Which charities have you volunteered for?

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random_username_96@reddit

One-off events by environmental or conservation charities tend to be fairly good for these situations. Look for community litter picks or beach cleans, a day clearing invasive plant species, etc. Gets you outdoors, doesn't require much of an induction, and you're usually spending it with passionate, like-minded people.

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Frankies_muscles@reddit

Agreed - TCV (The Conservation Volunteers) quite often have people coming on their day off from work to volunteer. They’re all around UK and you can check if there’s on near you on their website https://www.tcv.org.uk/

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sal101010@reddit

I was going to suggest this too. I used to work at a Wildlife Trusts reserve and they would jump on people who could be part of a work party and get a job done properly. The staff often don't have time to do fencing, ground maintenance and things like that.

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Stingin_Belle@reddit

Our company does this too. Our company also let's you have the time back in the week in lieu if you've volunteered during your free time at weekends. Do your company offer this? If so, it would give you more opportunities for things below... Past volunteering opportunities have been; Marshaling, car parks and roads for a charity run and handing out bottles of water to runners. Marshaling, setting up and running stalls for a Local animal charity summer fete Marshaling at local town carnivals Ushering and selling drinks and snacks for a local amateur dramatics Panto (raising money for local charities) Revamping school classrooms over the summer, painting, d.i.y jobs. Revamping school forest school area, clearing overgrown bushes and vegetation. Litter picking Planting tree saplings for a local wildlife trust

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GlitzToyEternal@reddit

If you have a skill, I'd like to recommend volunteering your skill to a charity! It can be so useful to have, for example, a copywriter spend 3 days creating content for a small charity that might not have those skills in-house or the budget to hire someone. Or another example: I work for a small charity that is starting a new project this year. We have been contacted by a graphic designer who gets some paid volunteer days through their work, and they are now going to design some posters and maybe a logo for this new project - stuff that is essential but not covered by funding. If this person hadn't got in touch, we'd have made do with Canva, but it will be much better with their help. I know bigger charities (Cancer research, Oxfam, NAWT) will be less likely to need this kind of help, but if your employer allows you to work with small charities the impact of your work can be huge.

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bonamoureux@reddit

Dog walker for somewhere like retired greyhound home. My dad does this weekly. Keeps him fit and lets him 'have' another dog without the commitment. No training days as such. Just a brief on muzzle and harness use.

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SamVimesBootTheory@reddit

I've volunteered at My local zoo Blue Cross And I currently volunteer with the RSPB

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I-Am-The-Warlus@reddit

Only Cowards Carry (now a defunct charity) St Helena Hospice (currently been volunteering for 7 years now.)

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TheMelancholyFox@reddit

I've done loads over the years that can be done during the day - supporting kids after school with reading and maths in a deprived area, befriending children growing up in difficult situations, helpline for a dementia charity. Look for a volunteer service coordinator in your area and they should be able to help.

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DoctorOctagonapus@reddit

We have volunteer days as well. For the last couple of years we've clubbed together as a department and volunteered for Mission Christmas. They were really struggling with a drop in donations this year, so one of the managers went back and started a donation drive around work.

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dibblah@reddit

How many days do you get, do you know? The problem with just having a couple of days is that a lot of volunteer things will need you to do training/compliance for, even just basic health and safety, which means if you're only in for one day it can be difficult. EG I volunteer at an animal shelter however there's training you need to do before you are allowed to interact with the animals, for your and their safety. There's also the issue of their regular staff/volunteers having to take their time to induct you and supervise you, and if it's only for one day how much value does that give? So what I've found is that the best thing to do is get a group of you together from work and organise a group volunteer session. Or, look for group volunteer sessions you can join yourself. These can be things like tree planting, painting, cleaning, litter picking, building things etc, that way there's a whole group of you to get a big task done and it's worth the charity's time, and it's not something so specialised you need lots of training for.

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Bitter_Tradition_938@reddit

That’s the problem… most companies only give you 3 days.

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laurasoup52@reddit

I get 3 days but my work allows me to take it as hours or half days. Means I can spread my support more evenly across a year

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Ok-Flamingo2801@reddit

If OP has free time at the weekend/evening, they could do some volunteering on a regular basis and then do a few extra days during the workday

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Obvious_Armadillo_16@reddit (OP)

I also thought this. I get 3 days

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dibblah@reddit

If you're willing to take a couple of days annual leave too, a friend of mine did a week residential volunteering at a nature reserve in Scotland which sounded pretty cool

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TwoValuable@reddit

Check your local council website/social media. They might have one off volunteering opportunities that would be more suited for someone who only has a few work days a year spare.

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Amylou789@reddit

I get volunteering days with my work. I'm doing Action Tutoring this year. It's teaching either maths or English to disadvantaged kids and they provide all materials for the tutoring sessions and training, so you don't have to spend time preparing stuff for each session. You can choose to do in person in the classroom or virtual and the session is 1hr with 1-3 kids. Most are straight after school so within work hours. You pick a session to do and the ones I looked at ran for 16 weeks. I'm doing it virtually and have found it good. It doesn't need much prep time after the first couple of sessions to work out how the workbook is structured as it is already organised into lessons and it feels worthwhile doing. Another one advertised at work is Chapter One, which is listening to a primary school kid read for half an hour who doesn't get to read at home, which also sounds good. It think that is entirely virtual and then at the end you can go into the school and meet your kid.

