Walking Volunteer for Visually Impaired People (VIP)

Travel Hands, a new service that pairs Visually Impaired People (VIP) with verified & sighted volunteers to walk together towards their similar destinations. With Travel Hands, VIP can travel around London in a safe, cheap, and independent manner. 

You get to participate in the most flexible volunteering experience that enables you to help whenever you want based on your flexibility. It is an opportunity to breathe some fresh air, walk some more steps in the day, relax and make some new friends in your area. In the nearby future, as a thank you, you get the benefit of turning your steps into points, in return converting them into potential rewards, as incentives from affiliated companies that pursue and value their customers under corporate social responsibility programs.

You do not require any qualification for the role and we will be providing online training to make you aware of the ways to walk with a VIP 

What we are looking for in a volunteer:

• Ability to empathize with the problems faced by VIP and acknowledge the mission of the company, VIP World Services
• Good time management skills, being able to schedule walks with VIPs, and arriving at the meeting point on time.
• Committed & Reliable
• Compassionate
• Patient
• Trustworthy
• Good Listener, we would appreciate it if our volunteers can have interesting chats with VIP whilst on journeys.

Requirements:

• Must be 18 or over
• Will be required to perform a DBS check before becoming a verified volunteer
• Must be in a physical condition to walk without anyone else’s assistance

Why are we making Travel Hands?

Think about your daily journey. How many intersections or staircases do you navigate, signs you pass by, paths and roads, or changes at the tube or bus stations? How many people cross your path, only for you to have to suddenly change direction? Now think about how much harder your day would be if you were partially sighted, or blind: this is what it’s like for the 285 million VIP in the world

And no, this is not a niche problem. For these people, navigating busy urban landscapes can be extremely challenging. Guide dogs can offer huge support, but with the cost of breeding, raising, and training the dog (and their eventual user) approaching £63,000, it’s not an option for the most. 

TfL currently offers VIP, Freedom Passes to travel for free and has a system in place where blind people can ask for on-platform assistance. But even walking to the bus stop or to the tube station is tough. Even for the shortest of distances, a VIP has to face the hassle of booking a taxi when making an unaccompanied journey. The trip is normally made through a phone call and entails an average waiting time of 20 minutes, despite being a brief 10-minute walk.

This is where Travel Hands comes in. You, as a volunteer, will be required to help VIP navigate through roads safely whilst having interesting conversations, building friendships, or simply breathing fresh air. 

What's in it for the volunteer?

You get to participate in the most flexible volunteering experience that enables you to help whenever you want based on your flexibility. It is an opportunity to breathe some fresh air, walk some more steps in the day, relax and make some new friends in your area. In the nearby future, as a thank you, you get the benefit of turning your steps into points, in return converting them into potential rewards, as incentives from affiliated companies that pursue and value their customers under corporate social responsibility programs.