In this blog post, ADUK’s Ambassador Co-ordinator, Emily, shares an update on our exciting new Ambassador Programme.

It has been a busy few weeks since we saw the launch of our new ambassador programme here at ADUK and it has been all go since it officially launched on 19^th February. We have been so excited to share this new volunteer programme with all our members and we were pleased to celebrate as our applications have gone ‘live’ as we begin to look for partnerships to join our team.

The Ambassador programme has been created as a volunteering recruitment pathway for accredited assistance dog partnerships from across our member organisations. It is designed for assistance dog handlers to bring their own lived experiences, knowledge, insight, and skills on board the team at ADUK. We want our ambassadors to know, particularly as ADUK’s first ever volunteers, the vital and valuable role they will play in bringing their own stories and experiences, which will work as the golden thread throughout our work and all we do at Assistance Dogs UK.

We want our ambassadors to help us celebrate the amazing job highly trained assistance dogs do for their handlers and the life changing impact they have on the lives of those we represent. Furthermore, our ambassadors will help us pave the way for improved access rights and help us campaign for change with policy makers, strengthen relationships with service providers and stake holders and be a visible presence at events allowing us to showcase the work of our members and spread vital awareness and education around assistance dogs in the UK.

We really want to make sure our ambassador programme is a worthwhile and rewarding experience for all our volunteers, whilst also meeting the needs of our members and ADUK. I was incredibly pleased to be able to present, as part of the launch, the numerous opportunities, and events available that our volunteers may be attending, as well as talk about our complementary training and education platform. Our ambassadors will have access to ongoing support and mentoring from myself throughout their role, but we are also able to offer further opportunities through our access to external and internal learning and training.

Our launch event with our members had an incredible turn out and I am so grateful for everyone’s time, support, and positive feedback regarding the Ambassador Programme. I am delighted that our ambassador pathway has been so warmly received by our member organisations and there is a real buzz around this new opportunity for partnerships to get actively involved. It is important for us, that as a new programme it meets the needs of our members and can add complementary value to their ongoing work as well as help us achieve our shared goals and values.

We have hosted information sessions for interested applicants who may have been considering applying for the programme and we have also been impressed by the amount of interest and lovely comments from those who attended. These information sessions have been so popular and great opportunities for us to meet some of the partnerships, allowing us to share the details of the ambassador programme and the volunteering roles on offer. Again, it has been warmly received and there is certainly an excitement in the air. We are so pleased to see applications coming in and were excited to recruit our first lot of ambassadors and get to know them over the coming months.

Our applications close on Friday 28^th March and I cannot wait to see where the Ambassador programme takes us in the next few months as we begin placing our new volunteers through their induction and training. We already have a couple of exciting opportunities and events lined up for them and it really will be great to finally have our ambassadors on the team. For any further information on the Ambassadors Programme or if you have an event or opportunity at your organisation that you may want an ambassador to attend please feel free to drop me an email Emily.marston@assistancedogs.org.uk