Online Chum Mentoring Scheme

Established in 2015 as volunteer Information Ranger – which has now morphed into its present format over the succeeding years involving a purely mentoring one – we now call Online Chum Mentor.    

The aim is to match a volunteer from the local community to a beneficiary according to the needs of the beneficiary and the complimentary skills of the volunteer.   Together they form a trusting relationship for a period of time set out by the beneficiary.   The outcomes are linked to what the beneficiary wants to achieve, which may be as diverse as setting up an email address, accessing socially essential services, day-to-day household tasks such as banking or utilities, including how to use a variety apps safely and securely.   

The volunteer role is a varied and, although, originally conceived as a ‘remote’ supporter, it can develop into a face-to-face interaction. However, any joint working taking place in the community is within the organisation’s framework rather than as an independently arranged engagement.  All volunteers are interviewed with an agreed profile archived on a secure website and DBS checks are undertaken.   The timeline of the volunteer from inception is documented and shared with the volunteer; this covers training needs, ideas on ongoing development of the scheme, problems the volunteer encounters, Health & Safety, one-to-one support and invitations to group meetings where experience can be shared with others.    

Integral to our mission are the social goals driving our digital project, where volunteers and beneficiaries come together as one family sharing online and offline activities and to participate in organisational events such as outreach, exhibitions, attending community partner drop in sessions, marketing, Active Learning (Community Reporters – Community Reporters), cyber-crime awareness as well as our own drop in sessions we operate two days a week.    The overall aim is to integrate the virtual and non-virtual worlds, which is often the best digital learning experience for many older and disabled people living in North Tyneside.   

If your interested in finding out how you can get involved visit our website https://www.parkviewprojectne.com/ or drop us an email at: office@parkviewproject.org.uk

We are looking for those who come from a wide range of backgrounds, young or old, disabled or not, who have a passion to help people get access to the internet. No specialist knowledge required and training available online to help you get underway.

The only criteria is you must live or work in North Tyneside.

Thank you for your time in reading this blog.

An important role we play in supporting volunteers who provide a critical peer support, by digitally befriending individuals struggling with maintaining or using online processes, is to acknowledge there commitment and selflessness in creating a safe and secure space for all our beneficiaries to maximise their involvement of using technology and software applications that increase their social circles of support, create learning opportunities, access health & social care and secure financial support. This year we are currently reviewing how to single out an individual amongst so many who have equal worth in our organisation for this prestigious award. We will reveal our intentions in due course……..