Services for adults who have physical disabilities are provided by Bradford Council Adult Services Department and are available throughout the Bradford District.
Volunteers play an important role in the service, enabling people with disabilities to learn new skills, to do things for themselves, enhancing their quality of life and complementing the work done by staff.
The main areas of work are within Resource Centres, but there is also scope for volunteering in a new Independent Living Complex, which has been designed to enable young people with a physical disability to live independently.
We also welcome volunteer applications from adults with physical disabilities, who we recognise as making a valuable contribution to the service.
Residential Units and Resource Centres
Wagtail Close, Bradford
Wagtail Close is a new complex of flats, bungalows and houses that have been designed to enable people with a physical disability to live independently. A number of young people who live at the Close hope that volunteers will enable them to develop their ideas and activities. Volunteers could contribute in a number of ways, including:
- Meeting with group members to chat and share ideas,
- Assisting group members with the use of computers,
- Working in a group or on a one to one basis, participating in social activities both in the centre and in the community.
Whetley Hill Resource Centre, Whetley Hill, Bradford
Whetley Hill Resource Centre is a purpose built day centre for physically disabled people. Service users are given the opportunity to develop psychologically, educationally and socially. The centre is open Monday to Friday 10.00 - 4.00 pm.
Volunteers are needed as part of the Rehabilitation Programme. If you have interests or skills such as exercise and sport, aromatherapy, arts and crafts, entertaining/games or you would like to be involved in the Rehabilitation kitchen enabling service users to improve their daily living skills, this project is for you!
Volunteers will be involved both in the Centre and in the community, supporting service users through the Rehabilitation Programme and also enabling them to access other centres or services.
Morley Street Resource Centre, Morley Street, Bradford
The Sensory Needs Service is based at the above centre and provides social work, rehabilitation, technical equipment assistance and day resource opportunities for people who have a sensory need. This may be people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted or deaf blind.
Referrals are received from the Social Workers and Rehabilitation Officers, requesting voluntary support for individual service users for tasks such as befriending/communicating with deaf people by using sign language, or reading and writing correspondence for partially sighted people and general befriending.
Projects at Morley Street Resource Centre include:
Guide Support (Deaf/blind) Project
This project was set up to support people who are deaf blind. This group of people who have a dual sensory loss are very isolated and vulnerable.
A group of volunteers currently support service users on an individual basis.
Volunteer tasks range from befriending, reading/writing correspondence, assisting with shopping, assisting on social activities, such as, walking, swimming or horse riding. Their support is in conjunction with the Guide Support Workers and Social Worker based at Morley Street Resource Centre.
Anyone wishing to volunteer with this service user group will be given specialist training.
Creating Easier Communication (Project for people who are hard of hearing)
The CEC is a community-based service available for adults with acquired hearing loss. The service aims to provide confidence and strategies for those people who are socially isolated as a result of their hearing loss.
Volunteers are required who have experience or knowledge of hearing loss, to befriend and support people and their families, who have recently become hard of hearing, or to talk to small groups about their own experiences and problems.
Touch IT
Touch IT is based at Morley Street Resource Centre. The aim of this exciting project is to provide IT training for people with sensory needs and/or a physical disability that will prepare them for the world of employment or work towards further education.
There are several learning programmes being run at the Centres and, as the number of clients increases, so will the learning opportunities. The programmes range from basic to advanced level. Volunteers with IT skills are needed to complement the teaching provided by full time trainers and mentors.
The VI (Visually Impaired) Project
People with a visual impairment are keen to take part in the same activities as sighted people, but would find it difficult, if not impossible, to do alone. A volunteer would enable a visually impaired service user to take part in activities such as bowling, swimming, gym, the theatre, visits to museums, pubs and karaoke. There are many possibilities and we aim to match your interests /hobbies with those of the service users.
The Deaf Independence Project (DIP)
If you have at least BSL1 and are working towards BSL2, you will enjoy the DIP. Volunteers currently support deaf service users in a variety of ways – help with daily living skills, money management, social behaviour management. Volunteers also are needed to support deaf service users on College courses (e.g. pottery, computers), or to encourage deaf service users who lack self-confidence to socialise – attending the Deaf Club, going to cafés, pubs or to the gym. The opportunities are endless and we’ll try to match your interests and availability with those of the service users.
