• Availability: Flexible
• Time involved: 1-2 hours per week
• Ongoing long-term position (minimum 12-month commitment)
• Any day of the week
• Volunteering at an aged care facility (ACF) or residential home
• Must be able to commit to at least one visit per week on a regular basis

Seeking volunteers in the following locations:

• ACT
• Queanbeyan
• Bungendore
• Braidwood

The Program

Having good social connections is essential for all aspects of health, especially as we age. The Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS) and Volunteer Visitors program supports older Australian’s who live in an aged care facility or their own home and who are lonely or socially isolated. Volunteers are matched with older people, either one-on-one or in a small group, to provide friendship and companionship, improving their wellbeing and social connection.

As a visiting volunteer, you will make regular social visits to an older person in your community at an agreed day and time. Together you might share relaxed conversation and reminisce over a cup of tea or participate in shared interested and hobbies like playing cards or board games. .

The Opportunity

For this role you will need good conversational skills and the ability to relate to and empathise with a broad range of older people, including those with different lived experiences, abilities, and cultures.

All volunteers will need to complete a National Criminal Check. Red Cross will ensure you have training, ongoing support and access to other opportunities within the world’s largest humanitarian network.

The Impact

As a visiting volunteer, you will brighten the life of an older person experiencing loneliness by offering them friendship and social connectedness. You will have the opportunity to learn from their unique history and knowledge, and they will have the opportunity to learn from yours. As well as feeling the satisfaction of giving back to others, you’ll also be gaining a friend.

You’ll be part of the Red Cross Aged & Community Care team that works to support older and vulnerable people across Australia through a range of volunteer-based programs

Application requirements

For this role you will be required to undertake a National Police Check, organised through Red Cross.

Thank you for considering volunteering at Red Cross. We also have great career opportunities, please visit our website redcross.org.au/careers/

Red Cross strives to create a safe and inclusive culture with wellbeing at its centre. We embrace diversity and welcome Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people with different lived experiences, abilities, gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation. We are a child safe organisation with zero tolerance of any harm to children. Our vision is to be trusted as the leading humanitarian organisation making a genuine difference in the lives of people and communities.