Volunteer Responders is a flexible volunteering programme developed to support health and care across England. The scheme is built on a digital platform and links volunteers to local live tasks via the GoodSAM app.
The programme has been redesigned to reflect feedback and learning from the pandemic and continues to evolve with input from local health and care services. The programme aims to offer a resilient pool of volunteers providing additional capacity where needed and the ability to respond to future emergencies.
What's new
People can now self-refer in for Check In and Chat support.
Check In and Chat volunteers provide short-term telephone support to people who need a chat and some encouragement to improve their mental health and wellbeing. Through friendly conversation and where appropriate, working with tools such as the NHS 5 steps to mental wellbeing, volunteers can help people feel better and explore positive changes they could make.
The service is open for self-referrals so people can refer themselves or someone they know (with that person’s permission). They can do this by calling the team on 0808 196 3646[1].
Page last reviewed: 18 December 2023
