Brighton and Hove Independent Mediation Service

Volunteering

Who can become a mediator?

We are looking for people from all walks of life. You do not have to have any formal qualifications, special skills, only that you have the ability to listen and
respect confidentiality.

How much time would I have to give?
The initial training takes about 30 hours and normally includes some day times, some evenings and one or two Saturdays. Our training is an NOCN accredited course. After that we are very flexible and work around your other commitments, as cases are referred to us. We recognise that some people can give more of their time than others. In return we give ongoing training, supervision and support. We also pay travel expenses and assistance with child/carer costs. Please see Latest News for details of any training coming up.

Who do we help?
We help neighbours who are experiencing disputes with one another over problems such as noise, children, parties, verbal abuse, boundaries, parking etc. Such conflict can lead to stress and can affect the quality of people’s lives. They sometimes lead to slow and costly court proceedings with no guarantee of a successful outcome.

How do we help?
We help by listening to neighbours, rebuilding communication between them, either directly or through us, and by encouraging them to look to the future and reach agreement on a way forward from which everyone can benefit.

Mediators:

• Work in pairs
• Maintain strict rules of confidentiality
• Do not take sides or judge people
• Assist both parties to find their own solutions and move forward
• Support the rebuilding of links and social networks

We can also offer other volunteering opportunities, depending on your skills and experience. We offer travel expenses, assistance with child/carer expenses and ongoing training, support and supervision.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please complete the forms below and return them to us. For further information please contact volunteers@bhims.org.uk

Making a referral
We receive referrals from people experiencing problems with others in their communities and from various other sources including:

• Social Housing Landlords/ Housing Associations
• Environmental Health
• Police
• Voluntary & Community organisations and groups

If you represent an agency that has a service level agreement (SLA) with BHIMS you can download our referral form, fill in the details and send it to us via email or post. You can alternatively give us a call if you would like to talk about a possible referral.

If your agency does not currently have a service level agreement with BHIMS and you are interested in arranging one, please contact us to discuss prices, terms and conditions.

Some feedback from referral agencies:
"I am amazed that your team managed to get such a positive result after months of dispute, well done!"
"I found the staff very committed to opening up dialogue between the parties involved"
"A very helpful service which seems to have fully resolved the tenants’ problems, Thank you very much"

Mediation awareness training
As part of our SLA we offer mediation awareness training to referral agencies, which covers topics such as: what is mediation, what happens in a conflict, the mediation process, circumstances most favourable to mediation, how to promote mediation to potential service users and how to refer to mediation.