See our Volunteer Opportunities if you are interested in volunteering for apas be it as a Telephone Advice Worker, admin support or fund raising we want to hear from you!

Our Volunteers provide a crucial role within our organisation and we are lucky enough to have plenty of support from this sector. We get enquiries from people every week asking about both paid and unpaid opportunities within apas and many of our volunteers have gone on to gain employment either full time at apas or in other substance misuse agencies due to the valuable experience they gain as an apas volunteer.

Most of our volunteer opportunities are in client services as Telephone Advice Workers (see below) but we are also lucky enough to have individuals who help us out with administrative support. We welcome applications from all walks of life and believe that everyone has something unique that they can contribute to our service, so no matter where your skills and experience lie if you are interested in becoming an apas volunteer Contact us today for more information.  For the low down from two of our volunteer TAWs see Volunteer Life.

The Telephone Advice Worker (TAWs) once selected our volunteers receive our full training programme covering a range of issues including alcohol use and misuse, alcohol awareness and education, treatment philosophies, local services and drug awareness and education. Our workers will also receive training on making and taking calls and emails and will also learn a range of skills to help them to respond to difficult calls that may involve other sensitive issues such as Child Protection, domestic violence or self harm and suicide.

Our workers are given a full tool kit to help them to understand the impact of alcohol upon the individual, the family, the community and on society as a whole. They will be provided with the skills necessary to offer help and support to vulnerable clients and will be given the opportunity to develop their roles and take on more responsibility such as one-2-one client  work, community awareness and training events and regular correspondence with ongoing clients.

As part of our volunteer package we offer ongoing training and development, opportunities to attend external training programmes and monthly one-2-one supervision sessions. Volunteers are encouraged to become a part of the team through joining in on staff socials and staff training events, becoming apas members, attending board meetings and contributing to apas times. Our volunteers contribute to every aspect of our service and their contributions are recognised and rewarded.