Volunteer role: Faith to Faithless Helpline Listener

Humanists International; London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Humanists International is seeking committed Helpline Volunteers to support individuals leaving high-control religions. As part of the Faith to Faithless team, you will have the opportunity to positively impact lives and help create a more inclusive society. This valuable role involves providing assistance and guidance for those seeking support and understanding their experiences.

Qualifications

• Based in the UK.
• Lived experience of leaving a high-control religion preferred.
• Willingness to undergo DBS check and safeguarding training.

Responsibilities

• Provide support through a helpline for apostates.
• Engage in training for statutory and support organisations.
• Participate in peer support groups and public events.

Skills

Compassion

Communication

Job description

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Faith to Faithless, Humanists UK’s support programme for so-called ‘apostates’.The whole Faith to Faithless service is led by apostates themselves, who have knowledge and experiences of apostate communities facing serious and systemic issues. These issues range from emotional and physical abuse from family members, friends, and peers in their community through homelessness, shunning, ‘honour-based’ abuse and killings, andsystemic failures by statutory organisations to support apostates.

Faith to Faithless engages in several activities, over three main areas of work:

• We provide a platform for apostate voices to be heard, and raise awareness of the issues they face so that others don’t suffer in the same ways, ensuring we have built trust within the apostate community. We do this both online, through our dedicated website, and through speaker and panel events that are open to the public
• We provide an apostate support programme through facilitated peer support groups and other ‘meet-ups’
• We train statutory and support organisations like police, social services, and mental health organisations to better understand the issues apostates face, and the sorts of policy and practice implications this might have for the organisation.

Our work has brought us into contact with tens of thousands of apostates, and we have been able to directly support over a thousand since the dedicated programme started.

We launched a helpline for apostates in the summer of 2023, for people leaving high-control religions, and we're looking for committed, compassionate volunteers to join the expanding team. You can positively impact lives and help create a more inclusive society. Join us today and be part of the change!

The current helpline opening hours are:

• Wednesday - 10:00-13:00

• Thursday -16:00-19:00

• Friday - 08:00 -11:00

To find out more about the role of a Helpline Volunteer, take a look at our application pack and see if it sounds right for you.

You are welcome to contact the Faith to Faithless Service Manager, Donna,by email [e-mail], or Humanists UK at [e-mail], to discuss the role before applying.

Our Recruitment and Promotion and Equal Opportunities policies are available to view via the Careers Menu or at the foot of our main Opportunities page.

Volunteers need to be based in the UK for this role. We would particularly welcome applications from those with lived experience of leaving a high-control religion.

Please note that volunteers will be subject to a DBS check and required to complete adult safeguarding training if recruited.