Voluntary Policy Volunteer Roles in Berkshire
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Are you passionate about children’s literacy and the role it plays in enabling children to seize life’s opportunities and write their own story? Do you want to see children living in inequitable circumstances given an equal chance to make the best of life? Are you looking for a trustee opportunity where you can use your skills and experience at Board level to help govern and develop our charity and bring the joy of reading to children living with little or no access to books? If so, read on!
We are looking for dynamic individuals to join our Board of Trustees, who share our passion for addressing child literacy issues in the under 12s from disadvantaged areas, and our vision of all children thriving in homes where a love of reading is embraced. We are seeking individuals particularly with a backgrounds/skills/experience in any of the following areas:
• Lived experience of the issues the families we work with are facing in the UK today
• Impact and evaluation
• Community & referral pathways
• Social Enterprise/Franchising
• Volunteering - recruitment & retention
• Marketing & media
• Education/literacy
• Publishing
The closing date for applications is September 30th 2024
If you are interested, please apply with a CV and covering letter via the Quick Apply button below.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
African Development Choices (ADC) is a UK-based Social Enterprise on a mission to reduce poverty by empowering communities to make more informed choices in the management of public resources.
ADC’s purpose is to enable communities to independently meet their needs for essential services, such as clean water and safe sanitation and improve lives in Africa.
At ADC we encourage a working culture of seeking and giving input, showing and taking initiative, and commitment to the organisation and its purpose.
We now have an exciting opportunity for a volunteer Co-Chief Social Impact Officer to join ADC and job share with our current volunteer Chief Social Impact Office Francesco Carvelli.
Main Purpose of Job: To oversee the design and delivery of social impact programs while ensuring their financial viability through fundraising and partnerships.
Division: Social Impact
Department: N/A
Position Reports to: Founder and CEO
Position is Responsible for: Head of Fundraising, Head of Programs, Head of Partnerships, Head of Policy & Research
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
- Lead the development of ADC’s social impact strategy, including practical tools and systems that not only track and measure impact performance, but also integrate impact analysis into strategy and decision-making
- Lead the development of ADC’s fundraising strategy, with a focus on developing long-term strategic public and private sector partnerships with global and regional corporates, institutions, foundations and high net worth individuals
- Play a role in relation to revenue generation by helping to define market relevant value propositions for consulting services based on our Theory of Change, with a goal of achieving a business model that is financially sustainable and delivers on ADC’s strategic vision for catalysing social impact
- Lead the creation of new social impact programs, interventions and goals that will inspire and drive the organisation to deliver social impact at scale, and ensuring that the ADC approach and Theory of Change is upheld and enhanced
- Lead the development of thought leadership initiatives that position ADC as an influential driver of systemic social change in Africa and leader in social impact research
- Play a role in creating and maintaining social impact content, and making it accessible to our Marketing & Communications team for sharing with internal and external audiences to promote ADC’s work
- Coordinate and provide oversight and support to the Social Impact team, guiding recruitment and onward career development of team members
Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:
Essential
- +15 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector
- A track record of leading successful fundraising campaigns and grants applications
- Experience of design and delivery of social impact programs
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to develop long term relationships with institutional sponsors and individual major donors
- Familiarity with impact assessment methodologies and latest developments in the impact measurement field
- Ability to create powerful narratives that present social impact in a simple manner
- Ability to drive strategy in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team environment
- Demonstrated ability to create global and regional networks across the industry
- Ability to actively take initiative and help set things up in a start-up environment
- Ability to actively seek and give input in a collaborative team environment
- A committed team player with good communication skills
- Available to volunteer at least 10-15 hours a week
Desirable
- Experience working in an early stage star-tup and gone through a scaling phase
- Passion for the start-up life and comfortable in a role with a little ambiguity
- Experience leading, managing and coaching successful teams in different geographical locations
What ADC offers you:
This is a volunteer, remote and unpaid position with the following benefits:
- Professional learning and career development opportunities
- An opportunity to build on your work experience within your profession
- An opportunity to be part of a diverse team representing different parts of the world that is helping to deliver systemic social change in Africa
- An opportunity to help shape a start-up social enterprise
- We provide work reference
This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.
Here at African Development Choices, we celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our teams are made up of people from all over the world and we welcome all applications. If you are disabled or have a long-term health condition, and you require any reasonable adjustments for your application with us, please let us know by contacting recruitmentatafricandevelopmentchoicesdotorg.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Overview of the role:
PECAN is seeking to appoint a new Chair of Trustees. Under PECAN’s governing articles of association its trustees, including the Chair, are appointed for a three-year term, which may be renewed for a further two terms (so a maximum of nine years’ unbroken service).
