Welfare Role
Key Responsibilities
- Help provide community with comfort.
- Pass on any concerns to Supervisor.
- Ensure refreshments are available for the community.
- Provide a warm/cool environment for the community.
People will use the hubs for many different things including help with specific tasks. However, one regularly neglected area of assistance can be general welfare. People often just need someone to talk to and comfort them. Therefore, it should be given high prominence.
Be visible: Being visible and approachable is important as people need to know where to easily find you and feel comfortable in your presence.
Providing Comfort: Providing comfort is as simple as just having a conversation with a person helping them to air any of their issues. This involves listening to people and providing them with any information about the situation, and helping them with their practical needs. It is important that you understand you are not a counselling service and that you do not try to delve deep into anyone’s personal issues.
When providing comfort, it’s important to:
- Help people feel in control by making their own decisions.
- Listen respectfully to them.
- Encourage them to think about where any extra support can come from (family and friends).
- Take note of what they need.
- Remain supportive and do not take anything they say personally.
When providing comfort, avoid:
- Ordering people around/ telling them what to do.
- Tell them it will all be fine when it might not.
- Being distracted and give your full attention to them.
- Separating them from their friends and family.
- React to their emotions personally.
Refreshments: Make refreshments readily available and accessible. However, avoid being committed to serving tea and coffee for the whole time as this will be a distraction to your role.
