VOLUNTEERING FOR VCHP

Lisa Bretherick (www.lisaimages.com)

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Volunteering Vacancies
Volunteering Roles
Hear from our Volunteers

See also: Volunteering FAQs

VOLUNTEERING VACANCIES

Please see the table below for vacancies. If you are interested please click on “Tell me more” to fill in a quick form and we will contact you as soon as possible to discuss further. Please bear in mind this form does not commit you to volunteering with us; we are happy to discuss the details of volunteering and whether or not it will be suitable for you. Also note that our clinics run on specific days of the week. Make sure that you are available on one or more of the days of your local clinic before filling in a form.

Note to Students: We are not able to support student volunteering at the moment. Please do not complete a form below.

VOLUNTEERING ROLES

OPTOMETRISTS

We run regular shifts at each of our centres to provide eye tests for Homeless People. At each shift there is typically one Optometrist assisted by two clinic assistants. Patients may either have an appointment scheduled beforehand or turn up on the day. To volunteer as an Optometrist you should be GOC registered and on the NHS Performers List. Optometrists are not required to volunteer weekly (although you are welcome to). Helping out a few times a year is enough. All of our clinics have NHS standard testing equipment. As well as the usual trial lenses and testing chart, each practice has a slit-lamp, tonometer and visual field screener.

CLINIC ASSISTANTS
Volunteer clinic assistants support optical professionals to run clinics on a regular basis. You will be organising appointments, recording patients’ details, helping them choose and fit spectacles and generally making everything run smoothly. You do not need to be in the optical industry – we will train you.

You will learn all the procedures for running a clinic, greet and register patients and help them to choose frames. You will learn to use our online patient management system to dispense and order glasses. You do not need to be optically trained for this role, simply organised, efficient and willing to learn. Clinic assistants are expected to volunteer weekly or fortnightly.

CLINIC MANAGERS

The clinic manager and associate clinic manager collectively look after all the administrative and practical aspects of running the clinic, inducting new clinic assistants, and ensuring the clinic runs smoothly. You do not need opticians experience for this role, just an ability to learn the practicalities and procedures of running an optician’s clinic and aptitude in using online systems.

HEAR FROM OUR VOLUNTEERS

“Thursday is my best day of the week.”.

Niamh runs a successful optician’s practice. Once a month on a Thursday, she drives to Brighton where she offers free eye tests to homeless people who drop into St Stephen’s Hall and need help. Sometimes she sees 4 people, sometimes twice that number, but however many it is, she says, with an enthusiasm which is utterly infectious: “I love Thursdays, and get back so much more than I give.”

“The satisfaction you will feel after a half day clinic, having helped a homeless person feel safer, access learning or take an important step towards securing a job, cannot be beaten.”

  • BCLA president Shelly Bansal talks about the first time he heard about Vision Care for Homeless People and his experience in volunteering his time and helping out. Click here to hear all.
  • A regular volunteer at Vision Care for Homeless People clinic talks about her experience. Click here to find out more about Maggie’s story and how your valuable time could help vulnerable people.
  • Harinder Paul, Founder and Managing Director of Vision Care for Homeless People, appeals for volunteers to staff the expanding clinics for a desperately needed service. Click here to find out more.

“In stark comparison to the commercialisation of high street practice, this is such a genuine opportunity to give a gift that really makes a difference to someone’s life. Selfishly, the reward I get from this is better than any present anybody could give me. I have met some very interesting people and it has also made me realise how lucky I am to have my home and family.”

If you have an enquiry that is unrelated to volunteering please use the contact us form here.

Other ways you can support us.