Key tasks:
The Chair will hold the Board and Executive Team to account for the Charity’s mission and vision, providing inclusive leadership to the Board of Trustees, ensuring that each Trustee fulfils their duties and responsibilities for the effective governance of the charity. The Chair will also support the management team and ensure that the Board functions as a unit and works closely to achieve agreed objectives. They will act as an ambassador and the public face of the charity in partnership with the CEO.
Key responsibilities
· Provide leadership to the organisation and the Board by ensuring that everyone remains focused on the delivery of the organisation’s charitable purposes to provide greater public benefit.
· Chair and facilitate board meetings, oversee and ensure proper record-keeping
· Ensure that decisions taken at meetings are implemented.
· Give direction to board policy-making.
· Ensure that the charity has a clear vision, mission and strategic plan, and that there is a common understanding of these by the management team and the Trustees.
· Develop the Board of Trustees including induction, training, appraisal and succession planning
· Ensure that the Board is able to regularly review major risks and associated opportunities and satisfy itself that systems are in place to take advantage of opportunities and manage and mitigate the risks.
· Ensure that the Board fulfils its duties to ensure sound financial health of the charity, with systems in place to ensure financial accountability.
· Encourage positive change where appropriate and address and resolve any conflicts within the Board.
· Act as an ambassador for the cause and the Charity.
· Bring impartiality and objectivity to decision-making
· Address conflict within the Board and within the organisation and liaise with the CEO to achieve this.
· Foster, maintain and ensure that constructive relationships exist with and between the Trustees.
· Liaise with the CEO to keep an overview of the organisation’s affairs and to provide support as appropriate.
· Lead the process of supporting and appraising the performance of the CEO.
· Sit on appointment and disciplinary panels where required.
With the CEO:
· Plan the annual cycle of board meetings and other general meetings where required, for example annual general meeting.
· Set agendas for board and other general meetings.
· Ensure that the Board receives sufficient and timely information to make informed decisions.
Relationship with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the wider management team:
· Establish and build a strong, effective and a constructive working relationship with the CEO ensuring they are held to account for achieving agreed strategic objectives.
· Support the CEO, whilst respecting the boundaries which exist between the two roles.
· Ensure regular contact with the CEO and develop and maintain an open and supportive relationship within which each can speak openly about concerns, worries and challenges.
· Liaise with the CEO to maintain an overview of the charity’s affairs, providing support as necessary.
About you:
PECAN is a Christian charity whose values are kindness, belief and hope. There is a requirement for all Trustees, including the Chair, to sign a statement of belief. The CEO is also required to be a Christian.
In addition to the qualities required of a Trustee of the charity, the Chair should have the following qualities:
· Leadership
· Experience of committee work, including at least one previous Trustee role.
· Tact and diplomacy, with the ability to listen and engage
· Good communication and interpersonal
· Impartiality, fairness and the ability to respect
· Ability to foster and promote a collaborative team
· Empathy
It would be desirable to demonstrate experience of the Chair role and/or be willing to join the Association of Chairs to increase their knowledge that will help with the role.
Impact of your role
By leading the Board of trustees of the charity, you will be part of a team providing a vital support function in your local community, seeking to ensure a dignified experience to anyone visiting or anyone who comes into contact with PECAN.
Support
A full trustee induction will be provided to support the new Chair in their role, as well as access to training opportunities to develop in their role as a trustee.
Please note:
· The Chair of Trustees will be appointed for three years. Under the terms of PECAN’s memorandum and articles of association this appointment may be renewed for a maximum of two further three-year terms (a total of nine years).
· You must be 18 or over and must not be disqualified from acting as a trustee and declare any conflict of interest while carrying out the duties of a trustee.
· The role of Chair is not accompanied by any financial remuneration, although reasonable expenses may be claimed (e.g. for travel and subsistence).
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Unify Giving is seeking a talented and experienced iOS Software Developer to join our dynamic team and contribute to our mission of ending homelessness. As an integral member of our development team, you will play a crucial role in putting our existing application onto the app store, which is designed to empower individuals experiencing homelessness.
Responsibilities:
- Analyse, develop, test, the iOS application using Swift/ Xcode.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand business requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
- Optimise app performance, improve user experience, and ensure compatibility with various iOS devices and versions.
