Volunteer Roles in West Midlands

Lower Broadhealth Trail Run, Worcestershire 

on Sunday 8th Septmber -  8am -2pm 

Are you looking for a Event volunteer role that makes a real difference to a local charity? 

We are looking for course marsahlls to support Acorns Children's Hospice runners at the Lower Broadhealth Trail Run, Worcestershire 

At Acorns we provide care and support for life limited or life threatened children and their families. We are a charity, and our fundraising is vital to enable us to continue providing care and support to the children: it costs around £10 million a year to run our care services.

Being a Fundraising Volunteer is an exciting and varied role that helps us to raise money for the children and family we care for.  There are opportunities to help at events - from marathons to our Fire and Ice walk, to Christmas markets. You could help with a tombola or raffle, set up and pack away, or simply cheer on participants.  You could also stand in a location with a charity collection bucket, collecting change as people pass by or approach businesses to place a charity tin. Whether you choose to volunteer as an individual or bring your friends, family, or colleagues, all are welcome to #TeamAcorns!

How much time will it take? 

8am -2pm 

Am I right for the role?

We’re looking for volunteers who are

• Approachable and happy to raise awareness about Acorns
• Versatile and willing to adapt and help out
• Support and cheer runners along

Why volunteer at Acorns?

• To help a local charity and make a different in your community
• Connect with likeminded people and make new friends
• Learn new skills to boost your CV
• Opportunities to progress to other roles

Worcester City Runs, Worcester Racecourse

Are you looking for a Fundraising/Event volunteer role that makes a real difference to a local charity? 

We are looking for event village and cheer volunteers to support at Worcester City Runs at Worcester Racecourse on Saturday 15th Spetember 9am - 1pm 

At Acorns we provide care and support for life limited or life threatened children and their families. We are a charity, and our fundraising is vital to enable us to continue providing care and support to the children: it costs around £10 million a year to run our care services.

Being a Fundraising Volunteer is an exciting and varied role that helps us to raise money for the children and family we care for.  There are opportunities to help at events - from marathons to our Fire and Ice walk, to Christmas markets. You could help with a tombola or raffle, set up and pack away, or simply cheer on participants.  You could also stand in a location with a charity collection bucket, collecting change as people pass by or approach businesses to place a charity tin. Whether you choose to volunteer as an individual or bring your friends, family, or colleagues, all are welcome to #TeamAcorns!

How much time will it take? 

Can you spare a 2/3hours?

Am I right for the role?

We’re looking for volunteers who are

• Approachable and happy to raise awareness about Acorns
• Versatile and willing to adapt and help out
• Support and cheer runners along

Why volunteer at Acorns?

• To help a local charity and make a different in your community
• Connect with likeminded people and make new friends
• Learn new skills to boost your CV
• Opportunities to progress to other roles

WE'RE LOOKING FOR A NEW CHAIR OF OUR BOARD!

We’re looking for someone with a passion for making a difference to the lives of young people.

Power2 is a fast growing and energetic children and young people’s charity that has supported 27,000 young people since 2001.We’re based in the North West of England and London and deliver early-intervention asset-based programmes to children and young people who have mental wellbeing challenges and are disengaged from school and more widely. We’re well-known for our award-winning Teens and Toddlers programme. 

In 2023, we launched our new five-year strategy, which entails growing our work so we can meet the needs of more children and young people. Now is an important time for our charity, and we hope that you will want to help us achieve our vision. 

As the Chair of our Board, you’ll be an ambassador for the organisation and its work. You’ll share our vision of a world where all children and young people – no matter their background or challenges – can thrive and reach their full potential. 

We also believe that diverse voices and perspectives are crucial to our decision-making being effective and equitable, and that our Board needs to represent the breadth of our work and the people and communities we work with.

We particularly encourage applications from:

• People from racialised communities 

• People who are based in the North West of England 

• Disabled people 

Term 

This is a three-year term, with the possibility of re-election for a further three-year term. Internal applicants must be eligible to complete the initial three-year term. 

