Community volunteer roles in blandford forum, dorset

Are you interested in facilitating a peer support group for people who are struggling with their mental health? We are looking for passionate volunteers to facilitate a weekly online or face-to-face group, to discuss topics relating to mental health. We are hoping to find someone who has either ‘lived experience’ of mental health issues and is now at a positive place with their own recovery or someone who has good knowledge of mental health and looking to support others.

We work with people who need support with their mental health across London and the South East. Our support ranges from registered accommodation services for people with severe mental health conditions to drop-in community and crisis services.

In the last year, 9,499 adults accessed Hestia’s mental health support.

We help people to feel safe, develop hope for a better future, and achieve their personal goals. These goals may include rebuilding relationships with family members and friends or connecting more with their local community.

What you will be doing

• Facilitating weekly peer support groups, covering topics related to mental health.
• To encourage participation and to provide focus and guidance for discussions within the group
• To negotiate/facilitate conflicts or disagreements that may arise during group meetings

The skills you need

• Strong listening and communication skills
• Ability to create and maintain a safe environment where the participants' thoughts and feelings are valued, and group members are treated with fairness, equity and respect
• Lived experience of mental health or desire to learn

What's in it for you

• Supporting You - You will have a dedicated volunteer supervisor to support you in your role; Quarterly volunteer forums with the central Volunteering team and volunteers across Hestia; References for job applications
• Developing You - You will gain knowledge and insight into issues that impact Domestic Abuse, Modern Slavery and Mental Health; You will have access to our extensive Learning and Development Programme; 40% of our departed volunteers secured a paid role at Hestia last year!
• Valuing You - Valuing You - We hold annual Volunteer Awards, outings, celebration, and social events for our volunteers to get together and have some fun; We reimburse travel expenses and up to £5 for lunch for your volunteering.

Join REMIX as a Volunteer Trustee and Transform the Future of London's Youth!

Do you envision a London where every young person can unlock their full potential?

REMIX is a dynamic, brand new youth charity dedicated to creating opportunities for individuals aged 16 to 26 years old. Our core mission is rooted in four pillars—employability, healthy living, personal development, and essential life skills. We're building something truly transformational, and we need a passionate, innovative Volunteer Trustee to help lay our foundations, navigate charity registration, and launch our vision to empower young lives across London and beyond.

As a Trustee with REMIX, you will be a cornerstone of our start-up. Your strategic leadership and guidance will:

• Shape Our Foundations: Be at the helm in crafting the governance and legal framework that will support REMIX’s ambitious goals.

• Drive Change: Help us register as an official charity and develop robust systems that ensure we can deliver impactful programmes to every young person in our community.

• Inspire Growth: Use your experience and insight to cultivate a culture of positivity, resilience, and creativity that motivates young people to dream and achieve.

• Lead by Example: Offer mentorship and share your expertise in employability, healthy living, and personal development, inspiring our team and the young people we serve.

If you are a visionary leader with a passion for making a tangible difference, REMIX offers you a unique and transformative opportunity to drive social impact from the ground up. Your commitment and innovative ideas will help us empower young Londoners to build brighter futures, turning aspirations into reality.

Join us and be the change that sparks new beginnings! Explore the opportunity to leave a legacy of empowerment and transformation within our vibrant community. We can’t wait to see the extraordinary impact you’ll make.

Step forward. Lead the change. Transform lives at REMIX.

REMIX

INSPIRE. EMPOWER. TRANSFORM.

We seek a Chairperson to head our Board at Evolve Counselling who will guide our strategic direction in the provision of lowest cost mental health counselling for individuals and businesses. 

Location: Cambridgeshire area of operations. Chair can be fully remote. 

Voluntary: Reasonable expenses paid 

Commitment: Initial term of 1 -3 years. Flexible hours per month 

Closing date: Tuesday 6 May at 9:00 

Overview 

For over 40 years Evolve Counselling has provided lowest-cost professional mental health counselling for adults in Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Northamptonshire and beyond, through the skill and dedication of our team of 60+ BACP-registered counsellors.

The role 

We are looking for a new Chair who understands the growing demand for our services and the challenges of competing as a medium sized charitable business at this time. We shall look to our new Chair to build trust and engagement with our CEO, the Trustee Board, our volunteers, and supporters, as we capitalise on great recent work to stabilise and find new opportunities for significant growth. 

