Giving phone support

We have produced a phone support guidance document, that you can find here. It’s the first chapter of our learning on phone support and open to all of you to add to, from your experience as visitors offering phone support.

Every time you encounter a new situation or a new learning opportunity for us all, please share it and if you send it to Karris, it’ll be added to our notes. We love advice sheets that don’t ossify but grow with our combined learning. View the Phone Support notes here.

Please also view our Post-Detention Support spreadsheet here. We have put together a list of organisations across the UK that may be suitable to refer the person you’re supporting for assistance.

Upcoming visitor group meetings

Some Visitor Support Group meetings are currently via Zoom – please contact the office for info.

Reigate

Crawley and Horsham

Oxted

Brighton

Training

Notes from previous trainings

• Complaints Training 21/02/2022 – download the information sheet here.
• Unlawful Detention 15/02/2021 – download the training note here.
• Delivering phone support 15/04/2020 – download the information sheet here.

Upcoming walks

Walk With Us are monthly events that keep our walking community connected all year round. Before the Covid-19 pandemic we walked in a large group, however during Covid-19 these walks have been replaced with small walking pods and online gatherings.

Walk With Us is open to people who have experienced detention, GDWG visitors, Refugee Tales walkers and anyone else who would like to join us! If you are interested in being a regular part of this walking community please email: refugeetales@gdwg.org.uk for more information.

Walks in 2023:

• CANCELLED: 30th September 2023 – Cancelled due to train strikes.

• 28th October 2023 – A Saturday Walk in Essex.

Please contact refugeetales@gdwg.org.uk to join.

Volunteer policies

The Volunteer Handbook contains all the essential information you need when volunteering with GDWG. You can download the Handbook here.

GDWG Volunteer policies are available to view and download here:

• Adult Safeguarding
• Child safeguarding
• Conflicts of interest
• Property policy
• Visiting detainees who pose a safety risk
• Visiting detainees with serious convictions or inappropiate behaviour
• Visiting suicidal people 
• Guidelines on gift giving
• Guidelines on staying in touch 
• Volunteering policy
• Volunteer Code of Conduct

Safeguarding report forms:

• Adults
• Children

Volunteer Expense Claim Form

Please click here to download the expense claim form.  Please complete, sign, and return to Marygold or Anna by email or post.

Volunteer Visitor Feedback Form

This form relates to your contact with a specific individual you have supported in or post-detention. Please fill in this form:

• When your visits stop
• Every 3 months

Introduction: Please fill in this form as accurately and as fully as you can. Your feedback is very important to us for a couple of reasons. Firstly, many of our large funders require us to provide regular monitoring and evaluation reports, and your detailed feedback is vital in complying with that requirement. Secondly, your feedback helps us understand better the issues you, our volunteer visitors, face in our core role of helping those in detention, so that we can improve the support we give both to those in detention and to you. The information also helps us with our future applications for funding and for other purposes such as policy outreach, awareness raising, PR etc. Thank you.

Please download the Visitor Feedback Form. When completed send by email to info@gdwg.org.uk