by Kimberley Buet – Support Coordinator in West Herts.
Here at Reach Out our days as a Support Coordinator are very varied and that is why we all love our jobs!
Our days always start the same with checking emails. Sometimes we can have 20+ emails to look through and answer in our areas. We always check our calendars as well in the morning to see what we are doing that day. Its important for us to check the other Support Coordinators’ calendars too - if they are out visiting clients or seeing volunteers its really important that we know where they are. We like to look after our team.
An admin day is needed every now and then, where you catch up on emails, do your notes and write ups from client visits, check new volunteers have sent there paperwork back and make a few phone calls. I like to try and do this once a week. Every phone call, text and email needs to be recorded…spreadsheets are our friends!
On to the fun part of our job - visiting clients! When we receive a new referral, we call the client and have a chat, introduce ourselves and then make plans to visit. We try and visit in the same area, so we may have 2-3 visits a day because we are in the area. Visiting is just lovely! We get to chat, find out stories, hear about their lives and their families. We do also get to hear about how they might need some help to get back on their feet, back in the community or even just some company. Sometimes we get a lovely cup of tea and biscuit!
Once we have visited, we then must make sure our notes are all up to date with as much detail as possible and then look for a lovely volunteer who can help. This brings me on to matching – this is fun but also can take quite a bit of work and juggling to find the right person. We look at who is available – then we check how long it takes the volunteer to get to the potential client’s home, the days they are compatible to see each other and their interests. The first big question we ask ourselves is ‘will they get on together?!’ We do not want to match anybody with anybody, we want it to be magical experience for the volunteer and client so we don’t like to rush this process.
And then they’re matched! We have rung the client to have a chat and tell them they have a volunteer. We have been in touch with the volunteer to introduce them to their client and then our job is to support that match and make sure they client and volunteer are happy. We will try and get regular updates from client and the volunteer and be there to answer any questions have. We can also advise and refer to other organisations if that is needed. As we say a Support Coordinator’s job is never done!
Being a Support Coordinator for Reach Out is a rewarding and a humbling experience. To see how our volunteers can help clients in their homes, help them to sit outside again, to go for a walk, do a puzzle or just chat away an hour so that the client feels alive again after being in hospital is amazing to see. Our jobs aren’t always easy, we can be very busy but its worth it just to meet volunteers who want to give back to the community and the clients that need us. As a team we all work closely together and support each other in their areas. We have regular meet ups and office days where we can share our knowledge and experience – these days always involve food!
In a nutshell- being a Support Coordinator is just fantastic. A special thank you goes to all our volunteers who make our jobs possible.
Kimberley Buet – Support coordinator – West Hertfordshire
A Day in the Life of a Support Coordinator
