Become a volunteer

Volunteer Information & Application Form

Thank you for your interest in Emmett’s Genies CIO (‘EG’).

How to apply

You can apply online using the form below, or alternatively download a printable copy of the form here and return it to info@emmettsgenies.co.uk.

Please kindly read the information below before completing and signing this form.

About Emmett’s Genies CIO

Emmett’s Genies CIO received registered status as a charity No. 1192340 on 16 November 2020.  Our registered address is 56, Isis Close, Aylesbury, HP21 9LY. Our contact landline is 01279 501271 which has an answerphone for messages. Our website is www.emmettsgenies.co.uk. At the moment our charity is run entirely by volunteers with no paid staff and acting either as Trustees, Ambassadors or Volunteers for our various events, activities and services.  

The ultimate aim of EG is to build or operate a physical Wish Village in England that will offer unique stays for respite, fun and creation of lasting memories for our beneficiary children, being those with serious or life-limiting conditions. The only ‘Wish Village’ facility exclusively focussed on these children that we are aware exists presently, is a non-profit resort entitled ‘Give Kids the World’, based in Florida. 

The difference with EG is that from the outset our charity plans to evolve through bringing aspects and experiences of the ‘Wish Village’ to the beneficiaries and to involve them alongside all our stakeholders in envisioning and contributing to its eventual design and content. 

At the outset of our charity, we have put together and delivered ‘boredom busting’ packs, which also contain opportunities for the beneficiary children to draw or describe the types of accommodation, activities, characters etc. that they might imagine experiencing or meeting in the eventual physical wish village. 

Our next step is to design and hold events, involving overnight accommodation and leisure facilities, where we try to give beneficiary children a unique ‘Year in 24 hours’ experience (such as celebrating Easter; Summer Holiday (pool) party; Halloween & Christmas Day), which they might otherwise have not been able to enjoy. 

In parallel, we plan to gradually create a Virtual (‘on-line’) Wish Village, built and changed over time from the varied imagination, skills and input of these Wish Children, their families and friends aligned with that of our volunteers, empathetic organisations and other contributors of all types. 

By offering both these participation and technology-driven imagination  based opportunities to our beneficiary Wish Children, many of whom spend much time undergoing medical treatment and staying in medical facilities, EG hopes to: 

• create pleasure, confidence and hope 
• relieve boredom, reduce anxiety and boost mood 
• unearth the power of positive thinking, having a sense of purpose and making a valued contribution  

We envisage that the EG cloud-based Virtual Wish Village might eventually offer various secure ‘zones’ where we bring to these Wish Children and their families access to selected and bespoke content that helps them to : 

• create and store their happy memories 
• express the different elements of their imagination and see these “come to life” 
• relax and enjoy playing suitable games via carefully selected apps or undergo fun experiences (potentially including using virtual and augmented reality) as well as participate in other relaxation and sensory activities such as music, drawing, visualisation and reading 

To make this all happen, EG requires volunteers who can contribution their time, knowledge, skills and other resources. Volunteers may include talented teenagers and undergraduates, either as volunteer programmers or as learners, to help EG convert expertise and imagination into virtual and ultimately physical facilities.  As part of EG’s sustainability through the 21^st century, we see co-design as a vital element in keeping up to date with fast changing technology and trends whilst remaining relevant to the mind-set of the children we hope to continually support, and the appropriateness of the eventual physical Wish Village. 

In the words of Einstein, EG believes that “imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution” and our charity looks forward with excitement to harnessing this imagination towards the creation of its wish village.

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Membership of Emmett’s Genies Volunteer group is voluntary but requires members to understand the commitment they agreeing to by taking on this role, acting at all times as “the face of Emmett’s Genies”, promoting the charity and acting in a respectful and competent manner.  Members may act as an active link between the Trustees and represent the respective area to their volunteering role. 

Volunteers can help with planning and manning fundraising events, charity publicity and awareness raising and much more.

Volunteers will be kept informed of volunteering opportunities via a dedicated WhatsApp group and can offer to assist with as many events, activities and services as they feel able.

If you would like to become more involved in the work of the charity you could also consider joining one of the sub-groups. If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact one of the sub-group Trustee Co-ordinators who can provide you with more details.  Most meetings can be attended virtually if preferred.

Emmett’s Genies presently has 5 sub-groups:

Sub-groups

This is a brief overview of what each sub-group does:

Finance & Fundraising

The purpose of the Finance & Fundraising sub-group is to ensure that the financial situation, projections and accounts of the charity are regularly reviewed, reconciled and analysed with updates reported to Trustees at every Trustee Board meeting. Sub-group members also need to ensure that an accurate set of year end accounts are prepared and presented to the Board in advance of their submission to the Charity Commission annually. Likewise, this sub-group needs to consider the fundraising needs and methods of the charity to ensure regular and sufficient income to allow EG to perform and fulfil its purpose as set out in the Emmett’s Genies CIO Governing Document. It will provide a collaborative forum to engage members in discussions and planning of proposed fundraising initiatives, campaigns and events. All fundraising must follow the guidelines within the Emmett’s Genies Fundraising Strategy and have been proposed by  the sub-group and agreed with the Trustees through their formal meetings

Engagement and Networking

 The purpose of the Engagement and Networking sub-group is to facilitate the optimal communication, involvement and networking with all stakeholders of EG, including but not limited to its current and future volunteers, ambassadors, patrons, collaboration partners, major donors and the media. The aim is to enhance satisfaction, effectiveness and charity promotion by developing and managing ways of engaging with members of the public to increase support for Emmett’s Genies. The Engagement and Networking sub-group will exchange ideas and suggest ways to enhance interaction by the public with the charity as supporters, donors and/or volunteers. 

Technology 

The purpose of the Technology sub-group is to:

• Oversee the Information Technology infrastructure of Emmett’s Genies CIO by  
• Establishing processes and procedures for continual correct operation of the IT tools used by Emmett’s Genies CIO
• Providing oversight and guidance for compliance with regulatory changes to the use of IT tools and methods as, and when, changes emerge
• Explore, evaluate and develop new and emerging ways that technology can be used to further the reach and goals of Emmett’s Genies CIO by 
• Ensuring that the portfolio and pipeline of new technology project initiatives are robustly challenged via a Stage-Gate or similar process.

Assurance 

The purpose of the Assurance sub-group is to ensure and report on the governance  of Emmett’s Genies CIO’s activities in line with its role as a UK registered charity. As EG grows and develops, its governance structure will evolve to ensure that we act in accordance with the 2019 Charity Governance Code for Smaller Charities. 

People and volunteering

The purpose of the People and Volunteers sub-group is to plan, develop and facilitate the people and volunteering resources required by EG in delivering its activities and goals including where necessary assisting with recruitment, induction, supporting and recognition of people and volunteers who comprise the significant non-monetary assets of Emmett’s Genies CIO.

As our sub-groups grow and develop, their own governance structure will evolve. There will be an annual review of the terms of reference and membership of sub-groups. Membership of sub-groups is voluntary but requires members to understand their commitment by agreeing to take on roles, acting at all times as “the face of Emmett’s Genies”, promoting the charity and behaving in a respectful and competent manner.  Members will act as a direct and active link between the Trustees and represent their respective area to the other sub-groups. It will be agreed at the first and subsequent meetings who will act as chair and note-taker; and the minimum number of members of the sub-group to be quorate. This will be reviewed annually.