Volunteer host training
Training 1: an introduction to your role (4 minute read)
Thank you for giving your time as a volunteer host with Re-engage. Your contribution is vital in ensuring that our older guests can attend regular monthly tea parties, and we are grateful for your support.
How do the tea parties work?
Once a month, normally on a Sunday afternoon, each older guest is collected from their home by a volunteer driver and taken to a volunteer host’s home - or sometimes an external venue - where they join the rest of the group for tea, cake, and companionship. Our tea groups vary in size, with some groups having as few as four older guests and others as many as 12. In addition to the older guests, the average tea party group has one to two group coordinators and three to six volunteer drivers, and they will stay with the guests at your home throughout the tea party. Your role is to host a warm and welcoming tea party in your home once or twice a year.
Good to know
Our older guests come from all backgrounds and walks of life and so do our volunteers. We are an inclusive organisation and we will consider every older guest application we receive, even if it doesn't quite meet our criteria. As a general rule, however, our older guests:
- Are aged 75 and older.
- Are lonely, isolated or in need of companionship.
- Struggle to get out and about on their own.
The arrangements
The majority of our volunteer hosts only host a tea party once or twice a year. Some volunteers enjoy hosting more often, but there is no expectation that you will do so.
Your group coordinator will be your main point of contact for everything to do with your voluntary role and you will be given their contact details when you start volunteering. For confidentiality reasons, you will not be given access to the contact details of any of the other volunteers in your group or the older guests, so please make sure you don’t ask for their phone numbers or home addresses. Your volunteer handbook has more information about volunteer boundaries and managing expectations.
A few weeks before the date of your tea party, your group coordinator will contact you to confirm that you’re still happy and able to host and to give you an idea of how many people will be attending. In the days leading up to your tea party, your group coordinator will contact you again to update you on the number of attendees and to confirm all the arrangements. It’s not always possible to give an exact number as an older guest might be unwell on the day itself.
On the day of your tea party, the group coordinator and the volunteer drivers will help you to serve food and drinks to the older guests, to collect empty cups and plates, and to engage the group in fun and friendly conversation.
Good to know
Your group coordinator will get in touch with all the volunteer hosts in your group at the end of each year (usually around October or November) to ask when you will be available to host a tea party (or two!) the following year. This is so they can put together the annual hosting schedule for your group and share the dates with all the older guests before January. Many of our older guests love to get all the dates in their calendars at the beginning of the year as it gives them something to look forward to.
“This tea party has made me feel alive again, with such kindness shown. I really can't wait until we do it again.”
Insurance
Re-engage has Public Liability insurance, however, this will not cover your home for any damage that may occur. Although it is rare for damage to happen at a tea party, we recommend you inform your insurance company that you are hosting these events and add accidental damage cover to your contents insurance before hosting your first tea party. All external venues need to have public liability in place and once you have checked they have this, you will need to submit a declaration as confirmation.
Booking in the date of your tea party is just the start. Our training modules will guide you through the steps you might need to take to feel confident that your home is a safe and welcoming environment for your guests. We will explore these in Training 2: hosting safely and Training 3: understanding food safety.