Become a Volunteer Counsellor
It’s a challenging role and not everyone can do it. The Road Victims Trust usually recruits new Volunteer Counsellors each year and we would like to hear from anyone interested in finding out more about the role and the training we offer.
While rewarding, the role of a Road Victims Trust Volunteer Counsellor is emotionally demanding. Our volunteers support people who have either experienced the sudden death of a loved one or the horror of being involved in a fatal or serious road collision. The work also encompasses support during the legal processes that follow in the wake of the collision.
Due to the nature of the emotional and practical support that the Volunteer Counsellor undertakes we have in place a stringent recruitment and training process. An initial interview is carried out to assess if candidates are suitable for the rigours of the training course and as a prospective Volunteer Counsellor. The interview is also your chance to check out if this work is for you.
Once the training course has been successfully completed our Volunteer Counsellors are themselves supported by regular individual supervision, volunteer support group meetings and additional on-going training relevant to the work.
A Counselling Volunteer would be expected to have on average two clients a week. The majority of the work is undertaken as a one-hour session – this may be remote (telephone or online) or in-person (in one of our own or hired counselling rooms), and so with travel, report writing, supervision and meetings about 6-8 hours per week is needed to fulfil the role.
Like all of our volunteers, I generally have one to two clients at any one time whom I visit every week from between six months to two years or more. It is a privilege to be allowed into the very personal grief of a client’s life, sitting with them week after week, supporting them as they gradually, very gradually, begin to cope with and accommodate the tragedy that has befallen them. My experience as a volunteer helps me to help them understand, process and normalise the roller-coaster of emotions and feelings they are exposed to and demystify and prepare them for the alien world of police investigations, CPS, inquests and court proceedings they have been catapulted into.
Message from a volunteer
Volunteer Counsellor Training
Volunteer Counsellors
The training we provide for Coordinators and Volunteer Counsellors covers bereavement, trauma and the specifics of fatal and serious road collisions. We only recruit those that have successfully completed our 40-hour training course. We have a duty of care to both our Volunteer Counsellors and our clients so we need to be sure our trainees are able to meet the demands of the work.
The role of a Volunteer Counsellor requires good counselling skills to provide holistic support across the client’s range of needs that may include grief and trauma work as well as the provision of information.
Training courses for new Volunteer Counsellors are held periodically and advertised on this website.
Although courses are only run periodically, we welcome applications at any time from both qualified, and trainee counsellors seeking a counselling placement in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. If you wish to find out more about the training and when the next course is likely to be held, please call us on 01234 843345 or email us at enquiries@rvtrust.co.uk.
We are an Equal Opportunities Organisation and welcome members of minority groups. Successful applicants will be required to undergo DBS checks.