Time commitment 

Trustees are asked to commit to four Board meetings a year (3 hours), and an away day. The Chair would be expected to commit more time (estimated at around 1-2 days a month) to cover extra duties such as meetings with the CEO and trustees and planning and preparing for the Board meetings.

The role 

As Chair of Power2, you’ll have a passion for making a difference to the lives of children and young people.

Building relationships with the rest of our Board and our CEO will be vital to be successful in this role. Once appointed, you’ll be invited to attend a visit to one of our programmes to gain further insight into how we run our programmes and get to speak to our programme team. 

WE'RE LOOKING FOR NEW TRUSTEES!

We have several trustee vacancies and are looking for passionate and enthusiastic people who want to be part of conversations about developing and leading our future.

Power2 is a fast growing and energetic children and young people’s charity that has supported 27,000 young people since 2001.We’re based in the North West of England and London and deliver early-intervention asset-based programmes to children and young people who have mental wellbeing challenges and are disengaged from school and more widely. We’re well-known for our award-winning Teens and Toddlers programme. 

In 2023, we launched our new five-year strategy, which entails growing our work so we can meet the needs of more children and young people. Now is an important time for our charity, and we hope that you will want to help us achieve our vision. 

As a Power2 trustee you’ll be an ambassador for the organisation and its work. You’ll share our vision of a world where all children and young people – no matter their background or challenges – can thrive and reach their full potential. 

We’re particularly seeking to appoint trustees with the following skills or background: 

• Chair (please see separate recruitment pack) 

• Finance 

• Child Safeguarding 

• People aged under 25.

A skills audit of our current Board showed that we would benefit from adding to the Board trustees with experience of education leadership, fundraising/income generation, programme impact and evaluation, and HR. 

We’re recruiting for potential so learning in the role is expected, and we will support you in this by providing induction and training. We also believe that diverse voices and perspectives are crucial to our decision-making being effective and equitable, and that our Board needs to represent the breadth of our work and the people and communities we work with.

We particularly encourage applications from:

• People from racialised communities 

• People who are based in the North West of England 

• Disabled people 

We’re always looking to recruit people who have lived experiences of the issues we seek to address (as a child, low family income, disengagement with school and learning, poor wellbeing/mental health, care experienced). 

The Access Project supports pupils from under-resourced backgrounds to access top universities. We are looking for volunteers who would be able to tutor a young person aged 14-16, online, one hour a week in term-time Autumn 2024- Summer 2025 to support them with their academic studies.

•Support a young person in a subject of your choice to achieve the GCSE grades they deserve and to fulfil their potential.

•Build transferable skills, experience and knowledge through ongoing training and development as part of the role.

•Students supported by The Access Project typically achieve a grade higher at GCSE and are twice more likely than their peers to progress to a top-third ranked university.

No prior teaching or tutoring experience necessary, we provide a full comprehensive training and induction to help you build the confidence to be the best volunteer you can be.

Interested? You’ll need to:

· Either be currently studying for an undergraduate degree or have an undergraduate degree/equivalent professional qualification.

· Either have an A Level subject or an undergraduate degree in a subject you wish to tutor at GCSE level.

· Be able to spare one hour a week in school term time over the next academic year to tutor (starting Sept/Oct 2024), plus 30 mins a week preparation time.

· Be prepared to undertake an enhanced DBS check (criminal records check) and provide two references (personal or professional).

How does it work?

1. Sign up at on our website.

2. Sign up to any of our 2.5 hour training sessions over the summer, there are various dates so you can find one that suits you: During this session you’ll learn everything you need to know for your weekly one1 hour tutoring sessions.

3. You’ll complete a DBS check (criminal records check) and an online safeguarding course.

4. We’ll match you with a student who is looking for support in your subject. In particular, we are seeing high demand from our students for support with sciences and maths. Volunteers who are able to support in either of these subjects would be particularly welcome. There are also many opportunities for volunteer tutors in other subjects including humanities and languages.

