Volunteering Opportunities

Week in, week out we nourish the hungry and lonely in our communities with delicious meals and great conversation, using food which would otherwise go to waste.

FoodCycle aims to:
• Connect communities
• Support mental health and wellbeing
• Nourish the hungry
• Promote sustainability
• Inspire change

As a Cooking Volunteer you’ll join the kitchen team to help produce a three-course vegetarian meal using surplus food. You’ll contribute to recipe ideas, help with prepping the food, cooking the meal, and of course clearing up afterwards! You’ll be supported by a FoodCycle Project Leader, who will help you to develop your kitchen skills.

As a Hosting Volunteer you’ll be working with the rest of the hosting team to create a warm, welcoming environment for our guests. By serving our guests a free, delicious meal and sharing in conversation, you'll be helping to reduce hunger and loneliness in your community. You’ll be supported by a FoodCycle Project Leader, who will help you to develop your hosting skills.
You don’t need to have any previous experience – you just need to get stuck in!

Skills you'll learn
- Teamwork: you’ll work as part of a team to help produce a delicious meal for our guests.
- Cooking: you’ll learn how to cater for large numbers and how to make nutritionally balanced meals.
- Creativity: you won’t know what your ingredients are before the session so you’ll need to get creative to come up with recipe ideas and produce a great meal!
- Fundraising: you’ll have the opportunity to participate in fundraising activities, like pop ups and sponsored challenges, to help raise vital funds to support your Project.
FoodCycle is a company limited by guarantee (number 7101349) and a registered charity in England and Wales (number 1134423).

What to expect from FoodCycle
- Ongoing support and advice from a FoodCycle Project Leader during every session.
- Expenses, including mileage, covered in line with our volunteer policy.
- Free online training modules, including first aid awareness and food allergens.
- The opportunity to take on additional tasks/responsibilities.
- Impressive skills to add to your CV and a reference if/when you need it.
- The opportunity to meet a large network of like-minded people.
- A fun, creative volunteer experience within a community-led Project.

The hours are flexible and you won't need to be there every Friday and Sunday. A rota gets sent out to volunteers in advance for them to put themselves down to help at sessions. Our current volunteers volunteer a couple of times per month. 

The sessions take place all year. 

The bowling takes place at Bath Leisure Centre and the Sunday Club usually takes place in the evening at a restaurant somewhere in the city centre.

We reinburse expenses for travel, bowling ticket and meals. 

You can be a volunteer with us for however long you would like. 

You will

• Enjoy the outdoors, meet other like-minded students and make a real difference
• Develop practical habitat management skills like tree planting, pond maintenance
• Find out more about local wildlife
• Work as a team,  build your confidence, keep physically active

No previous experience is needed.

We will provide…

• The chance to make a difference locally and take action to respond to the ecological and climate emergencies
• Training in practical skills and opportunities to input your ideas
• Opportunities to meet your personal goals and expectations from volunteering

Why should you be a Healthwatch Community Engagement and Outreach volunteer?
If you like talking and listening to people, this is the right role for you. We have a vital role to play in ensuring people in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) are engaged, listened to and provided with an avenue to tell us their views and opinions.
By people sharing their experiences with us we can bring these to health and care providers and decision makers in B&NES to influence services to make them better. You will be an essential part of our team in ensuring people’s voices are collected and heard in the right places. We need your help to be the best that we can be.

What will the role involve?
• Working with Healthwatch volunteers and staff team to reach out into different communities to get people’s views on health and social care services
• Planning engagement activities with other volunteers and staff members
• Engaging people using online platforms e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams and/or via phone
• Keeping a record of people’s experiences and promptly pass these to Healthwatch staff members
• Holding engagement and information stands in community areas such as hospitals, GP Surgeries and dentists
• Talking to and gathering views of the public and reporting this back to us
• Helping us conduct surveys and consultations with local people
Personal specification/requirements
• Effective communication skills and ability to ask questions and listen well to engage with people
• Enjoys meeting with and talking to members of the public
• Empathy towards people
• Passionate about improving local health and social care services
• Able to separate own experiences from other people’s issues and to faithfully present the views of the people they represent
• Able to work as a team with other volunteers and staff
• Experience of using Microsoft Office, including Word
• Access to the internet/email
• Be comfortable volunteering from home and using online meeting platforms e.g. Zoom or Microsoft Teams (training can be provided in the latter)
• Respectful of confidentiality

