Help to build team support

Smart CJS is a charity-run drug and alcohol service in Oxfordshire. 
Pete Corcoran joined as a volunteer in 2009 and he talked  about his experience of volunteering for Smart CJS. 
“After two years of volunteer work I became the senior mentor and was offered an opportunity to join another team at Smart Howard house in Oxford. 
“The project is a 10-bed residential drug and alcohol detoxification unit, which had only been running for seven months before I joined as the only volunteer.
“After some time I was asked to recruit more volunteers and within a short time I had built up a small team.
“The volunteer process begins with           an interview and then the induction            process which includes: basic training around substance misuse, confidentiality, boundaries and policy and procedure.”
Pete is now the volunteer co-ordinator managing the volunteer program and has a team of 12 volunteers.
The service provides 24-hour support and medical care for people with drug, and/or, alcohol problems. 
Smart CJS’s programme is person-centred and they also run a structured programme which can help the service user to learn            and understand new ways of dealing with their life without the use of any          substances.
The volunteers help to support all staff and residents in the unit and also out in the community. 
Without the volunteers the service would be very difficult to run. 
The main roles of a volunteer are to help with the daily running of the unit. 
This will include co-facilitation of check-in and groups along with taking residents into the community for appointments. 
Smart CJS offers training and supervision throughout the time a volunteer is with them and all expenses are paid for volunteer travel; lunch is provided at the unit if required.
Volunteers also have the opportunity to take residents to rehabilitation centres that the resident has chosen at the end of a treatment episode with Smart Howard house. 
The service has a very strong team of staff and volunteers who continue to grow and develop which allows Smart CJS to provide a better service for the people that need it most. 
Some of the volunteers are ex-service users themselves.