The new chairperson will ideally bring health and wellbeing experience and commercial skills, as well as a demonstrable empathy for charitable working and commitment to the Nolan Principles of public life. 

The role of the Chair is hugely rewarding and the scope under the leadership of the current CEO for Evolve to grow and innovate is significant. You will have significant senior leadership experience to drawn upon as you take ultimate responsibility for directing and inspiring the Trustees, making sure we are financially sustainable, and well run for our clients. Our ethos is to look upwards and outwards as we strive for a leading position in mental health services for all, and your commercial acumen, professional contacts, and powers of persuasion in business will be a huge support for our ambitions. 

Including quarterly board meetings, committee sessions (at present virtual), a face-to-face AGM event, plus away days, and regular meetings with our CEO and the trustees, we anticipate a flexible time commitment of around 2 - 5 days per month. 

For further information or an informal discussion on the role, please contact Kevin Bottrell.

Application process: Expressions of interest in the first instance by email to our CEO Gordon Ackroyd.

About us

Age UK is the country's leading charity dedicated to helping everyone make the most of later life. The over-60s is the fastest-growing group in society and there are more of us than ever before. Ageing is not an illness, but it can be challenging. At Age UK we provide services and support at a national and local level to inspire, enable and support older people. We stand up and speak for all those who have reached later life, and also protect the long-term interests of future generations..

The role in a nutshell:

Volunteers help to keep our UK charity shops running like clockwork and are an essential part of everything that we do. Our charity shops raise vital funds that support the wide range of services Age UK delivers, so if you have some free time available and would like to help, we’d love to hear from you! Whether you are looking to gain new skills and experiences, use those you already have or are just looking for a way to get out and meet new people, then we have flexible options to suit you! What will you be doing?

Volunteer Shop Assistants carry out a wide range of tasks in their roles. You might be sorting and pricing stock, engaging with customers, ringing items through the till, keeping our shop floor full and organised or supporting with raffle ticket sales and promoting gift aid.

How would you be supported in this role?

When you begin your role, you will receive a mix of e-learning and in-person training to get you started. Throughout the role, you will receive refresher training as required as well as ongoing support, reimbursement for role-related expenses and the opportunity to further shape the volunteering you do.

Why do we need volunteers in this role?

Age UK operates charity shops to raise funds for the delivery of services for older people in need. Volunteers play a key role in the shop team, ensuring our shops are welcoming places in the community and selling the items that are generously donated to our organisation.

Additional information:

We offer a variety of flexible shifts for volunteers.

What skills, interests or experience might be helpful in this role?

We welcome applications from people with a wide range of skills and experiences. You don’t need any retail or shop experience as full training will be provided. What’s important to us is that you are a team player, open to learning, will follow Age UKs policies and be an excellent representative for the charity. We know that our shop teams are stronger when they are inclusive and representative of their communities, so we will do what we can to find a role which works for you.

Recruiting Multiple Volunteers

Are you passionate about community building, travel, nonprofit development, and positively impacting the world?

Bigger Than Us Residency is seeking dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to join our team in multiple roles!

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Social Media Management: Work alongside the founder to develop and implement a social media strategy to expand the reach of the charity. (Potential to transition into a paid role once funding is secured.)

• Website Development: Lead the development and enhancement of our website, making it a powerful tool for the residency.

• Partnerships Lead: Play a key role in building relationships with funders, corporate sponsors, and nonprofit mentors. This position is crucial in securing sponsorships, in-kind donations, and guest speakers to support the residency. (Potential to transition into a paid role once funding is secured.)

• Fundraising: Collaborate with the founder to secure grants and develop a fundraising strategy for Bigger Than Us. This role is ideal for entry-level candidates or those looking to gain experience in the fundraising sector. (Potential to transition into a contracted role once funding is secured.)

We are also open to volunteers from other backgrounds not explicitly listed above. Additionally, we welcome volunteers interested in attending and assisting with the residency’s launch in Winter 2025. This will be an international opportunity, and we may be able to provide partial or full funding for travel based on volunteer time and role.

