appointments in GP surgeries, hospitals, dentists or opticians.

Volunteer Lay Assessors support the local authority’s Quality Assurance department by visiting the the vulnerable people who are receiving their Home Care services. They are passionate about monitoring the quality of care provided and thereby improving the quality of life for those receiving the services.

The Matthew on Bristol Harbourside is a replica of the fifteenth-century caravel in which John Cabot sailed from Bristol to Newfoundland in 1497; she was built to recreate that journey exactly 500 years later. Volunteers do everything from guiding visitors, to crewing, to maintenance, usually involving one ‘watch’ per week in small teams.

For enquiries about the Matthew email us.