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Curiousnessie9@reddit

Do they have to be a charity or can they just be volunteering opportunities? Our local primary schools and nursing homes welcome volunteer readers for the schools and general company / board gamers for the homes. Can be really rewarding but the organisation would probably need to complete a CRB check on volunteers.

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Lopsided-Camel1114@reddit

Woodgreen,cats trust,mind,ark foundation (mental health).cancer reaserch(im old✌️).

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Volucella_zonaria@reddit

Look for one off volunteering events like litter picks. I work in volunteer coordination and it takes so much effort and resource to on board a volunteer, 2 days just isn't worth it. Businesses would be better off building relationships with charities rather than giving their employees 2 days.

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Realistic-Muffin-165@reddit

John Muir trust. Just told work that's what I was doing.

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ceciem2100@reddit

Foal Farm Animal Rescue Centre is awesome for volunteering!! [https://www.foalfarm.org.uk/](https://www.foalfarm.org.uk/) they welcome individuals or groups. I've volunteered there before and had a great time!! direct link for volunteering [https://www.foalfarm.org.uk/volunteer/](https://www.foalfarm.org.uk/volunteer/)

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TSC-99@reddit

Walk dogs at a shelter 🐶💖

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Milk_no_sugar123@reddit

My work does this too and I’ve volunteered with Food Cycle the last few years, they host community dining events daily made from leftover supermarket food and you can sign up to collect food to use or to help cook. You sign up to sessions individually and they are both in the day and in the evening, you can sign up for as many or few sessions as you wish and they have locations all across England.

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brutalistcheese@reddit

Community garden? Conservation groups? Local park? Local bike shop? Museum? What do you like? There will probably be something out there for you!

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wooden_werewolf_7367@reddit

Animal shelters and Oxfam. The animal shelters were the most fulfilling and I ended up adopting two cats from them.

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Lemontree-333@reddit

Did 2 years with mind in a charity shop and about a year with age connects as a befriender.

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BG3restart@reddit

I volunteered to listen to kids read at a school in a deprived area close to my workplace and to help out with targeted support for maths. Eventually I became a community governor and stayed for 13 years.

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Obvious_Armadillo_16@reddit (OP)

This sounds like something I'd enjoy. How did you find the opportunity tho?

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BG3restart@reddit

It was through a local offshoot of Business in the Community. The company I worked for was a member, so we were involved in all sorts of community initiatives. If your company isn't involved with Business in the Community locally, I believe there's a scheme called Schoolreaders where you have to agree to make a commitment of so many weeks. I saw a stand at the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival recently where they were recruiting people.

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netballer96@reddit

Perhaps try Samaritans if you have a branch locally? They have shifts at all times of the day and I believe you’re required to do one night shift a month if you’re on the phones.

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smoolg@reddit

Shelter

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Tigsteroonie@reddit

Volunteering days that I've heard about at my workplace: animal shelters; food banks; clothing banks for the homeless; wrapping presents for children; rubbish collection in a local park; scrub clearance on a canal; path building at a wetlands trust; painting rooms in a Ronald McDonald house ... I actually used 3 days one year in R&D for a children's charity, so it doesn't have to be 'brawn', there are some 'brain' volunteering opportunities around

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grouchytortoise@reddit

Our team went to a local wildlife hospital. Cleaned out and fed the hedgehogs and baby rabbits. Painted the baby fox pen. Really nice day (summertime). Got to see baby badgers and all sort of birds

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CMDoet@reddit

Mostly for work stuff a nominated Good Organiser™️ has reached out to a local interesting educational places and offered menial work. It's surprising how many places can keep 15 pairs of hands busy doing stuff like mucking out animals or weeding slabs or painting doors. They give us the jobs they're putting off!

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Naive-Interaction567@reddit

Age UK (befriending), Samaritans, various museums and charity shops. In Scotland people can volunteer as children’s panel members in their equivalent of children’s courts.

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luala@reddit

Bit boring but charity shops usually need help sorting donations after Christmas

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SharklessFinn@reddit

I've volunteered at a Sue Ryder charity shop as a teen, and I'm planning to volunteer as a dog walker for a local rescue in the coming weeks, and once I move into a more suitable home - a cat or small dog foster for the same rescue. Celandine Wood Animal Rescue if you're in Merseyside and fancy dog walking, they're actually looking for volunteers right now!

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clickyclicky456@reddit

Old people's homes are often grateful for people who will come and spend time chatting with the residents. No special training necessary.

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Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit

I've done some daytime volunteering with [Care UK](https://www.careukcharity.org.uk/home-og) which is a charity working with disadvantaged people including domestic abuse survivors and refugees, supplying clothing and household essentials. I was just sorting donations — they separate out goods for sale, goods for distribution to those they support, etc. I don't help there any more because the local branch closed. Any charity that has shops will have capacity for daytime volunteers. Look for a charity that is meaningful to you.

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FollowingSalty@reddit

My work does this too and while some people do their own thing, we try at least once a year to do something as a team… normally national trust is keen for big groups of volunteers ! Might not work for you but could be worth suggesting it ?

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wetlettuce42@reddit

Barnardos, birminghsm city mission

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Intelligent-SoupGS88@reddit

My workplace (3,000 employees) does this too, but like you I don't really know where to start with finding opportunities. Would be far more useful if they could generate some connections with the local community/charities etc and make a catalog of opportunities to act as a starting point for colleagues who wish to take part. I assume they don't as probably think too many people would take up the offer of doing something different for up to 2 days!

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