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
A DBS check will be required as part of this role
How we will support you?
As well our volunteering handbook, you will have regular contact with a member of the Healthwatch team to provide you with support and guidance throughout. You’ll receive full training including induction to Healthwatch and be part of a team who’ll make sure your volunteering experience is positive.

How much time is involved?
Our volunteering roles are flexible and fit around your schedule. Ideally, our local Healthwatch Volunteers would be able to make a regular commitment to the role on a weekly or monthly basis, but this role can also be ad-hoc to suit your lifestyle.
We will always work closely with you to ensure your volunteering role fits with your other personal and social commitments

Your Park Bristol and Bath is transforming our local parks for nature and making them more welcoming for everyone. We are a charity. We are looking for people who will enjoy volunteering in Bath’s Parks. With your help we want to make a lasting impact, taking action for nature and in response to the climate and ecological emergencies.  

You will…

• Help improve parks in Bath for people and wildlife, get active, share existing skills and develop new ones, enjoy the outdoors, meet people and have the satisfaction of making a difference
• Help create new wildflower meadows, plant trees, plant bulbs, create ponds, and establish much-needed habitats for pollinators.
• Help improve access so that everyone can enjoy our local parks

No previous experience is needed but would be very welcome if you have relevant skills, such as gardening or conservation work.

We will provide…

• The chance to make a difference locally and take tangible actions to respond to the ecological and climate emergencies
• Training and support to enable you to join in with conservation/wildlife enhancements
• Opportunities to help meet your personal goals and expectations from volunteering
• Personal Protective Equipment

Each summer we run 5 different summer camps for people with a Learning Disability and/or Autism. The camps are fully residential with both guests and volunteers staying on site for the week. All accomodation and meals are provided for the week. 

The focus is on giving our guests an amazing holiday, packed with fun activities and the chance to socialise with their friends and the volunteers. In order to do this we pair our guests with volunteers who will then help them to have the best time possible. This will involve helping them day to day, joining them in the day’s activities and outings and engaging with them. It can also involve providing some personal care, but this is not a requirement for anyone who is uncomfortable with it. Every week will also have at least 2 leaders, a medic, cook and minibus drivers. 

We provide our volunteers with some training before camp, including a mandatory safeguarding session via zoom. There will then be a little more training at the start of camp before our guests arrive. We will also be setting up an in-person orientation day at the site which will give volunteers the chance to meet some leaders, volunteers and guests ahead of camp. 

The IntoUniversity Mentoring Scheme pairs a university student or an individual who has graduated within the past 2 years with one of IntoUniversity’s young people (aged 10-17) giving them the opportunity to receive tailored, one-to-one support for their academic attainment, social skills and future planning.

What does being a Mentor involve?

• Working one-to-one with an IntoUniversity student for one hour at least twice a month. Meetings take place virtually via Microsoft Teams, with the possibility of face-to-face meetings if desired.

• Meeting with your Mentee for at least five sessions.

• Planning your mentoring sessions in advance, with the support of IntoUniversity staff. Activities might range from helping your Mentee with their homework or working on their public speaking, to baking a cake together or taking part in a group trip to a university.

• Attending a mentoring graduation event with your Mentee at the end of the year.

What can you expect from us?

• Full training in advance of beginning your role and ongoing support and training opportunities from IntoUniversity staff. These sessions are currently taking place over Zoom and face to face in the foreseeable future. Details of the session will be emailed to you once you have applied.

• Flexibility in your volunteering around exams and holidays.

• The chance to develop valuable new skills and gain experience working with young people.

