Posted 26.08.2020

ONSIDE is seeking Peer Advocates to help support disabled people to create community connections. If you can spare 1-2 hours per week we would love to hear from you.

What is a Peer Advocate?

Peer advocacy is one-to-one support provided by a person with a similar disability or experience to others using a service. In terms of the ONSIDE project, our Peer Advocates will help mentor and support participants to create community connections.

Why do we need them?

Peer Advocates are an invaluable support to the ONSIDE project. We are engaging their support to aid our online digital training. Having already participated in the ONSIDE project, or because of their digital skills they will be able to guide and support other participants to become digitally connected.

What will the role involve?

The ONSIDE project aims to create social and online community connections. The current COVID-19 restrictions have hampered our ability to create physical connections in local communities but have also highlighted the need for digital connection to stay in touch with family and friends and manage our lives online.

Over the last few months our focus has been to get all participants online and engaging in digital communities as quickly as possible. We are providing our digital training via Zoom.

ONSIDE participants are I.T. beginners and the 1-2-1 support they receive from Peer Advocates is essential in building their confidence and providing advice from lived experience. The Peer Advocates role is twofold: they will not only use their digital skills to teach and support participants e.g. joining a Zoom call or downloading a new app on their tablet but they will also support participants to join and partake in online communities to build social connections e.g. join Facebook or WassApp or join an online cookery course.

For more information on becoming a Peer Advocate for the ONSIDE project e: [email protected] or t: 028 9029 7880 or 00353 1873 0455.

Read more about our ONSIDE project