Voluntary Volunteer Roles

Why do we need you?

Caerlaverock Wetland Centre is a spectacular 1,400 acre wild reserve situated on the north Solway coast. From dawn until dusk, from January to December, in fair weather and not so fair, its open coastal landscape and wide skies are full of the sights and sounds of nature – and very little else.

The centre is deservedly famous for its vast flocks of over-wintering water birds, including around 30,000 barnacle geese from Arctic Svalbard and large numbers of pink-footed geese and whooper swans. Summer offers the opportunity to explore rolling wildflower meadows, watch ospreys hunting over the Solway and even spot barn owls and badgers.

We are involved in the maintenance of this internationally important wetland site. This involves maintaining and developing the various habitats that attract large numbers of migratory birds but also help develop the reserve to increase general biodiversity.

What will you be doing?

• Maintenance of visitor facilities including paths, hides etc
• General habitat management work across a multitude of habitat types
• Maintenance of screens and stock fences
• Maintenance of bird feeding stations
• Maintenance of hedges and trees
• Assist with wildlife monitoring
• General visitor engagement
• Occasional assisting with management of livestock/visitor centre work

Who are we looking for?

• Practical experience on a nature reserve and good identification skills is desirable although training can be given
• Able to work alone or as part of a team
• Good people skills
• Confident with communicating with the public
• Good level of physical fitness
• Ability to work outdoors in all weather

How will you benefit?

• Training opportunities will be provided along with the opportunity to visit other WWT centres across the UK

• You will be able to become part of the small but friendly reserve team
• You may be involved in role specific training such as strimming and brush cutter.
• You will be involved in the workings of this centre and will therefore be able to take up any opportunities that become available
• Suitable uniform and personal protective equipment is provided to all regular volunteers
• Discount is available in the shop for all volunteers

Are you a good listener, able to show empathy and understanding as well as being able to spot the positive things in life? This could be the perfect role for you!

We are looking for volunteers who have a couple of hours a week to give on a regular basis to make friendly calls to people living with epilepsy who are feeling lonely or isolated.

“It made me feel like I wasn’t alone and has given me confidence within myself.”

You don’t have to have epilepsy yourself and your check-in calls don’t even have to be about epilepsy, sometimes people want to forget about that for a while and instead have a friendly conversation about what’s on telly, their favourite sport or their hobby.

You might be able to encourage them to get out and make more connections in their community but even if all you do is make someone laugh you have brightened their day and made a difference.

What's involved?

There is a DBS check to ensure we keep everyone safe and some basic training to enable you to get started. You’ll then be ready to start making calls. Calls typically last 30 minutes so depending how much time you have to give you can make a difference to two or three people a week, maybe even more!

Calls can easily be made over the phone or if you prefer over video call it's up to you which you prefer.

The role is flexible so that you can choose a time to volunteer that suits you. We only ask that you stick to that same time and day each week as it makes it easier for the service user to remember when to expect a call. We also ideally want you to be able to volunteer for at least a year so that service users have a consistent experience.

You’ll be fully supported by our befriending team and you’ll get to join our volunteer community with regular volunteer meet-ups. Our volunteer portal makes it easy to connect to other volunteers in your area or with shared interests and to be part of our volunteering community.

A bit about this role

At Cats Protection we help thousands of cats and kittens each year thanks to our dedicated and passionate volunteer groups. We have over 250 branches across the UK, all of which help our feline friends in different ways. Branches take in stray and abandoned cats and ensure they receive the veterinary care and attention they deserve, help raise funds, promote neutering and help spread cat welfare messages. Our branch team leader volunteers lead their local team by supporting and managing volunteers within their group, maintaining communications with both volunteers and staff, and helping promote a positive and professional image of Cats Protection.

What can you expect to be doing?

• Supporting your team of volunteers in all aspects of their roles, making sure volunteers are happy and confident
• Making sure the team observes charity best practice and compliance
• Collaborating with your Branch Development Manager (BDM) to plan volunteer activity
• Leading the team to follow Cats Protection policies, procedures and guidelines
• Monitoring expenditure and helping ensure long term financial stability of the volunteer group
• Organising and chairing team meetings
• Acting as an ambassador for Cats Protection

A bit more information about this role and the team

What are the benefits to you and the cats?

You will develop new skills, expand your knowledge and make a significant contribution to improving the lives of cats and kittens by supporting other volunteers in their roles. You will also meet new people, make new friends and be part of a dedicated team of volunteers.

