Winter Season Volunteers
If you are ready to volunteer, read on.
If you have already signed up as a Shelter volunteer, please see which training sessions would be most appropriate for you.
If you only want to keep informed about the Shelter by receiving the occasional email, please click here
If you are ready to volunteer, read on.
If you have already signed up as a Shelter volunteer, please see which training sessions would be most appropriate for you.
If you only want to keep informed about the Shelter by receiving the occasional email, please click here
This will link to a video, 8 minutes long showing a typical day in the life of the Winter Night Shelter |
If you have previously volunteered for The Bromley Homeless Shelter, you may already know your role; in this case, you may go to 'Policies' at the bottom of the page. You need to re-register every year. If you don't know your role, then please read on.... |
Evening cooks and helpers: Meals are cooked by a team. Usually, each team volunteers on the same night once a fortnight. The team leader chooses a menu and purchases the ingredients. The cost is refunded. The team leader may be helped by friends or volunteers that can be assigned to the team. Typically there are 3 helpers to serve the meals, chat with the guests and wash up. Usually the meals are cooked in one of 5 churches in Central Bromley. In some circumstances, the meals may be cooked at home provided this poses no food safety concerns.
Breakfast helpers: Breakfast is served each day (from 7-9am). At least 2 helpers are needed to serve breakfast. This is because the shelter has a rule that no volunteer may be alone with guests. The guests will arrive from sleeping overnight in a church hall soon after 7 am. They will be given hot drinks, juice, cereals and pastries. Sometimes the volunteers who have slept overnight with the guests will also join them for breakfast. There will be an opportunity to chat with the guests. They will usually be relaxed and perhaps watching television. Normally the guests will leave by 9 am.
Overnight Volunteers: Each night, two volunteers will sleep overnight with our guests. A team leader will build a schedule for the volunteers dependent upon the frequency with which they are able to help. Some volunteers help weekly, others less frequently, perhaps monthly. This is a critical role and it is essential that the volunteers can be relied upon to keep to their rota, or give their team leader adequate notice so that a substitute can be found. Because the Shelter has a robust approach to lone working, it is critical that volunteers are able to remain with the project during the duration of the shift as it will be very difficult to leave once volunteers and guests are in the shelter.
On their assigned day, a team leader will arrive at the meal location at 7 pm. The overnight volunteers will arrive between 7 and 8 pm; however, most prefer to arrive in time to share a meal with the guests. They will be given a briefing by the team leader so that they understand any issues that may have arisen in the past and special help that some guests may need. The team leader will bar any guests from the shelter if behavioural issues are suspected, for example, due to excess alcohol.
Shortly before 9 pm, on most nights, the overnight volunteers will walk to the sleeping location with the guests. On arrival, they will prepare teas or coffee as needed, while the guests take their beds out of storage and set them up.
The volunteers sleep overnight with the guests and rise at 6 am to give the guests tea and coffee while the beds are returned to storage and cleaning up is done by the guests, under supervision of the volunteers. The guests leave by 7 am to a nearby church for breakfast and volunteers have the option of joining them or leaving for work.
Shortly before 9 pm, on most nights, the overnight volunteers will walk to the sleeping location with the guests. On arrival, they will prepare teas or coffee as needed, while the guests take their beds out of storage and set them up.
The volunteers sleep overnight with the guests and rise at 6 am to give the guests tea and coffee while the beds are returned to storage and cleaning up is done by the guests, under supervision of the volunteers. The guests leave by 7 am to a nearby church for breakfast and volunteers have the option of joining them or leaving for work.
