Volunteering

Volunteering encourages personal development, broadening of experience and life enrichment. It also allows for involvement in community development and for some, it provides an opportunity to assist in return for services received in the past. Contributing to PANDA can support families through an extremely difficult period.

Volunteer roles within PANDA:

PANDA has always relied on the commitment and hard work of many volunteers, indeed its very beginnings sprung from the visions of a small group of women and their families. Today PANDA continues to value and rely on the many volunteers who help to provide the valuable services to the community and to achieve its mission.

PANDA continues also to actively seek volunteers who have experienced some aspect of antenatal or postnatal mood disorders or people with a family member who has experienced it. PANDA believes that this allows for its underlying principles of mutual support and self help (peer support) to continue to be the basis of the support and information services it provides. In light of the need for and respect of the volunteers' personal experiences, as well as the challenges that the volunteer role may present to them, PANDA considers that it is important for the prospective volunteer to have recovered from their antenatal or postnatal mood disorder and to be in a sufficient state of wellbeing to be the most effective in their role.

Role descriptions for the varied volunteer roles within PANDA will:

• Ensure that the aims and objectives of the position are being met
• Protect the rights of volunteers
• Avoid misinterpretation within the volunteer roles.

All volunteers will receive a Position Description relevant to their role. The Position Description may change by mutual agreement at a later date.

Volunteer Roles at PANDA

Telephone Support Worker - This role requires the volunteer to attend the PANDA office to receive and return telephone calls to the  Helpline. They may be required to provide support, information or referral to women, their families, health professionals and other workers.

The Telephone Support Worker will need to be able to participate in on-going debriefing and supervision with Volunteer Coordinator and Telephonoe Counsellors. He/she must also be able to commit to a regular rostered time, not less than fortnightly.

Administrative Duties - PANDA may at times require help in various administrative duties such as mail outs, collating of information packages and filing and photocopying. Volunteers in this role will need to be able to work closely with PANDA's Administrative Officer.

Public Speaking - PANDA receives many requests to provide education in a variety of settings eg: hospitals, community health centres, maternal and child health centres etc. Volunteers are required to phone the PANDA office the next day regarding details of talks and for debriefing and gathering of statistics.

Committee of Management - PANDA is managed by a Committee of Management that consists of volunteers who bring their diverse professional experience and knowledge and people who have experienced and recovered from antenatal and postnatal mood disorders. The volunteer must be able to commit to an evening meeting once a month at PANDA.

Additional roles - PANDA is planning to introduce a range of new services in the coming months that will result in new volunteer roles, such as home based visiting support, support group roles and afterhours helpline roles.

Process of Volunteer Recruitment and Training

Volunteers are a vital resource for the viability of PANDA and its services. For the successful recruitment and retention of volunteers there needs to be commitment from both PANDA and the volunteer.

PANDA's processes of recruiting and training volunteers are governed by a strong commitment to:

• invest in and foster the personal and professional development of its volunteers
• foster a high calibre of skills and knowledge among the volunteers to ensure the highest quality and consistency of service delivery.

The volunteers are expected to commit to:

• the Code of Ethics, procedures and practices of PANDA and its volunteers as outlined
• their rostered shift on the Helpline as a priority, in recognition of their vital role in providing this service.

The process of recruitment and training includes:

• Expressions of interest in volunteering with PANDA from advertising and spontaneous contact.
• Attendance at a preliminary 2 hour Information Session providing an overview of PANDA, antenatal and postnatal mood disorders and volunteer roles.
• Interest in continuing with the process necessitates the completion of an application form, attendance at a selection interview, the provision of contact details for 2 referees and consent to a Police Check.

Successful selection and recruitment is followed by:

• Stage 1 training:  completion of an eight week training program
  (3 hours per week)
• Stage 2 training:  completion of a number of hours of supervised role exposure and training on the Helpline within a 3 month period. This can be extended in some situations.
• Completion of the Stage 2 training process results in a regular rostered shift for the volunteer on the Helpline, accessing supervision and de-briefing and participating in monthly team meetings and professional development opportunities.

Volunteer Application form

If you would like to become a PANDA volunteer, please download and complete the printable form by clicking the link below and sending once completed to PANDA.

  Download a Volunteer Application Form (opens in a new window).