• Recognition through the IntoUniversity accreditation scheme.

What do we expect from you?

• Commitment to the role and to providing the best support possible to your Mentee.

• Enthusiasm and a proactive approach.

• The ability to build a positive relationship with a young person.

• 5 meeting minimal commitment

To apply: https://intouniversity.formtitan.com/ftfd9449fb1654688825896#/

Volunteers would be invited to arrive for 2.30 and leave by 6pm. 

Volunteers will be invited to take part in the event and enjoy the company of the guests including our GrandFriends, and to have some of the delicious cakes, sandwiches and other refreshments which vary from month to month.

We will require volunteers to have a DBS, which we will be happy to adminster and pay for.

Overview

400,000 participants across the UK are limbering up to join the fight against cancer, but they can’t cross the finish line without the passion and energy of Event Day volunteers like you.

Our events raise an incredible £40million each year and this funds our researchers who are working hard to make sure 3 in 4 people survive cancer by 2034. 

Whether you want to help at a Race for Life 5k, 10k or Pretty Muddy event, we’ve got more than 400 across the UK to choose from.

Bring your energy, smiles and passion and let’s beat cancer together.   

What kind of person we are looking for:

We’re on the lookout for individuals and groups who are

• Enthusiastic and willing to get stuck in.

• Willing to get their hands dirty (literally at our Pretty Muddy events but trust us, it’s great fun!)

• Flexible and who can use their own initiative.

• Team players – you’ll be joining a lovely bunch of other volunteers! 

• Good communicators.

At Cancer Research UK we value diversity. We're committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone is able to be themselves and to reach their full potential. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures and believe that a diverse volunteer community will help us to beat cancer.

What you'll be doing

As an event day volunteer, you'll be getting hands-on to help deliver some of our great events and provide a fantastic experience. No two events are the same, but you could find yourself doing some of the below activities, all of which play an important part*:

• Helping set-up and pack down the event  - This might include the course, signage, banners and marquees and getting water to the finish line.

• Support on the course - You could be located at one of our marshal points, cheering and encouraging our participants to keep them going along the course, or at the finish point handing out the well-deserved bottle of water and medal. Perhaps you'll help take some photos for the CRUK social media pages too! 

• Answering queries at our information points - You'll help answer queries from participants and spectators during the event. From simple directions to processing on-the-day entries, swapping t-shirts and replacing runner numbers.

This is just a sneak peak of some of the ways you'll be involved and is not an exhaustive list. No matter what you do you’ll know you are making a huge difference to those taking part in our amazing events. 

What’s in it for you

Volunteering at Race for Life has a host of benefits, including:

• Developing new and existing skills in event management.

• Gaining valuable experience for future roles. 

• Gaining a unique insight into the world of the charity sector.

• Meeting new people and having fun.

• Travel and other reasonable expenses reimbursed, as agreed in advance with your Event Manager. 

• Helping to make our events happen and beating cancer sooner. 

• And last but not least, a fantastic day to remember.

Your commitment and location

• Event season normally runs from May to October, all over the UK.

• You can join us at one or more of our events at locations which work for you.

• Most events take place at weekends.

• Hours vary. Some events have early starts or late finishes but we'll always discuss your availability with you! 

What support we provide

You will be briefed by one of our event team staff when you arrive so that you know exactly what you'll be doing.  You'll then be supported and guided by them throughout the event, as well as the Event Manager. 

We'll also provide light refreshments, a t-shirt and a great atmosphere which you'll be sure to love! 

Accessibility

Our volunteering roles are open for everyone and if you have any accessibility needs or queries, please get in touch via email - supporter.services@cancer.org.uk

At Cancer Research UK we value diversity and we're committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone is able to be themselves and to reach their full potential. We will consider making any reasonable adjustments to support volunteer applications from people with a disability or health condition. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures and believe that volunteers from diverse backgrounds will help us to beat cancer. 

Questions?

If you have any questions about this role, please email supporter.services@cancer.org.uk