Social Action in North Tyneside (SAINT)
What is the SAINT project?
The SAINT project aims to support local people into social action who face barriers to volunteering. VODA will engage and support people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties, learning difficulties, poor physical health, long term unemployment or social isolation. The purpose of the project is to empower individuals to work as a group and take on social change.
What is Social Action?
Social Action projects are volunteering which benefit the local community. Social Action projects can focus on a specific area of interest and can be short term, one off or longer term projects. Social action projects can be events, campaigns, awareness raising, practical support, creative projects and everything in between. An example might be turning an unused public spaced into a wildlife garden or creating and distributing leaflets that raise awareness of homelessness.
How will it work?
Volunteers will take part in a volunteering training programme that will allow them to build relationships with others on the programme and start to identify social action projects and individual goals. The programme will follow four one day sessions covering;
What is the project, how will it work? Ground rules and team building.
- What is Social Action?
Exploring what social action is. How will it benefit me and the local community? What sort of issues might a social action project tackle?
- Social Action Planning
How do we plan, deliver and evaluate the success of the social action project?
- Personal Goals
Work with each other to identify personal goals and how these can be achieved through volunteering.
The SAINT project will be flexible and allow for people to take part in social action projects as little or as much as they want or are able to.
Benefits of the project
The SAINT project will be led by the people involved, support will be offered by VODA and volunteer facilitators to help with this; but the project as a whole will focus on the needs, interests and skills of the people involved and will be tailored to this. The group will be able to steer the direction of the project throughout their involvement to share their views, experiences and ideas.
By Taking part in the project, SAINT aims to support volunteers to achieve;
- Improvements in wellbeing
- Improvements in Self Confidence
- Meet new people and increase social networks
- Increased Employability skills (Team work, communication, leadership, problem solving, planning and evaluation).
Volunteers will be able to identify personal goals and work towards achieving these with 1:1 and group support through VODA.
If you are interested in finding out more contact:
E: Josie.robinson@voda.org.uk T: 0191 643 2632