To get a sense of who we are and what we do, please visit our website (still in development). We aim to make history as the first retreat-style non-profit residency dedicated to supporting leaders focused on helping BAME communities worldwide.

How to Apply:
Please submit a brief blurb explaining why you’d like to volunteer and which role you're applying for when completing the quick apply.

We look forward to hearing from you!

About us

Age UK is the country's leading charity dedicated to helping everyone make the most of later life. The over-60s is the fastest-growing group in society and there are more of us than ever before. Ageing is not an illness, but it can be challenging. At Age UK we provide services and support at a national and local level to inspire, enable and support older people. We stand up and speak for all those who have reached later life, and also protect the long-term interests of future generations..

The role in a nutshell:

Volunteers help to keep our UK charity shops running like clockwork and are an essential part of everything that we do. Our charity shops raise vital funds that support the wide range of services Age UK delivers, so if you have some free time available and would like to help, we’d love to hear from you! Whether you are looking to gain new skills and experiences, use those you already have or are just looking for a way to get out and meet new people, then we have flexible options to suit you! What will you be doing?

Volunteer Shop Assistants carry out a wide range of tasks in their roles. You might be sorting and pricing stock, engaging with customers, ringing items through the till, keeping our shop floor full and organised or supporting with raffle ticket sales and promoting gift aid.

How would you be supported in this role?

When you begin your role, you will receive a mix of e-learning and in-person training to get you started. Throughout the role, you will receive refresher training as required as well as ongoing support, reimbursement for role-related expenses and the opportunity to further shape the volunteering you do.

Why do we need volunteers in this role?

Age UK operates charity shops to raise funds for the delivery of services for older people in need. Volunteers play a key role in the shop team, ensuring our shops are welcoming places in the community and selling the items that are generously donated to our organisation.

Additional information:

We offer a variety of flexible shifts for volunteers.

What skills, interests or experience might be helpful in this role?

We welcome applications from people with a wide range of skills and experiences. You don’t need any retail or shop experience as full training will be provided. What’s important to us is that you are a team player, open to learning, will follow Age UKs policies and be an excellent representative for the charity. We know that our shop teams are stronger when they are inclusive and representative of their communities, so we will do what we can to find a role which works for you.

About Access Academia

Access Academia is the charitable umbrella which was created out of the creation of the student-led publication, the Journal of Intersectional Social Justice. When Journal of Intersectional Social Justice (JISJ) was created, there were not any expectations for the project to be any more than that: a student-led academic publication. However, as it rolled on, attention for the project widened and it began to cover other topics and get involved in other realms of knowledge sharing, activism, and content creation. The creation of the seminal Access Series on the Intersections blog springboarded the idea for the JISJ to turn into something much more than a simple academic publication. Now as we have restructured the JISJ into Access Academia, we are finalising our official registration as a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) in the UK. 

Our core purpose is to Make Academia More Accessible. We plan to accomplish this by many different avenues, as obviously it is a very wide-ranging goal! The main ways we plan to do this are through encouraging Open Access academia and knowledge sharing through the Access Series, expanding the themes covered on Intersections with additions such as Mental Health Mondays and Colonialism in Subject, creating accessible content across our social media platforms which encourages truthful and accurate knowledge sharing and activism, running research events to encourage students to publish and interact with academia, covering inside stories of academia, running student engagement programmes to try and make academia less of an Ivory Tower, and much more!

What is a Volunteership?

A volunteership is a unique hybrid opportunity that combines elements of volunteering and interning. Participants commit to working with a charity or nonprofit organization for a specified period of time, fulfilling a set of responsibilities and expectations. In return, they gain valuable experience, receive a letter of recommendation, and are offered LinkedIn endorsements. Additionally, they may have the chance to continue working with the charity through future hiring cycles as long as they remain a student. This experience provides both personal fulfillment through giving back to the community and professional development for future career opportunities.

Volunteership: Outreach Coordinator
Duration: May to August 2025
Eligibility: Must be currently enrolled as a student

Requirements:

• Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate program.

• Strong interest in community engagement and networking.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to craft compelling emails and messages tailored to different audiences.

• Organizational skills to track outreach efforts and meet targets.