About Sense Touchbase Pears 

Sense TouchBase Pears is a welcoming, accessible environment where everyone can feel connected, included and part of the community. We combine health and social care services with arts, sports and wellbeing activities. And support disabled people to access employment, education, volunteering, and training opportunities.

 As an activity volunteer, you will be helping to set up, supervise and interact in some fun activities at the centre from ‘Messy Play’ and ‘Stay and Play’ to craft sessions and supporting with events. This exciting and fast-paced role is a rewarding way to give back to your local community, by helping us to provide affordable and inclusive activities in the area. Please note that at this time we are looking for volunteers aged 18+ due to the busy nature of the role.

This role is based around providing services to members of the local community and you will not necessarily be working with people with additional needs/disabilities.

Key Duties

As an activity volunteer, you will be an ambassador for TouchBase Pears, and for Sense, as well as being a vital part of the Facilities Team. You will help provide a warm welcome to everyone who comes into the building and help us with our fun and engaging activities.  

• Supporting the TouchBase Pears team, working work together to deliver an outstanding experience for every person’s visit. 
• Setting up and clearing away activities, including ‘messy play’ and ‘stay and play’
• Supporting with the supervision of activities 
• Encouraging participation by interacting with the public
• Helping keep our visitors safe when taking part in the activities 
• Adhering to our Health & Safety procedures
• You will be always supported on site during volunteering and a facilities coordinator will be available if you need any support or have any questions. For the weekly role which will be for our Stay and Play, you will eventually be leading the activity without supervision within the room, but a facilities coordinator will always be on site if you need them.

A standard / enhanced Disclosure & Barring check will be required for this volunteer role, which we will support you with.

Skills & Qualities

Will the role suit me? Yes, if you are:

• Enthusiastic about Sense and passionate about the work we do
• A cheerful and  positive attitude
• Flexible and willing to get involved with a wide variety of tasks 
• Reliable & trustworthy
• Able to work well as part of a team. 
• Good with people and enjoy interacting with the public.
• Able to communicate well with a wide range of people with different skills, abilities, and backgrounds. 
• Are interested in developing your skills to to best support people who are deafblind, have sensory impairments or complex needs effectively.  This could include people who use TouchBase Pears regularly, visitors or co-volunteers.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Respectful of others and their diversity.
• Interested in supporting your local community.

What Sense offers

• A full induction with ongoing support and guidance from the Sense TouchBase Pears Team. 
• The ’feel-good’ factor – knowing that you are making a difference to supporting your local community. 
• We’ll provide you with training on Hearing Impairment Awareness and Visual Impairment Awareness training. We also have additional optional training to further develop your skills relating to supporting people with disabilities. 
• An opportunity to develop new skills and experiences along with adding to your career and/or personal development. 
• The chance to meet new people from a wide range of backgrounds and join a passionate team passionate about making a difference in the lives of the people we support. 

Our values

Everything we do is underpinned by five core values. These values shape the way we work as we pursue our vision of a world where no one, no matter how complex their disabilities, is isolated, left out, or unable to fulfil their potential.

• We include
• We collaborate
• We find a way
• We challenge
• We celebrate

We need your help creating compelling digital assets and engaging resources.

Description

Numberfit is a social enterprise that works to make Maths learning fun and engaging for children across all age groups. We are looking to grow our reach, and with this our team.

You will be working alongside a small team including our founder and operations team, creating compelling digital assets and resources, including: 

- teaching resources

- teaching equipment

- social media content

- stories and much more

What are we looking for? 

We are looking for a person passionate about children's education who:

• Has graphic design/illustration experience

• Is a visually creative individual with a passion for design

• Can provide ideas

• Has the ability to quickly understand our needs

• Can ask key questions to enable us to clarify requirements

The volunteer should also have/be:

• Value accuracy and attention to detail 

• Open to feedback

What difference will you make? 

Your input will shape how we communicate our creativity and the assets children will engage with.

With your help we’ll be able to continue raising the profile of mathematics, enjoyable learning and children's wellbeing.

What’s in it for you?

