Community Support Service – Walk Leader Ullapool

About Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland

Everyone has the right to live life to the full. After a diagnosis of a chest or heart condition or a stroke, many people experience fear and isolation and struggle with the impact on their lives. Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland won’t stand for that. The care and support we deliver every day ensures everyone can live the life they want to.

About Our Services

Across Scotland, over 1 million people – that’s one in five of the population – are living with the effects of serious chest and heart conditions and stroke. By 2021 we will double the number of people we support so that more people can live life to the full. We will do this by providing vital advice, information, and support through our No Life Half Lived Support services across Scotland.

About Your Role

“Support and encourage people living with or at high risk of our chest heart and stroke conditions to live more active lives.” Working alongside other walk leaders, the community walk leader is expected to safely lead community health walks while effectively supporting people living with and at high risk of our conditions.

Main Tasks:

The community walk leader will be expected to:

• Safely lead local CHSS community health walks or/and support our service users to regularly walk through CHSS friendly options
• Map appropriate walking routes which last between 15-45 minutes
• Complete dynamic and general risk assessments as required
• Effectively support people living with and at high risk of our conditions to engage in a programme of community walking.
• Provide an appropriate location for participants and to enjoy a cup of tea after the walk
• Complete registers for each walk and accident report forms (as required)
• Aid participants to complete evaluation forms to measure the impact we have made
• Support and promote our walking campaigns through the community walks
• Raise the profile of CHSS and all our services

Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland aims to creating our own community walk network across Scotland while also effectively supporting our service users through existing health walks and projects through ‘CHSS friendly options.’ The role will be based from either one of our retail outlets, community hubs, or existing location within the community. The volunteer will form part of a rota, with the frequency of the walks determined by the service users and the walk leaders. The volunteer could expect to complete 4-8 hours per month.

About Your Training and Development

CHSS will provide a comprehensive training package to empower the volunteer to delivery, support and promote physical activity to people living with and at high risk of our conditions.

This will include:

1. Mandatory training for all CHSS volunteers including:
• Supporting people living with CHSS conditions
• Emergency First Aid training
• Introduction to supported communication training
• Volunteer role and boundaries training
• Assisting with Mobility training ( both to further understand the needs of the service user)
2. Volunteering for physical activity training (all the background and health and safety training needed to deliver physical activity)
3. Activity-specific training dependant on the needs of service users. This may include either: Walk Leader training, Seated Exercise training, or leading Boccia and New Age Kurling training.