• Comfortable using email outreach tools (e.g., Mailchimp, Google Sheets, etc.) or willingness to learn.

• Experience with or interest in nonprofit work is a plus.

• Ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple outreach tasks.

• Passion for contributing to social impact and building connections that support charitable initiatives.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Email Outreach:

  • Meet a monthly email outreach quota, targeting potential partners and other key stakeholders.

  • Craft personalized and engaging outreach emails to build and maintain relationships with various groups.

  • Follow up with contacts to nurture relationships and drive engagement with the charity's initiatives.

• Community Engagement:

  • Assist in developing and implementing outreach strategies to expand the charity’s network and reach.

  • Help coordinate outreach efforts for specific campaigns, events, or initiatives.

  • Track responses and report on outreach success rates, identifying areas for improvement.

• Research & Networking:

  • Conduct research to identify new potential partners, supporters, or collaborators for the charity.

  • Assist with compiling contact lists and gathering relevant information for outreach purposes.

• Campaign Support:

  • Support the development of email campaigns, including drafting email copy and ensuring timely distribution.

  • Help maintain and update the charity's contact database, ensuring accuracy and compliance with privacy standards.

• Post-Event & Programme Reporting:

  • Help in post-event evaluations, collecting feedback from participants, and reporting on outcomes.

  • Assist in maintaining and updating event and programme documentation for future reference.

• Collaboration & Teamwork:

  • Collaborate with internal teams and volunteers to ensure Access Academia's message is shared correctly and consistently.

  • Contribute and attend all meetings for the Outreach & Marketing team and directions from the Director of Outreach & Marketing.

  • Meet all given deadlines on time and consistently.

What You’ll Gain:

• Hands-on experience in outreach, community engagement, and relationship management.

• Opportunities to develop communication skills, including email marketing and networking strategies.

• A letter of recommendation upon successful completion of the volunteership.

• Certification of participation at the end of the volunteership.

• LinkedIn endorsements and the chance to be considered for future hiring cycles with the charity.

Here at Youth4Youth, we have grown a strong, tight-knit community of individuals who are passionate about making a difference and improving the lives of young people across the UK. Our growing team of volunteers all contribute to the ongoing work with a level of time they can commit to across different departments. Our services primarily offer a peer-support network to young people allowing them to access a peer mentor of a similar age and somebody they feel comfortable speaking with. 

If successful, you will be joining a growing team of diverse, but likeminded individuals, collaborating to increase the reach of the Charity and improve support provisions available to young people. All of our volunteers and employees are remote workers, but that doesn't stop us keeping in touch and maintaining a strong positive culture amongst our whole team. 

About the role

As the Social Media Manager, you will be responsible for implementing Youth 4 Youth’s (Y4Y) social media strategy to enhance our online presence and engage our audience. This role involves creating compelling content, managing social media platforms, and analysing performance to support Y4Y’s mission and campaigns.

Responsibilities 

• Develop and execute a comprehensive social media strategy aligned with Y4Y’s objectives. 
• Manage Y4Y’s social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others. 
• Create and curate engaging content to increase brand awareness and community engagement. 
• Collaborate with the Content Creators, Graphic Designers, and Copywriters/Blogger teams to produce high-quality posts. 
• Utilise social media management tools to schedule and monitor posts. 
• Ensure content is consistent with Y4Y’s brand voice and values. 
• Monitor and respond to comments, messages, and mentions to foster a positive community. 
• Develop initiatives to grow followers and encourage active participation. 
• Stay updated on social media trends and incorporate them into Y4Y’s strategy. 
• Track and analyse social media performance using analytics tools. 
• Use data insights to optimise content and strategies. 

Skills 

• Proficiency in social media platforms - deep understanding of various social media channels and best practices. 
• Content creation - ability to develop engaging text, image, and video content. 
• Analytical skills - experience with social media analytics and performance tracking. 
• Communication skills - strong written and verbal abilities. 
• Creativity - innovative approach to engaging audiences. 

Our mission is to continue to grow towards becoming one of the best charities in the UK. Our aim is to do this by building a diverse team, rich with different backgrounds and perspectives. Therefore, even if you feel you only are a 75% match, we would still love to hear from you. Skills can be learned, but diversity cannot.

