Training for Meeting Centre Staff and Volunteers

If you are looking for training around Meeting Centres, we now have three options available for you.

Training for staff/volunteers
Training specifically for volunteers
Training for students on placement at a Meeting Centre

Please see the relevant section below for more details.

Meeting Centre training course for staff/volunteers

We have developed a 5-week fully online course to help staff/volunteers understand how to develop an enjoyable and flexible Meeting Centre which is key to the development of a successful Meeting Centre.

This 5-week course will support you to consider the different elements that make up a Meeting Centre and explore the practicalities of implementing it. This will include looking at:

The Meeting Centre ethos
The Essential Features of a Meeting Centre
The Adjusting to Change model and how this model can be used in practice to support both members with dementia and family carers
The physical, social and psychological effect of movement on individuals, with the opportunity for staff/volunteers to start to consider how this can be incorporated into the Meeting Centres programme.

Whilst we do not expect staff/volunteers to have in-depth knowledge of dementia, we do expect that they have some understanding, we therefore request that all those attending have investigated becoming a Dementia Friend see this link to access Dementia Friends

Mode of delivery: This fully online training will be delivered using the University’s online learning platform. It will include weekly scheduled 'live' online sessions where you will meet your tutor and fellow students, and independent study which you will complete at your own pace. Typically, you should spend approximately 3-4 hours each week working through this course. Please note that attendance at the live sessions, particularly the first one, is very important and failure to attend will impact your ability to complete the course.

Access requirements: As a fully online training course you will require a reliable computer/laptop and internet access. You will require audio and video capability for the live online sessions so that you can connect with your tutor and fellow students.

Target audience: This training is specifically to support frontline staff/volunteers who will have day to day responsibility of running a Meeting Centre but may also be of interest to Trustees/other supporters.

Start dates:

8th April 2024 (live sessions will take place on Tuesdays) – This course will be open for registration from Monday 4th March 2024. Facilitated by ADS, please see below for details.
1st July 2024 (live sessions will take place on Tuesdays) – This course will be open for registration from Monday 3rd June 2024. Facilitated by ADS, please see below for details.
4th November 2024 (live sessions will take place on Tuesdays) – This course will be open for registration from Monday 7th October 2024. Facilitated by ADS, please see below for details.

If you are interested in attending this training please take note of the following steps, but only do this once registration for the course is open.

For courses facilitated by Kirrie Connections please see their website for more details.

For courses facilitated by ADS:

Step 1: Email meetingcentres@worc.ac.uk to confirm that the training will be suitable for you to attend, and to check that there are still spaces available.
Step 2: You will be sent a link to register on Eventbrite. Please note, everyone that wishes to attend must register separately on Eventbrite – you should not do a bulk booking on behalf of colleagues.
Step 3: Approximately 2 weeks prior to the course starting you will be sent joining instructions (keep an eye on your junk folder as emails can sometimes go there!). You will need to use these instructions to enrol on the course to be able to access the content – this is separate to your Eventbrite registration, so please be aware that you do not access the course via Eventbrite.
Step 4: Ensure that you can access the course, make note of the dates, and work through the course content when it is made available. Links to join the live online sessions will be found within the course, so make sure you know where to find them!

Course fee: The training is free to UK delegates

Meeting Centre training specifically for volunteers

While volunteers are welcome to attend the full training, we recognise that not all volunteers can commit to a 5-week course. We have developed a 3-week version of the course specifically for volunteers, and it can be accessed in two ways.

Firstly, we will be running courses at set times during the year. Dates are still to be arranged for these, so please look out for more details in due course.

Secondly, if you have a group of volunteers within a Meeting Centre (or in your local area) and you feel comfortable to facilitate the course yourself, you can set up your own group and run the course at a time that suits you. This gives you control over when and how the two live sessions take place, as you can choose to do them online or as a group in person. We recommend that the course facilitator is a Meeting Centre manager or similar, and has undertaken the fully training course as this means you will be familiar with the content and activities. Advice and guidance for a facilitator are provided within the course. To access the course, you can enrol via this link (be aware that this link is also the one volunteers should use to access the course).

Meeting Centre training for students on placement at a Meeting Centre

If you have students undertaking placements at your Meeting Centre, you may find it useful to encourage them to go through a short course we’ve developed to help them get a better understanding of dementia and Meeting Centres. The course covers key topics and activities from the full training course, but can be accessed at any time for students to work through at their own pace. It is entirely self-guided and does not have any ‘live’ sessions. To access the course, students can enrol via this link.