Our Helping Hand scheme provides an opportunity for people working in key healthcare roles to support peers in making successful RCN Foundation grant applications.
You can become a Helping Hand at any stage in your career as a registered practitioner in your field. We seek volunteers who are health care support workers, midwives, or nurses.
As a Helping Hand, you support individuals through the grant application process. If their application is successful, you help them put together their final grant report at the end of their studies.
The time commitment involved is flexible and dependent on your needs and those of each individual you support.
The scheme exists to ensure that potentially successful applicants do not miss out on RCN Foundation grants for lack of confidence or peer support.
What would you need to do?
You would need to commit to supporting an individual at the point of applying for an RCN Foundation grant, providing a helping hand to complete a comprehensive education grant application.
If the person you support is successful in being awarded a grant, you would also provide a helping hand for the duration of the grant period and support them in completing their final report to the Foundation.
It is important to emphasise that this is not a regulatory role and would not replace their need for a practice supervisor and practice assessor.
This role exists to support applicants with the RCN Foundation’s grant processes rather than acting as a mentor during their studies.
How to apply
To apply, all you need to do is send a cover email and your CV to grants@rcnfoundation.org.uk.
In your cover email please include:
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Why you would like to participate in the Helping Hand scheme
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The number of years you have worked as a nurse/midwife
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A brief description of your current role.
Why become a Helping Hand?
Involvement in the scheme will offer you the chance to network and build a community. It will also give you the opportunity to share your skills and experience with nurses, midwives, nursing associates and health care support workers and support them to progress in their careers.
Participation in the scheme could also contribute towards your NMC revalidation activity. Your role could also be added to your CV and applied to your email signature.
One previous Helping Hand volunteer says 'I took part to support another nurse on their Masters journey, and to give back something to RCN for funding my MA a few years ago.' Another says that participating in the scheme helped them to 'consolidate my mentoring and coaching skills.'
If you have a question about the scheme, please contact grants@rcnfoundation.org.uk.