Benefits of volunteering with Youth4Youth

We recognise that you will be joining us and giving your time as an 'in-kind' donation, but there must be benefits for you too. When joining our team, you will be open to the following benefits:

• Professional and personal development opportunities in a variety of skill areas through volunteering in real roles. This may be general development or tailored to your specific needs or ambitions
• Becoming a member of a strong network of likeminded individuals, spread across the UK, who you can connect with and collaborate with both within and outside of the Charity
• Access to bespoke discounts, specifically designed for non-profit workers and Youth4Youth volunteers
• Opportunities to truly shape the future of the Charity, having a direct influence over the impact that Youth4Youth has on its direct beneficiaries

The hiring process

You'll have a 30-minute conversation with the Marketing & Communications director. 

Some roles will have extra stages but we’ll let you know as early as possible if so.

Please let us know if you require any accommodations for the interview process, and we’ll do our best to assist.

Help children as Trustee of an innovative, enterprising Tees Valley Charity that is increasingly supporting children in care through fostering and a planned residential provision. Join an agency that transforms children's lives.

What will you be doing?

You will join us at an exciting time as we pursue growth of fostering and residential services, as well as growth of our early help offer. 

You will work across the Charity and the subsidiary fostering company (which we will amalgamate back into the parent Charity). 

You will have a particular focus on helping the fostering agency drive growth, ensure regulatory compliance, and deliver excellent care for children and support for foster parents. You will provide support and challenge to the management team.

You’ll contribute 2 to 6 hours a month. The Charity board meets every 8 weeks (shifting to quarterly after September) and the fostering board meets every 8 weeks. 

You’ll join a Charity that’s brought £millions of investment into Tees Valley and that helps over 1000 local people a year. We’ve been runners up at the national Charity Governance Awards and ‘community’ winners at the Hartlepool Business Awards. 

We are looking for experienced professionals who share our values and want to help. 

What are we looking for?

At this time we are specifically looking for Trustees with some of these areas of skills or experience:

Business development 

Safeguarding management

Fostering or children's residential care or childrens social work management 

Financial management 

What difference will you make?

We want to help children and family members heal from trauma, primarily through helping them develop a network of nurturing, loving and appropriately challenging relationships with people in their close and wider communities. Any small surplus we make from helping children in care will be diverted into work to help families stay together and thrive. You will join a team that strives to make this difference. You will help ensure the Charity keeps a strong focus on children and young peoples needs whilst being sustainability and ensuring the agency manages the risks associated with growth and investment in new services. 

Before you apply

After expressing an interest through the site, we'd welcome an initial conversation with our CEO and/or Chair. After that, we usually  take applications to the Board for consideration. This is usually quite a quick process. 

You don’t need to be a healthcare expert or have all the answers.

You just need to be a good listener, show up with kindness, and be willing to offer your time.

Marie Curie is looking for caring, everyday people to join our Community Companion team. You’ll be part of something truly meaningful - offering support to people in their final stages of life, and to the loved ones around them.

What’s a Community Companion?

Being there for someone when it matters most. This might be visiting someone in their home, offering a chat and a cup of tea, swapping stories and talking about what's happening locally, or just being a calm presence.

You will never be asked to do anything you’re uncomfortable with and you will receive training and support from the Marie Curie team to support you in your Companion role. You’ll also meet a team of like-minded volunteers who are all in it for the same reason: to help others and feel connected to something bigger.

What Will You Actually Do?

• Provide emotional comfort and conversation - just being present matters.
• Share helpful information or point people to local services or resources available.
• Support family members or carers, before and after bereavement.
• Help people express their wishes for care, in their own words.
• Be a calm, steady presence in what can feel like a chaotic time.

No Medical Background Needed - Just These Qualities:

• You’re friendly, patient, and a good listener
• You’re open-minded and non-judgmental
• You’re emotionally mature and can handle sensitive topics
• You’re reliable and can commit 3 hours each week
• You’re comfortable using email and completing a short report each visit

What You’ll Get in Return:

• A sense of real purpose and the chance to make a lasting difference
• A welcoming volunteer team and a strong support network
• Ongoing training, development, and guidance
• Recognition and appreciation for the time you give
• Out-of-pocket expenses covered

Whether you’re looking to give back, build experience, or just connect with others in a more meaningful way - this is an opportunity to do something truly rewarding.

