Digital Coach Volunteer role description
Name of role: Digital coach
Purpose of role
Volunteers will help us to help more disabled people to get the knowledge and confidence to use online services, using their smartphones, tablets or other devices. They will help either by coaching over the phone or by socially distanced coaching at our IT hub in the Greenwood Centre.
Tasks – what we want you to do
- Work one to one with a disabled person to explore what online services might be helpful to them – for example online shopping, online GP appointments, online gaming, using Facebook, using Zoom – by talking to them by telephone and sharing ideas from your own knowledge
- Work one to one with a disabled person to help them to get online by talking them through the different steps, for example how to search for and download an app and how to know that a particular app is safe.
- Work one to one with a disabled person to help them to find the right gadgets or apps to get online accessibly, for example trying out an ergonomic mouse or learning how to get the best from speech to text software – this would be done at our IT hub in the Greenwood Centre
Skills – what we need
- You need to be a confident user of a wide range of online services, for example be someone who does your shopping or banking online
- You need to be familiar with current social media platforms, for example Facebook, Twitter or Tik Tok, and also willing to explore new and exciting platforms that are available and may be useful to Disabled people.
- Ideally, you will be good at explaining things to other people – we will give you some training to help you do this
- It will also be very helpful if you have a wider range of IT skills and knowledge. This may include use/knowledge of assistive technology, setting up internet and wifi connections in people’s homes etc. but this will not be essential and will not prevent you from being a Volunteer.
Time commitment
- Volunteers will be asked to provide coaching for up to 3 hours a week over a period of 6 weeks per person you are matched to. You can be matched as many or as few times as suits you.
- When you start you will be asked to attend two training sessions, each lasting one and half hours.
Place where the activity will happen
- Coaching will usually take place remotely from your own home either via telephone/laptop or at the Greenwood Centre.
- So, you will at a minimum need an Internet connection of your own
- We will help you by supplying the other technology you may need to coach the Disabled people who sign up to the Hub
The sort of person we want for the role
- Friendly and good at talking to people
- Curious and good at problem solving
- Reliable and trustworthy
- Open-minded and interested in helping disabled people to have an equal life
- If you are a disabled person and can advise from your own experience that will be especially helpful, but it is not essential to be a disabled person for this role
Rewards – what you will get from the role
- You will be given training on how to coach people.
- You will be given the opportunity to do other training.
- You will be able to explore the range of assistive technology we have at the Greenwood Centre
- You will be able to increase your own knowledge by chatting to other volunteers about online tools
- We will repay any out-of-pocket expenses (for example travel)
- You will also be offered other volunteering and personal development opportunities within CDA
If you are interested in this role
To chat about the role contact either
Brendan on 07930669417 or Frances on 07717547614
To apply by email contact Volunteering@camdendisabilityaction.org.uk
We will ask you to send us
- a short CV (a summary of your experience, including any qualifications you have or jobs you have done)
- a short statement saying why you would like to volunteer for CDA and what skills or experience you have that are suitable for this role
- We will interview you by telephone or via Zoom
- If we think you are right for the role, we will ask you for some more information about yourself, so that we can carry out a DBS check
- Once our checks are complete, we will send you a volunteer agreement and we will provide training via Zoom
