“The best part of the group is the positive energy and the encouragement from our run leader. With her help, everybody is encouraged to take part at her own pace.” (Sarah, run group member)
Want to help women affected by homelessness be more active?
Passionate about supporting women to achieve better outcomes?
Why volunteer with A Mile in Her Shoes?
Because you’ll be part of something unique that helps women affected by homelessness to feel good about themselves.
A Mile in Her Shoes helps women affected by homelessness issues to find their feet through running, offering women-only exercise and social groups. We currently offer weekly groups in London in partnership with homeless organisations.
We want to get even more women active and have recently been awarded funding from the Greater London Authority to build our running community, bringing women together in our groups across London with the view to expanding beyond the capital in the future. At the heart of this are our volunteers who will help lead these groups.
“The shoes and kit from A Mile in Her Shoes has given me more confidence as a runner. Often, you see other runners in the park wearing similar gear and you feel like you are part of something too.” (Margarita, run group member)
What will I be doing?
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You could be leading or helping to lead the active part of our fun exercise sessions – we help women be more active by taking part in fun run-based games and activities that improve agility, balance and co-ordination and boost self-confidence; These are the roles that we need volunteers for as a priority this autumn.
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Facilitating the social aspect of the session –talking to women, promoting inclusion of members who may not be joining in as much; leading the healthy snack and debrief session afterwards;
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Providing ways for women to tell us what they would like in future sessions and for supporting women to lead activities and discussions themselves;
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Supporting and facilitating women to tell us about other unmet needs that they may have so that we can provide some signposting to services to provide a holistic response to recovery;
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Assisting project co-ordination through simple record keeping to help us measure the impact of the work we do.
What do we need from our team of volunteers?
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Non-judgmental, welcoming attitude
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Willing to be trained up to lead running fitness sessions at one of our sites in London this autumn. An interest in running fitness is important but all abilities are welcome. Our training is free of charge and you do not need to have an existing running qualification.
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Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
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Experience of service user participation and providing group activities would be desirable
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An interest in wellbeing and recovery from homelessness and related issues
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Attendance at one of our Selection and Training Sessions is mandatory to taking part with a group.
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Available to attend volunteering taster session in central London on either Saturday 19 August or Saturday 9th September 2017 (see below).
We welcome applications from women with relevant lived experience of homelessness and related issues.
“My favourite thing about being in the group is the social aspect, meeting new people and the support from the other women - and the snacks that are provided to share afterwards!” (Zara, run group member)
What can we offer you in return?
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Straightforward training and ongoing support – volunteering with women experiencing multiple disadvantage and leading running groups
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Out-of-pocket expenses (including travel within London) included
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For women with lived experience – a great opportunity to use your experience to help others and valuable experience for your CV
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Attendance at our end of project celebration in December
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Free A Mile in Her Shoes running community technical top for all volunteers and participants
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Support from project co-ordinators and experienced volunteer
“It's positive, fun and non-judgmental and I feel like I'm working towards my previously confident and happy self.” (Brenda, run group member)
More about volunteering with us September - December 2017:
The pilot will run weekly from September to December 2017 and we ask that you can commit to signing up to volunteering at a minimum of 4 occasions (all sites offer weekly groups).
Timetables vary between groups but they generally take place on Saturday mornings, daytime during the week or after 5.30pm.
If you are available to attend our friendly and informal volunteering taster in central London on Saturday 19 August or Saturday 9th September 2017 , we'd love to hear from you. It will take place 10.30am -until 12.30pm.
If you can't make either of these, we would be happy to let you know about future dates and opportunities.
We may publish additional future training dates once they are confirmed and promote these via our Facebook and Twitter.
A Mile in Her Shoes runs sessions for women only and for this reason, we are only accepting volunteer applications from women (our constitution and our Charity Commission registration permits this). If successful, we will require a standard DBS check from all volunteers.
“I love feeling part of the group and it’s made me feel more confident. I’ve been able to try jogging for the first time. I don’t know of any other groups like this and we don’t have to worry about having the right kit or shoes; you can just come along and take part.” (Fay, run group member)
How to apply:
To apply, please contact us via our website here (choose ‘Volunteering with a run group’).
We will follow up with everyone who enquires within 7 days, with further information about progressing your application.
If we receive more applications than we have volunteering roles for, then we will not be able to accept everyone on this occasion but would like to, with your permission, contact you about future volunteering opportunities with us beyond 2017.
Taster session date: 10.30am to 12.30pm, choose either Saturday 19 August or Saturday 9th September 2017
Locations of current groups in our pilot:
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Acton
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Clapham Common
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Croydon
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Greenwich
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Lewisham
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Paddington
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Shoreditch
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Southwark/Borough