Qualifications:
- Proven experience in developing iOS applications using Swift and Xcode.
- Strong understanding of iOS design patterns, frameworks, and APIs.
- Experience with app store submission and review processes.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.
- Passion for creating innovative and user-friendly mobile applications.
Bonus points:
- Experience with cloud-based development and APIs.
- Knowledge of other programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java).
- Experience with continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.
Looking forward to chatting with you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Do you want to gain professional writing skills and have your named work viewed by thousands? Do you have a passion for great literature or fine art or classical or contemporary music or history or archaeology or something else in the humanities? Do you love to learn about other cultures, their cuisine, customs and language? Do you want to join a vibrant community of writers? Then write for us!
The Cultural Me helps our subscribers learn about the arts and culture the same way they would learn a new language. We are a tech company and are developing artificial intelligence-assisted learning.
We are looking for writers to research and write micro-articles (roughly 300–350 words) on selected subjects, for example, a piece on Tolstoy, or Early Renaissance to Contemporary Art, or Latin American magic realism to Postcolonial Literature, or Sri Lankan culture, or Beethoven, or Film... You will also be involved in editing contributions from other writers.
If you have never written professionally before, then don't worry: all we ask for is a Bachelor’s Degree in the Arts and Humanities. We are also happy to consider you if you have alternative qualifications — provided you can demonstrate specialist subject matter knowledge in one or more areas in the arts and culture (and you love reading). The articles we produce (unlike popular media) are to the best academic standards. The ideal person, therefore, should enjoy writing articles that are well-researched yet written in an accessible format suitable for the public at large.
Here is what you can expect from us in return for your voluntary work:
- Detailed and friendly, one-to-one editorial feedback on almost every line you write.
- How to write for a busy mainstream reader: developing a story.
- A language and style guide reflecting modern trends in mainstream media.
- The chance to develop a deeper understanding of the arts, history, philosophy...
- Publication of your work to a global audience on a fast-growing platform.
- A link to your writing portfolio to include in your CV.
- A chance to join our diverse community of writers in our active chat space with the option to contribute to our growing social feed on the Cultural Me website.
In addition, if you provide The Cultural Me as a reference for a potential job, we will provide a personalised reference based on your portfolio. Our writers have secured jobs with organisations such as the Red Cross, Kobalt Music, Oxford University Museums, amongst others.
This is a brilliant opportunity for someone with a passion for the arts and culture to join a community on a worthy mission. If you love the idea, then please email Emma by clicking on ‘Apply’ and writing a short cover letter explaining what you like about the role.
COMMENTS FROM OUR WRITERS
Claire Woods — MA Creative Writing, Open University
‘The editors have a keen eye for detail, and I’m learning so much already!’
Florence Gildea — MPhil Sociology, University of Cambridge
‘The level of support, the attention to detail and the encouragement I experienced while writing for The Cultural Me was absolutely unprecedented in all my years of writing. Editing is an underappreciated skill these days, as people are keen to publish content as quickly as possible. It is a testament to the commitment of the Editors at The Cultural Me for producing resources of the highest quality that they put so much time and effort into working with writers like me. I felt both stretched and valued.’
Zoe Willis — BA French and German, University of Bristol
‘Working on The Cultural Me micro-articles really made me interrogate what I was writing, making sure the subject was absolutely clear for those reading it. At university, you are never told to examine each sentence as to how it fits in with your argument.’
Elise Czyzowska — BA English Literature & Language, University of Oxford
‘Writing for The Cultural Me has allowed me to continue practising my analytical reading from university, and given me the opportunity to share my thoughts on the literature I know and love.’
Nicholas Benton — BA English Literature, University of Sheffield
‘The Cultural Me provided me with a detailed commendatory reference that helped me secure a place on a master’s degree at the University of Birmingham.’
Tom Mackinnon — BA History of Art, University of Cambridge
‘Since starting to write for The Cultural Me, I’ve actually learned a lot about writing for mainstream readers. At the same time, I really enjoy being able to keep in touch with the topics I love. I do recommend this experience to anyone wanting to pursue a career in writing, curation or education.’
SAMPLE MICRO-ARTICLES
Please see the attachment.
