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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Has anyone been an independent visitor?

151 replies

holtol · 14/06/2024 09:20

I'm considering taking up some form of volunteer role for a few hours per month.

I don't have any specific skill like gardening or baking, but I am a caring person and I heard about people that are independent visitors to give time to children looked after who is there for them and not because they are paid to provide a service.

Has anyone done this before that can provide some insight?

Do you see them in their care environment or go for a walk? It's hard to do things without spending money so did you use your own funds?

How much time on average say per week did you give and was the visit with the same person or someone different each time?

Would you recommend it?

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Run4it2 · 14/06/2024 09:37

I'm an independent visitor with nyas and really enjoy it. I pick my young person (yp) up from their carers and bring them out for a trip. The commitment is once a month, generally for 3 hours or so, but it depends on what we're doing. We are given a budget for each trip - we can do something cheap for a couple of months so we can do something more expensive another time, and the budget is evened out over the year. I have a coordinator who I can raise any questions with. The independent visitors also meet up a couple of times a year which is nice as we can swap ideas etc