Volunteer Role Description for: Volunteer Canine Assistant Location: Rehoming Centre Main contact: Karina Grimwade Volunteer Coordinator

Purpose of the role: Working to Trust’s standards and Health and Safety guidelines, support and assist the Rehoming Centre staff to ensure our kennel facilities are cleaned, maintained and in good working order for our dogs, and help provide essential exercise for them.

Skills/experience required: This role would particularly suit students who are studying an animal based role, and require a volunteer role as part of their course. Key tasks: • Passionate about dogs, welfare • Work with centre staff to clean and experience of handling them kennels and other service areas to • Excellent face to face communication Dogs Trust standards to ensure the skills with the ability to listen dogs in our care are comfortable and • Good level of fitness to carry out the safe role quickly and efficiently. This is a • Work to tight time scales to ensure very physical role. that kennels are clean in good time, • Confident and approachable manner according to our opening hours. • Ability to work comfortably in a close • Other kennel-related tasks as knit team or alone requested by Dogs Trust staff • Ability to following instructions • Provide exercise to dogs as allocated • Experience in a cleaning role is by centre staff desirable but not essential • Monitor each dog’s health and welfare, reporting any concerns to centre staff • Adhere to centre protocols for collection of dogs, walking routes and use of exercise compounds • Use centre approved equipment e.g. leads, harnesses, muzzles, etc • Complete animal records as required • Report any faulty or damaged equipment to centre staff Time commitment: Saturdays and Sundays 8am-11am.

You must be able to commit to one of these shifts at least once every other week. Please indicate on your application form which shift it is you are applying for.

Volunteer Role Description for: Volunteer Canine Assistant

What you can expect from Dogs Trust as a A message from the CEO volunteer: • A staff member main contact who will manage your Without our dedicated tasks, answer your questions and help you with the volunteers we couldn’t hope to volunteer rota achieve as much as we do for • A buddy (either another volunteer or a member of the dogs in our care; the staff) who will help you through your first few weeks support from our volunteers is at the centre • Volunteer uniform absolutely vital to our work. • Induction and ongoing role-specific training, guidance and support The work that volunteers help • An opportunity to feed back to your main contact us with may not always be about your experience volunteering with Dogs Trust easy, but I know that • Recognition of the role that you are carrying out in volunteering with Dogs Trust is support of Dogs Trust through our Volunteer Merits a rewarding experience. Scheme • Opportunities to try new things and learn new skills, Adrian Burder where appropriate Chief Executive

What we expect from our volunteers: • Support Dogs Trust in its work and carry out your volunteer role to the best of your ability • Complete a Rehoming Centre volunteer induction session, this will be held at your centre and complete any other additional training as required • Make new people welcome and work well within the team • Recognise the importance of our members, sponsors and donors in supporting the work of Dogs Trust • Wear your Dogs Trust volunteer uniform at the centre and ensure you are presentable at all times • Support Dogs Trust procedures and standards by: • Being aware of your own health and safety and of that of others • Respecting others and treating people equally irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation (Equality Act 2010) • Ensure all activities undertaken in the name of Dogs Trust achieve the charitable aims and objectives and do not bring the organisation into disrepute • Be accountable and accept constructive comments • Maintain confidentiality regarding Dogs Trust activity, the dogs in our care and our team • Meet time commitments and standards agreed, and give reasonable notice when unavailable, so other arrangements can be made • Be a positive representative of Dogs Trust, ensuring you are polite and friendly to all visitors to the centre

Dogs Trust Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog Rehoming Centre welfare charity. Through our network Nevendon Road of 21 rehoming centres across the UK Wickford and one in we care for 16,000 Essex abandoned and unwanted dogs a SS12 0FH year. No healthy dog is ever E: [email protected] destroyed. T: 01268 535 050 @: www.dogstrust.org.uk