We’re looking for someone with

• Strong interpersonal, leadership and people management skills
• Experience of promoting a positive team environment
• Confidence and experience of ensuring policies, procedures and processes are met
• Excellent communication skills with individuals and groups at all levels
• Organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and delegate
• Ability to think and plan ahead
• Patience and diplomacy
• Basic IT skills to use Cats Protection systems - training and support can be provided
• Committee volunteers need to be aged 18+

Time expectation

Our branch team leader volunteers usually spend 10 to 15 hours per week in this role, which is flexible and can be shared by more than one volunteer if needed. There will be times of year when more hours are required, such as towards the end of the financial year, but support and guidance are always available.

Support, guidance and keeping you safe

At Cats Protection we believe our volunteers should be happy and confident in their roles. We provide support and guidance from our National Cat Centre and through our regional and local volunteer groups and teams. We offer engaging online and face-to-face training, expenses and have policies and processes to help volunteers get the most out of their time with us.

The wellbeing of our people is important and at Cats Protection we are committed to safeguarding children, adults at risk and all those that we come into contact with as part of our activities.

What is the commitment?

Trustees meet online for an hour and a half in the early evening four times a year.  In addition, Trustees may choose to join in occasional meetings of Mentors to discuss current mentoring projects and any challenges that may have arisen.

Who should apply?

We would love to hear from people of all backgrounds.  It is important to us that our board has the diversity of thought to underpin good governance.  You should ideally live within Kent and the Medway towns.

The overall role of our Trustee Treasurer is to maintain an overview of Charity Mentors Kent and Medway (CMKM) financial affairs. Ensuring our financial viability and working with our Charity Manager to maintain financial records and procedures whilst supporting future financial growth and a sustainable income for the charity to function.

Please note that the Charity’s accounts are relatively simple and there are only a few transactions each month.

In addition to the general responsibilities of a Trustee, duties of the Treasurer include the following.

Fund Raising:

· Contribution to the fundraising strategy of the organisation

· Identifying potential funders and or other sources of income

· Support the creation and review of funding bids

Operations:

· Act as a signatory on our bank account

· Overseeing, approving and presenting budgets, accounts and financial statements

· Assuring that the financial resources of the organisation meet its present and future needs

· Maintaining a relevant reserves policy

· Ensuring that appropriate accounting procedures and controls are in place

· Advising on the financial implications of the organisation’s strategic plans

· Ensuring that there is no conflict between any finances held and the aims and objects of the charity

· Ensuring that the accounts are prepared and disclosed in the form required by funders and the relevant statutory bodies, for example the Charity Commission

· If external scrutiny of accounts is required, ensuring that the accounts are scrutinised in the manner required (independent examination or audit) and any recommendations are implemented

· Keeping the Board informed about its financial duties and responsibilities

· Presenting accounts at Board meetings and drawing attention to important points in a coherent and easily understandable way

Person specification

In addition to the person specification for a Trustee, the Treasurer should have the following qualities.

· Financial expertise and understanding

· Some experience of charity finance and fundraising

· Analytical approach to funding proposals and their financial consequences

· Some knowledge of the charity funding market

· A keen interest in identifying and pursuing new funds and additional income streams

You can make a difference…Age UK Wandsworth is a small, local, independent charity that has been working with older people in the area since 1963. We rely on your support to keep serving the older residents with in the Wandsworth community. We have a dedicated team of experienced staff and a large network of dedicated local volunteers. Our aim is to enable everyone to age well in Wandsworth. We would love your help to be able to continue to support older Wandsworth residents

Joining our amazing team of volunteers is a fantastic way to give back to the community by providing company and support to an older person in your area.

About the role 

We are looking to find a volunteers for our Memory Lane Project to assist us in providing sessions that will be stimulating, engaging and include a variety of activities that could include word and memory games, paired and group discussions, puzzles and board games, seated exercise and physical activities such as parachute and ball games and target practice.

 You will have fun and enjoy this sessions on a Friday between 11.00am – 1.00pm

About the service 

Gwynneth Morgan Day Centre, where we support older people, adults with dementia, and adults with disabilities between 10am-3pm Monday-Friday. This could include supporting our dementia groups, or providing a hairdressing or nail care service as a treat for our service users.

What will make you a great fit for this role?

• Friendly
• Patient
• Great listening skills

Family Friends carefully recruit, train, and match volunteers with families in Central-West London. Our volunteer befrienders offer practical and emotional support based on each family's unique needs and potential. We offer two volunteer opportunities - Big Buddies and Parent Buddies.

