What is an Independent Visitor?
An Independent Visitor is a volunteer who spends time with a child or young person living in care on a regular basis. They provide a consistent, reliable adult presence outside of the young person's immediate care arrangements.
Typically, they will visit a child or young person once a month and spend time with them, listen to them and encourage them to try new things. These visits are informal, fun and focused on building trust and confidence.
Activities can include everyday outings such as going to the cinema, popping out for a coffee, visiting a museum or attending a local sports event. All agreed expenses are covered, so volunteers are never out of pocket.
Independent Visitors are not there to replace carers or professionals. Instead, they offer something different: a positive, long‑term relationship with someone who is there just for them.
Becoming an Independent Visitor
The sentence under the heading 'becoming an independent visitor' to read as: We are looking for volunteers to become independent visitors, if you are interested please see contact details below.
We can arrange a call to find out more about you and for you to find out more about the role. Following that, relevant training will be provided to give you the knowledge and the confidence to be able to positively impact a young persons life.
This role is ideal for people who:
- Have some spare time each month
- Enjoy one‑to‑one activities and conversations
- Want to make a meaningful difference in a young person’s life
And it's incredibly rewarding. Pam, one of our volunteers who is supporting a 12-year-old girl, said:
"I'm loving it. For me, I get to be a 'fun auntie' spending time with a special girl who I like to think of as my 'bonus niece'.
"I don't have kids, but I've got spare time on my hands to go out and do some fun things.
"This has been a fantastic opportunity to develop a relationship with a young person in care."
To find out more, email independent.visitors@northtyneside.gov.uk