1. Give the requester a call
You can say something along the lines of “Hello is that *name of resident*? My name is *your name*. I’m a volunteer with onHand.”
Occasionally the person you're helping might not remember or know who OnHand are (despite having spoken to us before). You might want to remind them that they were referred to onHand, the volunteering service, by someone who thought they could do with some help with getting their shopping.
2. Organise the shop
It's always best to ask for details, which shops do they prefer? How many eggs, six or twelve?
The person you've offered to do the shop for might ask for quite a lot of stuff... Only get what you can!! Remember, all the people you help will be aware that not everything they ask for will be stocked. So don't worry if you can't find everything.
Some older adults can be pretty specific with where they want you to shop and what they want you to buy, so it's worth asking them if they mind you getting substitutes if you can't find exactly what they want. If you'd prefer to shop somewhere other than the place they've asked, check with them and see if that's alright first - they might have limited funds so might want you to shop at the cheapest place possible. If they really do want you to only go to one specific shop and you can't get there, that's fine - just cancel the mission and let the request go back onto the app for another volunteer to pick it up.
Organise a day and time which works for you both and let them know (roughly) when you'll be dropping the shopping off so they know to expect you then.
3. Go and get the shopping
Please pay for the shopping on your own card - take a photo of the receipt and send it to us to get reimbursed! Then PUT THE RECEIPT IN THE SHOPPING BAG.
If the person you're helping is paying for their shopping in cash - the information on the request page will tell you this. It's always good to confirm when you speak with them on the phone too.
4. Drop the shopping off
Make sure you take a photograph of the receipt before you leave it with the requester, for your records.
You may be asked if you'd like to stay for a chat, if you have time please do! It really does make a difference to that person who may not get to see a lot of people.
If you don't have time, please don't worry! Just say you have to pop off to do X, Y and Z but you hope they have a nice rest of their day!
What if I call them and they don't want a shop or it has already been done?
We know it’s a little disheartening when you’re ready to do a shop, you call someone and they say they don’t need it. In case it helps - please know that although you haven’t actually completed the shop and fulfilled the mission, the person who referred them (typically an overstretched NHS or Red Cross team) really appreciates the call to check in to see if they’re OK - to know someone has checked in on them really does makes a difference!
Whilst we do call every referral back before we put their request on the app, unfortunately, we can not completely avoid calls where the person does not want the help anymore or has found an alternative. The people we help are aware of this and we do encourage them to get in touch with us if they don't need the assistance anymore, but 9/10 times they won’t.
Our hope is that volunteers could help us out here and let us know if people weren’t needing the help anymore - please do let us know who you have been in touch with that did not need help and we will follow up.
Any questions please let us know, thanks for your support!