SAMPLE WRITER PROFILES
Ugne — https://thecultural.me/people/Ugne-Civilyte-109496
Isabella — https://thecultural.me/people/Isabella-Barber-109388
Rami — https://thecultural.me/people/Rami-Barhoumi-109470
Judith — https://thecultural.me/people/Judith-Kuthy-109397
Ashly — https://thecultural.me/people/Ashly-Cork-109382
Christina — https://thecultural.me/people/Christina-Apostolidou-109357
Katerina — https://thecultural.me/people/Katerina-Koukouthaki-109393
Satkartar — https://thecultural.me/people/Satkartar-Chaggar-109383
To demystify and to bring to life the scholarly humanities for practical use.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Would you like to help tackle loneliness, one conversation at a time?
Loneliness and isolation can have devastating effects on a person’s mental and physical health. We are a registered charity providing a pathway of support to alleviate the hurt and distress, and the impact on mental and physical health, caused by loneliness and social isolation.
We are looking for Impact volunteers to help us with the monitoring and evaluation of our services so that we can understand the impact of them and make sure we are meeting our aims and fulfilling our remit.
The role involves conducting a survey, mostly over the telephone (there may be face-to-face interviewing opportunities) that helps us measure our impact on loneliness and social isolation.
For all our roles:
Enhanced DBS checks for working with vulnerable adults (formerly called criminal records bureau checks) which we will organise (no cost to this) and two references are required.
For any roles involving driving Archway Friends, we will need to see evidence of insurance and driving license as well as MOT and tax documents for the vehicle to be used.
We will happily cover out of pocket expenses (eg mileage or costs of calls made.).
We provide training relevant to the roles as well as ongoing supervision, guidance and support for all volunteers.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
GoodWork is a young and fast growing non-profit, supporting employers to offer fairer opportunities to young people from marginalised communities.
As a Community Interest Company, our Board is made up of Non-Executive Directors and our CEO. As we transition into a charity over the next 6-12 months, our NEDs will become Trustees and our CEO will step down from the Board to continue serving as a member of staff.
With this in mind and as some of our early team members move on, we’re looking to add 2-3 new Board Members to fill key skills gaps and ensure we have a strong, diverse Board to lead GoodWork and ensure we deliver against our ambitious growth plans.
We’re prioritising applications from NEDs with specific skills and expertise to join our team.
However, we are open to hearing from those who are enthusiastic about our mission and believe they can offer capacity or expertise that we’re currently missing.
If you don’t fit one of our priority skills gaps but are keen to apply, please ensure you’ve had a look at our current team’s profiles and explain what you could add to our Board in your application.
Our priority skills gaps:
NEDs will not have sole responsibility for delivering this work, but will support the CEO and staff team. At their discretion, NEDs may wish to give more time to support delivery in specific areas.
- Education & Social Mobility, Policy & Campaigning, Impact Evaluation
- PR, Communications & Marketing
Responsibilities:
- Ensure GoodWork is delivering against its strategy and in line with its mission
- Help set our future goals, putting the interests of young people first
- Act with care and attention, making use of your skills and asking for advice when you need it
- Manage GoodWork’s resources carefully and without taking undue risks
- Hold GoodWork accountable for operating lawfully and responsibly
- Attend and engage with Board Meetings and Away Days, as required
- Act honestly and reliably, delivering the things you commit to
- Behave in GoodWork’s best interests, and do nothing that could bring our work into disrepute
- Be a proactive and enthusiastic ambassador for GoodWork, with your existing network and beyond
What we’re looking for:
- Demonstrable understanding of and commitment to GoodWork’s mission and vision
- Open-mindedness, flexibility and a problem solving approach
- Strong communication skills, tact and empathy
- Ability to provide challenge and ensure that we uphold robust governance
- Analytical skills, curiosity and ability to engage with detail (e.g. financial reports, plans for growth)
- Willingness to consistently commit the time needed to drive our work forward
- Commitment to GoodWork’s policies and procedures, including our Safeguarding Policy
- Strong belief in the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion
- Commitment to championing our work and being a vocal, enthusiastic ambassador for GoodWork
- Experience of working with charities, non-profits, start-ups or other small and fast growing organisations (desirable)
- Experience of working with young people or marginalised groups (desirable)
We work with a diverse group of young people from marginalised communities. We particularly encourage applications from minority ethnic candidates and those who have lived experience relevant to our programme, including non-graduates and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
To take an active role in the charity activities. Responsible for governance, safeguarding and strategic direction of the charity with other board members. To work in partnership and to support contractors and volunteers helping them to achieve the aims of the organisation.