Ready to Find Out More?

Fill out our application form and we will invite you for an informal chat (online, over the phone or in-person), and walk you through the next 

URBAN YOUTH - VOLUNTEER WITH US!

New Start-Up - New Beginning - Endless Opportunities

Are you a creative visionary with a flair for design? Urban Youth is looking for a talented and enthusiastic Graphic Designer to join our team as a volunteer. In this role, you’ll help shape our brand identity and create a logo that embodies the spirit of Urban Youth, making a lasting impact on the young people we serve across London.

In this role, you will:

• Create Our Logo, by designing a modern, vibrant, and unique logo that captures the essence of Urban Youth, inspiring young people and creating a strong visual identity for our organisation.

• Develop Our Brand Identity, by establishing a cohesive and engaging brand style, including colour palettes, typography, and graphic elements, that reflects our mission and resonates with our audience.

• Collaborate with Our Team, by working closely with our leadership team to understand Urban Youth’s vision and values, translating them into compelling designs.

• Ensure Consistency, by providing design guidelines to ensure consistency across all Urban Youth materials, from social media to print collateral.

• Inspire Through Design, by using your creativity to communicate our mission visually, enhancing our presence in the community and attracting support for our work.

We're Urban Youth

Urban Youth is an exciting and vibrant new start-up youth work organisation based in London, passionate about empowering London's youth to get involved, discover their path, and shape their destiny. Our vibrant community organisation is dedicated to uplifting young people through engaging, impactful youth work activities that inspire growth, connection, and self-discovery.

JOIN US AT URBAN YOUTH

Get Involved | Discover YOUR Path | Shape YOUR Destiny

Do you have a great idea to benefit people living with MS? At the MS Society, we campaign on a range of issues like welfare, treatments, care and support that people with MS need. We want to do more locally and want to support your ideas on making change happen. Together we can do more.

Perhaps you’ve spotted there are no blue badge spaces at your local supermarket? Or maybe your neighbourhood has no kerbs easy for wheelchairs to use? In this volunteer role, you’ll help drive change for people with MS in your community and develop your networking and influencing skills along the way.

As a campaigner you’ll bring your own ideas, local knowledge and personal experience to your campaigns. You’ll make decisions about your own campaign activities and collaborate with other campaigners in your area.

This role is flexible and aims to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities and the campaigning you’d like to do. This is an ongoing role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully (available via file attached on the right hand side)

2. Apply online, and have a welcome chat with your support staff member

Do you have a great idea to benefit people living with MS? At the MS Society, we campaign on a range of issues like welfare, treatments, care and support that people with MS need. We want to do more locally and want to support your ideas on making change happen. Together we can do more.

Perhaps you’ve spotted there are no blue badge spaces at your local supermarket? Or maybe your neighbourhood has no kerbs easy for wheelchairs to use? In this volunteer role, you’ll help drive change for people with MS in your community and develop your networking and influencing skills along the way.

As a campaigner you’ll bring your own ideas, local knowledge and personal experience to your campaigns. You’ll make decisions about your own campaign activities and collaborate with other campaigners in your area.

This role is flexible and aims to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities and the campaigning you’d like to do. This is an ongoing role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully (available via file attached on the right hand side)

2. Apply online, and have a welcome chat with your support staff member

Our partner is a legal charity committed to alleviating poverty and helping citizens create a fairer and more just society, by providing free, community based legal advice on issues affecting the day-to-day lives of people living in North Wales.

They are seeking a new Treasurer, with suitable accounting and finance experience as well as energy and enthusiasm, to provide board level insight and scrutiny of financial plans, processes and decision making.

The post holder will inspect and authorise fortnightly payments, review and approve the organisations financial statements, and oversee financial plans and budgets and monitor and evaluate progress. Previous governance experience is not required, and a full induction and training will be provided.

The board meets 4-6 times a year, usually remotely in the evening, with one annual in-person away day in North Wales. The total estimated time commitment required for the role is approximately 5 hours per month.

_________________________________

For more Trustee and Treasurer roles please visit the AfID website.