A vital volunteer role offering every visitor a warm, attentive, and respectful welcome in keeping with Rochester Cathedral’s long established Benedictine tradition of hospitality, gently encourage donations from visitors, explaining how these contributions help sustain the ministry and support the ongoing care and upkeep of the Cathedral.

The Coach will support young women in The Looking Forward Project – a National Institute for Health and Care Research funded research study. Young women in the study are aged 16 to 25 years old and currently or recently have been NEET – not in education, employment, or training.

The Coach acts as a supportive guide who helps young women work through a programme called HOPEFUL. It is a workbook of videos and practical exercises. The workbook is designed to help young women feel more positive about themselves, increase the time they spend in meaningful activities, and develop a more hopeful mindset.

Coaches are not therapists and do not provide counselling or mental health treatment.

Instead, the role of the Coach is to:

- Help participants to make the most of the workbook materials in a practical and encouraging way
- Talk through practical questions about the exercises
- Support goal-setting and problem-solving around everyday challenges

Coaches receive training and guidance on what meetings to have with young women, when and what to focus on. They also have ongoing guidance on how to keep the support helpful, safe, and within clear boundaries.

Coaches will be:
- Able to provide coaching sessions for young women within working hours (variable 50-65 minutes per session)
- Able to attend 1-hour supervision sessions in working hours (fortnightly when active, monthly when inactive)

Anyone interested in this role will need to have a brief online interview with a member of the research team. We can talk to you about the role and discuss whether it seems right for you at this moment in time. For all those continuing on to become a Coach, we would provide training materials for you to complete in your own time. Once you’ve completed the training, you would have a “getting started” call with a member of the research team to talk about the training materials and check that you are ready to start coaching

Working on the shop floor, refilling stock, keeping the shop clean and tidy, welcoming customers. Apply on email on volunteer@thriftandthrivemedway.org.uk.

Reading Helpers are adult volunteers living or working within a 5 mile radius of a school that has asked for our help. You need to commit to at least an afternoon a week for a whole year during term-time, and as we invest in your training we'd appreciate it if you could stay longer. The role isn't about listening to children read, but creating a relaxed session that allows children to work alongside you to discover the joy of books.