Can you join the new Emergency Circle team?
In late April this year Circle 110’s name was changed from “Rapid Response” to “COFA Emergency Circle” to reflect a change in operational structure. The Circle can be contacted by the new email.
At a practical level, the Emergency Circle is now managed by teams of 2 experienced members from established Circles, working across a 2-week roster. For continuity and ease of contact they follow any unfinished referrals through to completion after their rostered time ends. In practice, this roster has had to be flexible, to take into account periods when members go on holiday.
The Emergency Circle retains its own separate budget so that it can continue to respond within 48 hours or less where necessary. In an extreme situation where case managers need to secure money for their client, response times need to be within a few hours and so Henrietta Wighton or Monica O’Wheel remain on call.
As well as ensuring the viability of the Circle and continuation of the service, it is hoped the new name will reinforce the fact that the Circle is an option of last resort. Its role has always been, and remains, to fill gaps in services or provide financial assistance where no government, non-government, voluntary or other organisation or individual can do so. In these times of decreasing donations and increased difficulty recruiting direct assistance volunteers, it is crucial that the Emergency Circle maintains this focus. All agencies requesting assistance are required to complete a written COFA referral form.
At the end of the first 4 months the new structure is working well, but the circle needs more volunteers:
- 4-5 additional volunteers for the email roster
- 1 volunteer to prepare and manage email roster
- 1 volunteer to oversee activity and prepare monthly reports for the COFA Committee and an Annual Report for all COFA members.
Support to Emergency Circle volunteers will always be available from Henrietta and other team members.
If you are interested in being actively involved in the Emergency Circle’s work, please email Henrietta Wighton or myself (Trish Dundon)