You would become part of our small, friendly team and you have the opportunity to use your time to make a real difference to the organisation’s ability to provide and deliver enjoyable maths sessions and materials for children across all age groups.

What skills should you have? 

• Graphic design
   

What skills will you gain?

• Teamwork
• Design

Requirements:

• Relevant qualification / training/ experience

• Own computer or secure access to one

• At least 3 hours a week + for a minimum period of 3 months

Numberfit is looking for assistance researching and applying for grants and funding to help them fulfil their social mission.

Description

Numberfit is a social enterprise that makes learning maths fun and engaging for children across age groups and attainment levels. 

With this role, you will help us research, develop, and write grant proposals to various organisations. Your ability to effectively convey our organisation's goals, impact, and needs through compelling proposals will directly contribute to our ability to fund and execute projects that make a positive impact in children’s education and wellbeing.

Full training will be given and no experience is necessary.

Your responsibilities will be:

• Researching and identifying relevant grant opportunities aligned with our mission and programmes.
• Collaborating with the team to gather necessary information for proposals.
• Writing clear, concise, and compelling grant applications and proposals.
• Ensuring all grant proposals meet the submission requirements and deadlines.
• You will be working alongside our founder as part of our small team.

What are we looking for? 

We’re looking for someone who has excellent written and verbal communication skills.

The volunteer should also have:

• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Great attention to detail.
• Strong research abilities to identify potential grant sources.
• Previous experience in grant writing or proposal development (preferred but not mandatory).
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team.
• A passion for children’s education and wellbeing.

What difference will you make? 

You will be involved in writing compelling grants that will directly and positively impact children’s education. Your input will shape our tone of voice and how we present ourselves to grantors. With your help we’ll be able to continue raising the profile of mathematics, enjoyable learning and children's wellbeing.

What’s in it for you?

You’ll get to do what you love, develop new skills and build strong experience in hard to break through industries. If we’re able to assist in your personal development, we will endeavour to do so. Your contribution to help us achieve our vision of ‘a world full of healthy children loving learning' will be greatly appreciated. 

What skills should you have? 

• Educated or experienced in creative writing and storytelling.

What skills will you gain?

• Teamwork, Strategy, Communication Skills, Grant Writing, Marketing & Advertising

Requirements:

• Own computer or secure access to one
• At least 3 hours per week for 3 months

We understand that pets thrive best in loving homes. Sometimes, they can't remain in their original home, whether due to changes in their owner's circumstances or being born into our care. When this happens, these animals rely on compassionate individuals like you to provide a temporary haven with the love and care they deserve until we find them their forever homes.

As a Blue Cross Foster Carer, you’ll play a pivotal role in providing the nurturing environment our pets need while they wait for their forever homes.

From cats and dogs to rabbits, guinea pigs, and more, our Foster Carers provide care and affection to animals of various species. Some of our Foster Carers care for all species, while others specialise and, with additional training provided, can assist in caring for pets with specialist needs. The choice is yours.

You'll have access to a designated Foster Coordinator who will provide support and guidance throughout your fostering journey. We'll ensure you receive all the training you need to equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to care for our pets effectively.

Living within a reasonable commuting distance of the nearest Rehoming Centre is essential.

What you will be doing

• Providing a safe and loving temporary home for Blue Cross pets until they find permanent homes
• Offering support to pets who may be struggling in a Rehoming Centre environment
• Transporting your foster pet to and from Blue Cross sites or vets as required
• Providing necessary care, including feeding, socialising, grooming, and cleaning
• Providing observations and feedback on your foster pet through assessments, diaries, and feedback forms

The skills you need

• Ideally previous experience in handling and caring for pets. We can train you in any species new to you.
• Time to dedicate towards socialising and caring for your foster pet
• Access to a car for transportation to and from our Rehoming Centre and vets
• A safe, quiet area within your home where pets can settle in comfortably
• Willingness to learn and adhere to Blue Cross procedures and undergo relevant training
• Ability to communicate regularly and effectively with our foster teams via phone or email
• Basic IT skills would be beneficial, or support can be provided, as much of our training is conducted online, and we encourage you to share photos, videos, and updates of your foster pet via email.

