volunteer week 2025; celebrating the IV role

It's Volunteer Week! Over the years, asphaleia's service delivery has been supported and strengthened by the work of volunteers. This Volunteer Week we want to celebrate the volunteers that make a specific service we offer possible.

asphaleia currently delivers the Independent Visiting (IV) and Advocacy services for East Sussex County Council.

The IV service is a befriending service for children and young people in care, and relies on volunteers to fulfil the role of IV. The volunteer will be matched to a young person, who has requested an IV, and will visit their young person once a month and take them out to do things like play football, go for a stroll, or have a coffee.

This is a rewarding and accessible volunteering role for many people who work full-time hours during the week as visits mostly take place at the weekend.

IV's can have a hugely positive impact on the young people they spend time with. As an independent person from social care, young people can enjoy the company of someone who is there simply to be their friend, whilst also being a positive influence. We ask for a 12-month minimum commitment from our IV's so they can form a friendship and be a consistent presence in their young person's life. Some IV's befriend their young person for several years and continue the contact once the young person has left care.

IV stories

A few of our IV's shared why they love being an IV:

"I had been looking for an opportunity to volunteer in my local community and when I heard about independent visiting it felt like a great opportunity to explore. We all know the pressures young people are under these days, and it feels good to support a young person in care who faces even more challenges. I look forward to the visits with my young person and it doesn’t take up that much of my time."

"Being an IV is good for me as I have a lot of experience of working with young people, and it is great, now I am retired to still be able to make use of that experience."

"Independent visiting is the perfect volunteering role for me, as I would like to become a foster carer at some point in the future so it's ideal experience, and also a good way to be able to help in some small way right now, even if I'm not currently able to commit to full time fostering. I'm also much more of a one-on-one than group person, so it really suits my personality to build one individual relationship over time, whereas I found a lot of general volunteering roles would often involve large groups and new people."

We are so grateful for everything our volunteers do. Thank you! 

could you befriend a young person?

If you are interested in learning more about this role, we are hosting a virtual IV information event on Tuesday 10th of June, at 6:30-7:30pm. Please click the link or the image below to register to attend.