- Ensure the charity is run in accordance with the governing document, charity law, company law and that the decisions of the board and any other appropriate legislation or regulations are upheld.
- Ensure the charity pursues its objects as defined in its governing document.
- Work within SDAC’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies at all times.
- Assisting with the development of strategic plans and ensuring the charity operates efficiently.
- Assisting in setting organisational aims and objectives and setting priorities.
- Supporting other trustees in their roles.
- Assisting with reports and being responsible for own secretarial work.
- Attending and actively participating in monthly Zoom board meetings on a Tuesday from 6.30 to 8.30pm and yearly AGM.
- Seek out new opportunities to work with vulnerable residents in Surrey to promote the success of SDAC Ltd.
· Take delegated roles/tasks for the Board as discussed and agreed with the
Chair and report back to the Board.
· Ensure the charity’s confidentiality and safeguarding policies are adhered to with regards to the management of the charity.
· Attending in person meetings with volunteers in Guildford.
Please complete the application form
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Alike is a charity with one simple mission: To end the loneliness and isolation that people impacted by cancer experience. We exist to empower our community to make meaningful connections through seamless digital experiences which help people find their sense of belonging. We were created for people impacted by cancer, by people with cancer.
Driven by our mission and inspired by the start-up mentality, we operate with agility and pace. In 2021, we launched our ground-breaking iOS and Android app as a space exclusively for the cancer community to connect. Now we’re looking to scale nationwide, and we need your help to do it. Alike is the only non-for-profit organisation providing a large scale, tailored peer support platform across all ages and diagnoses, whether someone’s facing a sleepless night or a lonely weekend.
We're looking for 1 legal trustee to join our scaling charity! We are particularly interested in people who have a background or experience in UK law, such as IP law or data protection. Read more about what we are looking for in more detail below. If this doesn't sound exactly like you but you feel you have something to give, we'd still love to hear from you.
Our Trustees:
Our board of trustees is essential to Alike’s mission. Working as a team, they take shared responsibility for maintaining alignment between our vision, strategy and day-to-day operations. Just as importantly, they support and challenge the executive team, driving Alike’s growth, inspiring new approaches, and helping us scale. Their perspective, insights, passion and collective experience is crucial to our mission as we continue combating loneliness and isolation throughout the cancer community.
Your Responsibilities:
Joining our board of trustees is a commitment to Alike’s mission as well as our products. We need our trustees to not just believe in our potential, but to authentically champion it. Our ideal trustee can clearly envision Alike taking a leading role in combating isolation in the cancer community - and in making a lasting, positive change. We’re looking for active, engaged and experienced trustees to join our existing board during this thrilling period of growth and innovation.
Beyond that, you would be required to collaborate on certain statutory duties (listed below), and to provide advice and guidance throughout Alike’s new initiatives. The power of our board lies in a diversity of viewpoints, so your unique combination of specialist knowledge, skills and experiences is key to success in this role.
We would expect you to contribute this set of skills to the board’s shared responsibility: making sound decisions for the charity’s direction. This would include - but by no means be limited to - scrutinising board papers, leading meetings, chairing discussions and taking an active role in board meetings.
Time Commitment:
- Regular board meetings (6 per year, 3 in-person meetings, 3 virtual)
- Additional time for sub-committee work and strategic planning
- Flexible availability for brief ad-hoc advisory calls or meetings
- Attendance at our Annual General Meeting in central London
Skills and Experience:
- An understanding and acceptance of the legal duties and responsibilities of trusteeship
- An understanding of the challenges faced by those living with cancer and the impact of emerging technology in addressing these challenges
- Excellent communication skills and a collaborative working style
- Strategic and critical thinking skills - a problem-solver with a lateral thinking style
- Strong financial literacy
- An understanding of the tenets of employment law and GDPR compliance at scale
We need trustees with a diverse range of skills, experience and knowledge, and would love to hear from people who could bring the following:
- Experience in UK law, ideally in employment law, data protection or intellectual property
If you’re interested in joining Alike on our mission to bring comfort, support and community to the millions of people impacted by cancer across the UK, then we would love to hear from you.
You might not necessarily tick every single box - and that’s okay: if you’ve got the passion and you feel confident that this role is for you, please do get in touch anyway. You may still be the perfect fit.
Please attach a brief cover letter (no more than 500 words) telling us why you think you'd be a great Trustee at Alike and what you can bring to our Board of Trustees.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.