What's in it for you

• Enjoying the companionship of a pet without the long-term commitment of ownership
• All expenses related to caring for your foster pet, including travel costs, are covered by Blue Cross
• Gaining practical skills, valuable experience, and access to our dedicated Blue Cross ARK training programme

Numberfit is a social enterprise that makes maths fun and engaging for children across all age groups. 

We're seeking a dynamic and versatile individual to join our team as a marketing specialist. In this role, you'll be responsible for developing and executing integrated digital marketing, with a little PR, strategies to promote Numberfit's brand, products, and mission. You'll work closely with our team to craft compelling narratives, engage with our audience, and drive awareness and engagement across various online and offline channels.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement comprehensive digital, traditional and guerrilla marketing and PR strategies to enhance Numberfit's brand presence and reach.

• Create engaging content for digital platforms, including social media, blogs, email newsletters, and website copy.

• Manage and grow Numberfit's social media channels, fostering community engagement and interaction.

• Build and maintain relationships with media contacts, influencers, and key stakeholders to secure press coverage and partnerships.

• Monitor and analyse PR and digital marketing performance metrics, making data-driven decisions to optimise strategies and campaigns.

• Stay up-to-date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in digital marketing and PR.

If you're passionate about making a difference and ready to join a small team dedicated to transforming education and empowering children, we'd love to hear from you!

At Doorstep Library, we’re dedicated to bringing the magic of books and the joy of reading directly into the homes of children who need our support.

With 1 in 4 children in the UK leaving primary school unable to read or write properly, we recruit and train in-person and online volunteers to introduce children from under-resourced areas to the pleasure of reading.

What’s Involved?

As a Doorstep Library reading volunteer, you’ll visit the same families via Zoom every week with eBooks to share with the children and encourage their love of reading.

You will:

• Handpick eBooks from our online portals based on the children’s age, interests, and reading level
• Join families via Zoom with your volunteer partner for 20-minute reading sessions  
• Make notes after the session to keep track of how the child/ren are progressing

Our unique home-based approach allows our volunteers to build trusting relationships with families, helping them to connect with the community and equip them with the skills they need to succeed later in life.

When and Where?

You can be based anywhere in the UK to become a Doorstep Library online volunteer.

• Time commitment: One evening a week, or once every 3 weeks as a Stand-In Volunteer
• Hours per week: 2
• Days: Our projects run on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays from 4:30pm – 6:30pm

Skills/Experience Needed

• Be able to make a regular weekly commitment or once every 3 weeks for a Stand-In Volunteer during school term time
• Be compliant with our safeguarding procedures, complete an Enhanced DBS, Child Barred List check, and provide 2 references
• Enjoy spending time with children and believe in education for all
• Have comfortable fluency in English
• Be non-judgmental and respectful of a variety of lifestyles and children’s learning
• Have excellent communication skills – be able to listen to families and communicate effectively with Project Leaders (including via text/emails/calls with Doorstep Library staff)
• Be confident using technology – for connecting with families via Zoom and completing records
• Be organised – be able to multi-task in a multi-faceted role comprising of much more than solely reading to children
• Be reliable – always attending a pre-agreed session and giving plenty of notice in advance of absences
• Be friendly – to build good relationships with families, your volunteer partner and the rest of the team
• Be confident – to lead the session or mentor a new volunteer
• Be patient, persistent and flexible – tailoring your approach to each family’s needs

Doorstep Library is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and all those it comes into contact with. All volunteers undergo rigorous safer recruitment processes including specified interview questions, a DBS check, and the collection of written and/or verbal references.  Safeguarding training is a mandatory part of the induction process for all volunteers, and they are expected to always adhere to our safeguarding policies and procedures.  

