Giving your time

We need your help

Help someone in need of support, or work directly with us.

Contributing your time is important work and has extremely valuable results for those benefiting from your efforts. Our co-operative recognises this in membership eligibility. After a probation period, you can join Equal Care Co-op as a Worker Member, with the same voting rights as paid workers.

We give you support to carry out any volunteering role with us (relevant training, a proper welcome, a Link person responsible for your sense of wellbeing, belonging and progress). This includes highly flexible agreements to shape the time you give around and amongst your life and your health.

With a winter of coronavirus upon us all, whatever time you can spare to support someone would be incredible. We're looking for people who'll be with us for the longer-term, ready to commit to working with the right person and for whom you will have the biggest impact. You can also be receiving support yourself. It is very human to both give and receive!

Roles

You can settle on one role, mix and match, have more than one and try them on for size.

Peer Mentor

Role Aim

To listen, support and encourage somebody experiencing similar life circumstances and challenges, using your own experiences and life learning for the benefit of others.

Role Domain

Care and support, one-to-one or group work.

Role Activities

Meeting up with people at mutually agreeable times, tea-drinking, listening with kindness, compassion and curiosity. Remembering birthdays!

Admin Extraordinaire

Role Aim

Keep the Equal Care Co-op office in a functioning state of being. Make sure information is well-ordered and accessible to members.

Role Domain

Documentation, Equal Care websites and information storage, receipts and records, calendar, email and other communication tools we use.

Role Activities

Tracking actions, meetings, bookkeeping, writing and developing our documentation (policies, how-tos).

Journalist

Role Aim

Write Equal Care blogs, news and user research. Develop curious spirits within and without the co-operative, fact-find, tell stories.

Role Domain

Website, printed materials, blog, twitter, facebook.

Role Activities

Researching and investigating the co-operatives areas of interest (platforms, social care, technology, local decision-making, asset-based approaches, alternative currencies and so forth), writing blog posts and web content, facebook and twitter posts. Interview people, do desk research, spread your learning and discoveries.

Advisor / Specialist

Role Aim

To be a constructive, curious and honest friend to eccoo, helping the co-operative achieve its aims and sharing your expertise, networks and advice to advance us on our journey.

Role Domain

Varies, defined by area of expertise and interaction with other circles. You are a specialist in your particular field so your area of support may cover any aspect of the co-operative's work.

Role Activities

May include mentoring co-operative members, running workshops and training, producing or reviewing key organisation materials, brokering introductions to helpful organisations or individuals, facilitating work with particular client groups, financial review, financial support, championing the co-operative amongst your own networks.

Do-It-Yourself (aka Make-It-Up)

Role Aim

To bring your skills and experience to the Equal Care mix, whatever they might be and however they might develop. To start fuzzy and get more specific.

Role Domain

It depends - what do you want to do?

Role Activities

Highly variable, anything from office-related work to organising and planning events to supporting people on specific projects.

Accessible Content Creator

Role Aim

Make sure all Equal Care's content is fully accessible.

Role Domain

Websites, written documents, audio-visual recording, accessibility auditing tools. Illustrations.

Role Activities

Record content into audio and video, produce Easy Read versions of documents, improve and review accessibility with people who have diverse ways of interpreting information. If you're arty, it will also involve drawing and painting.

Board Member

Role Aim

Make sure Equal Care Co-op does what it sets out to do and doesn't stray from its purpose. Safeguard and protect the co-operative, be accountable for its actions.

Role Domain

Co-operative rules and bylaws, legal and financial documentation, long-term strategy and ambition.

Role Activities

Monthly meetings, reviewing and creating documents, reporting to the membership, ensuring legal, regulatory and financial duties are carried out.

Technologist

Role Aim

To co-create Equal Care Co-op's technology product(s), developing and designing tools that serve the co-operative's main purpose.

Role Domain

The computer (mostly), post-it notes and writing on the office walls.

Role Activities

Very skill-set dependent - we like Javascript & node.js developers, graphic designers, UI & UX specialists and service designers.