Volunteers will aim to help parents to discover their strengths, build confidence, and resolve difficulties. Volunteers meet with their match weekly for a period of 6 -12 months.

Activities might include:

• Supporting a parent to take their children on days out.
• Helping to strengthen family relationships.
• Providing a listening ear.
• Helping parents to build confidence in themselves.

Essential Criteria:

• You must be able to commit to the Parent Buddy programme for a minimum of 6 months.
• 18+
• Must have lived in the UK for the last 2 years

What we provide in return:

• Full induction training and ongoing training
• DBS check
• Weekly supervision and support
• The chance to learn new skills
• References provided after 6 months' commitment
• Reimbursement of travel and session expenses

We are an equal opportunities charity and value the principles of diversity and inclusion, which is central in providing successful support to our families. We welcome and encourage applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, including people from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, people who identify as LGBTQI+ and individuals from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

In the first instance, please register your interest in becoming a volunteer with us - you can do that by contacting us here for an application form.

Once we've reviewed your application, a member of our team will be in touch with next steps.

Family Friends carefully recruits, trains, and matches volunteers with families in Central-West London. Our befriending volunteers offer long-term practical and emotional support based on each family's unique needs and potential. We offer two befriending volunteer opportunities with us-, Big Buddies and Parent Buddies.

Our Big Buddies support young people, aged 10-18, for a few hours each week over a period of 6 -12 months. With encouragement and support, volunteers will aim to help young people to discover their strengths and build confidence.

Support may look like:

• Helping to strengthen family relationships.
• Providing a listening ear 
• Taking young person to the cinema, museums, libraries - broadening their horizons!

Essential Criteria:

• Can commit to the Big Buddies programme for a minimum of 6 months
• 18+
• Must have lived in the UK for the last 2 years

What we provide in return:

• Full induction training and ongoing training
• Full DBS check
• Support and supervision
• The chance to learn new skills
• References provided after 6 months' commitment
• Reimbursement of travel and session expenses

We are an equal opportunities charity and we value the principles of diversity and inclusion, which is central in providing successful support to our families. We welcome and would like to encourage applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, including people from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, people who identify as LGBTQI+ and individuals from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

In the first instance, please register your interest in becoming a volunteer with us by contacting us here for an online application form.

Once we've reviewed your application, a member of our team will be in touch with next steps.

We would like to hear from a Visual Effects creator to assist on our current feature documentary (Wide screen cinematic) project highlighting the incredible work Cancer Research Scientists (Many of whom are very young) undertake to save the lives of so many people.  We are professional filmmakers with vast experience in films and intend to release this never-before-attempted-feature worldwide.  Profits from revenue will go to cancer research direct and our expected target audience will be in excess of ONE billion.  We've done 600 million before with another film so there is no reason why we can't achieve this.
We are a compassionate warm and friendly professionals with serious industry contacts.

The Access Project supports students from under-resourced backgrounds to access top universities. We partner with eligible secondary schools and colleges who share our belief that students with high potential should have equitable access to higher education, regardless of their background.

We are looking for volunteer tutors to work with a young person aged 14-16, for one hour a week through the 2024-25 academic year. Tutoring sessions take place online, allowing you to volunteer at a time that works for you.

 In this role, you will:

• Support a young person in a subject of your choice to achieve the GCSE grades they deserve and fulfil their potential.
• Build transferable skills, experience and knowledge through ongoing training and development.
• Make a lasting impact and pay forward your experience.
• Contribute to our wider mission to improve social mobility through access to higher education.

No prior teaching or tutoring experience necessary - we provide comprehensive training and support, enabling you to continually strengthen your tutoring skills.

Interested? Please complete our application form - register now to guarantee your place on our 2024/25 programme.

To apply, you’ll need to:

• Have or be currently studying for an undergraduate degree, Level 6 qualification, or equivalent professional qualification.
• Have studied the subject you wish to tutor, or a related subject, to A Level / Level 3 or higher.
• Be able to commit to one hour of tutoring per week for the duration of the 2024/25 academic year, plus 30 minutes a week preparation time.
• Be prepared to undertake an enhanced DBS check and provide two references (personal or professional).