Role Description

Come join our team working to help change the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society. Ranked 2023 Q4 by Best Companies as the 8th best charity to work for in the UK, Medaille Trust is one of the UK’s leading charities in the fight against modern slavery. Our innovative model is based on three principles: Prevent, Protect and Pursue.  We are one of the UK’s largest providers of survivor services, with ten safehouses and six outreach hubs, staffed round the clock by specialist staff, working with more than 600 men, women and dependent children each year.  We work to raise awareness in the UK and to provide preventive work in source countries. Our Pursue work helps survivors to engage with police and within the legal system to seek justice and to secure convictions against their perpetrators.

Our volunteers come from all walks of life and have a wide range of experience and motivations. Whatever your reason for deciding to volunteer, we want to make sure you enjoy your time with us and know just how much we value your support.

Many of our service users don’t use English as their first language and rely on high quality translation to understand information. Therefore, we are looking for volunteers who can accurately translate English text into any of the languages below:

Bengali, Arabic, Amharic, Albanian, Vietnamese, Romanian, Polish, Tigrinya, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi.

Volunteers need to:

•Be at least 18 years old

•Hold a translating or interpreting qualification or to hold a degree (in any subject) and be fluent in speaking and writing in English, and one or more of the languages above

•Have excellent command of English and other language(s)

•Have grammatical accuracy

•Have excellent proof-reading skills including IT skills

•Have use of own computer

•Be willing to have a basic DBS check

•Have the willingness to learn about human trafficking issues

•Have the ability to maintain confidentiality

To apply please complete an application form on our website.

Make a difference. Join us as a Companion Volunteer today!

Marie Curie is piloting the Companions in the Community Service to support individuals in their final year of life in care and nursing homes. We aim to provide comprehensive support to those with life-limiting conditions, complementing the efforts of our Nursing Team and local community services.

Your Role:

• Visit care homes regularly to interact with residents.
• Facilitate meaningful conversations.
• Provide Companionship
• Assist with tasks like Advance Care Plans or ongoing needs.

Location: Nursing or care homes in Surrey.

This will be dependant on what is most suitable for you

Skills Needed:

• Willingness to support during death, dying, and bereavement.
• Residency in Surrey.
• Interest in face-to-face support in care homes.
• Basic IT skills.
• Patience, empathy, and excellent listening skills.
• Commitment, reliability, and inclusive values.
•  

What You Gain:

• Skill enhancement in a charitable environment.
• Induction, training, and ongoing support.
• Reimbursement for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

Requirements:

• Provide two references (non-family).
• Adhere to charity policies and complete necessary training.

Marie Curie values diversity and is committed to safeguarding the welfare of patients and families. We treat all volunteers fairly and with respect, without discrimination. 

Location: Travelling across the West Midlands, but our driver will meet you at our Chelmsley Wood Shop (B37 5TS)

Hours: Flexible Monday - Friday. Ideally, you'll need to be available for at least the day from 8am - 4pm, as once the van leaves, it may not return until the end of the day.

Our focus is around empowering and supporting volunteers to maximise their potential. But we also want to ensure a safe and happy atmosphere where you can make new friends, enjoy the experience and become part of the Acorns family.

No previous experience is necessary, however a positive outlook and good team working skills are a must working with a small team on the van.

You will be assisting the driver in their daily duties:

• Assisting in the delivery and collection of goods
• Always being courteous and representing Acorns
• Handling stock carefully
• Being aware of health and safety risks
• Always keeping the van clean and tidy

We are looking for persons that are:

• Welcoming and friendly
• Smart and of clean of appearance
• Enjoy working in a close team
• Reliable and honest
• Able to prioritise tasks and be flexible
• Have good teamworking skills
• Are sensitive to the needs of our customers/donors
• Are physically fit and able to lift items that may at times be heavy

Why Volunteer at Acorns?

• To help a local charity and make a difference in your local community
• Connect with likeminded people and make new friends
• Enhance your CV by learning new skills and gaining experience
• Opportunities to progress to other roles
• Access to free online courses
• Retail discounts
• Invites to social events and participation in our volunteer recognition schemes and rewards