***This is an unpaid voluntary role***

Our data entry and admin volunteers keep all the Abbey cogs turning, keeping our various databases and systems up to date which is vital for our monitoring, fundraising and project management. Gain valuable office experience while making a difference to a local community organisation. Help us once a week for up to 2 hours max between 11am and 1pm (minimum 2 month commitment) and we'll shower you with gratitude, cuppas and biscuits! 

Qualities you need for this role 

• This role is suited to you if you enjoy working with data, are meticulous with a good eye for detail 
• Basic IT skills and ability to learn new software 
• Reliability and punctuality 

When you'll be needed
Two hours a week for a minimum of six months.

Joining elop’s youth mentoring team, you will be part of an enthusiastic and dedicated team who values and appreciates volunteers and the benefit of supporting LGBTQ+ young people.

LGBTQ+ Person of Muslim Faith Youth Mentor Role Description

You will be an integral part in supporting young LGBTQ+ people of Muslim faith or from Muslim faith backgrounds with issues related to their lived experience. elop is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and expects all volunteers to share this commitment.
In order to do this you will need to undertake an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check and provide two references.
Our Mentoring Volunteers provide support and are role models to the young people we work with, and must be responsible, reliable and committed to the mentoring relationship. You will need to be good at communicating, enthusiastic and have a desire to help LGBTQ+ young people.
Previous experience of working with young people would be beneficial but is not essential. No formal qualifications are required. You will need to commit to meeting with three young people on a one-to-one basis each for an hour a week for 6 months. This could be online or face to face in a designated location. Selection for interview will be based only on the information contained in the application form. When completing the application form please ensure that you include information about yourself that is relevant to these requirements
Volunteer LGBTQ+ Person of Muslim Faith Youth Mentors Role Description Duties and skills

Have relevant experience and training to support young people aged 12 - 24 in a 1:1 capacity.

Understand the issues and lived experience of young LGBTQ+ people of Muslim faith or from a Muslim faith background.

Have the ability to be non-judgemental, listen and support, and create a safe space for young LGBTQ+ people of faith or from faith backgrounds to achieve positive outcomes from mentoring.

•

Have the ability to plan and deliver mentoring sessions to support a young person with individual needs related to their identity.

Have the ability to set professional boundaries with young LGBTQ+ people in 1:1 settings and adhere to elop policies particularly safeguarding and confidentiality.

Have the ability to accurately record written notes for mentoring sessions and admin for the role as necessary.

You must be LGBT+ and identify/have previously identified as a person of faith to apply for this role. In addition, all volunteers need to meet the minimal essential requirements for the volunteering at elop.

1. Applicants should have lived experience of the issues faced by LGBT+ people and communities
2. Understand the issues faced by different members of LGBT communities.
3. Be able to work in a way that values and respects individuals and cultural diversity
4. Understand the need to work within organisational policies and procedures
5. Understand the need for boundaries and be able to maintain them within all aspects of your work
6. Be able to offer support to other volunteers.
7. Be able to work as part of a team
8. Understand that volunteering is commitment and that services may be dependent on your involvement.

Induction and support

elop will provide an induction programme which will include induction to the organisation, induction to the role of mentoring which will include, elop mentoring programme, safeguarding induction training, use of materials, trauma informed approaches, support available.
Volunteer mentors will receive line management support and supervision from an elop worker once a month and group reflective practice 1.5 hours every other month.

***This is an unpaid voluntary role***

A crucial volunteer role at the centre, volunteer Centre Assistants help out at least one afternoon per week to warmly welcome members to the centre, help with queries (in person, by email and over the phone) and direct people to our various activities. This is an active and varied way to volunteer where no two days are the same!

Qualities you need for this role

• Confidence and communication skills in person and over the phone
• Reliable, dependable and a good sense of humour
• Flexibility, happy to support staff as needed
• Able to think on your feet 
• Basic IT skills

When you'll be needed

• An afternoon per week: volunteers must commit for at least six months
• Monday-Friday between the hours 1:00pm - 5:00pm

***This is an unpaid volunteer role***

A crucial volunteer role at the centre, volunteer Centre Assistants help out at least one morning per week to warmly welcome members to the centre, help with queries (in person, by email and over the phone) and direct people to our various activities. This is an active and varied way to volunteer where no two days are the same!

Qualities you need for this role

• Confidence and communication skills in person and over the phone

• Reliable, dependable and a good sense of humour

• Flexibility, happy to support staff as needed

• Able to think on your feet 

• Basic IT skills

When you'll be needed

• A morning per week: volunteers must commit for at least six months

• Monday-Friday between the hours 9:30am – 1:00pm