Shout is the UK’s only free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. When people text 'Shout' to 85258, they are connected to a Shout Volunteer for a text conversation. Our volunteers provide a safe space for people to share what's causing them distress, while showing warmth and compassion.
Tasks and Responsibilities
If your application is successful, you’ll be enrolled in a training group. New groups start every two weeks.
Shout Volunteers receive 25 hours of free training in communication, listening, managing and assessing risk, and problem solving. The training is self-paced and done online. You’ll learn how to bring people in distress to a place of calm and practice skills that will be useful to you throughout life.
As we are investing in you throughout your time with us, our hope is that you will complete the training in a timely manner and look at this as a longer term commitment. The experience you gain over time is valuable and our goal is to have volunteers commit to 200 hours on the platform, which can take up to two years to complete, as we ask you to take one 2-4 hour shift per week.
Our Volunteer Training Support team is here to support you, answer any questions and provide feedback during training and throughout your time with Shout. You’ll be joining an incredibly supportive volunteer community and have access to the resources you need to do your role.
As a volunteer, you’ll be supporting people in distress, so it’s important we see the skills required to do that while you are in training. While most trainees complete the training and go on to volunteer, not everyone will pass the training. If this happens, there are other ways you can still support us.
Selection Criteria
A Shout Volunteer is kind and compassionate, a good listener, and has the ability to remain calm when supporting people in crisis. You will also:
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Understand the difference between being friendly and being a friend
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Be aware of your own mental health and wellbeing
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Be open-minded
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Be supportive
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Be reliable
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Be discreet and able to respect confidentiality at all times
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Be accepting and non-judgemental
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Be passionate about contributing some of your time to a cause such as Shout
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Adopt a growth mindset, and be willing to accept feedback
Requirements
- You must live in the United Kingdom or New Zealand while volunteering.
- You must be over 18 years of age.
- You will need a reliable internet connection and a private place to take your shift.
- All of your volunteering must be done using a laptop or desktop computer and Google Chrome.
It’s worth spending time thinking about the nature of the role, and whether it’s right for you. We support all texters, regardless of race, religion, sexual identity or issue. You will need to be comfortable addressing topics frequently discussed with texters (suicide, self-harm, depression, etc.) without compromising your own mental health.
Before you apply, please consider whether either of the following applies to you:
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Have you recently experienced grief, loss or change issue/s? For example; someone close to you has been ill or has died, you’ve lost your job, your relationship has ended.
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Is your current mental health and wellbeing in a place such that the stress and pressure of listening to the challenges of others would bring additional burden to you personally?
Benefits to Volunteers
The role is rewarding and can save lives. Shout Volunteers tell us they gain a sense of pride, satisfaction and purpose from taking conversations. They also tell us that their own wellbeing increases, they learn valuable skills and gain experience they can use at work and in their personal lives.
Volunteering can also be a great addition to your CV. You do not need to have any past experience in mental health to be a Shout Volunteer - we’ll provide you with all the training and support you need to do the role.
Application Process
You will need to create your account and fill in the application using a laptop or desktop computer and in a Google Chrome browser. This is a standard requirement for all of our systems at Shout, from the application through to the platform.
You should leave up to an hour to complete the form. As Shout is a text based service and we do not conduct in person interviews for our volunteer candidates what you write in your application and the strength of your references are how we get to know you.
We appreciate when candidates take the time to write thoughtful, considered answers. We recommend you review your application with an eye toward things like spelling, grammar and punctuation. While some of our texters will occasionally reach out using more informal text speak, our volunteers respond in full sentences and double check their messages for accuracy before hitting send.
Your application will be reviewed once we have received responses from both of your references. We ask for a personal reference and a professional reference. The personal reference can be a friend or colleague but the other must be someone who knows you professionally or has supervised you in some way.
This could be a manager or supervisor from where you work or a teacher or educator from where you study. We recommend you choose references who are able to speak to your ability to fulfil the selection criteria outlined above.
We do not accept references from family members. This includes your partner or their relatives, your children, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents or godparents.
Please allow up to a month for us to review your application and return a decision.
If your application is approved, you can book your place on training. Training groups usually start every two weeks and spaces are available to book a couple of months ahead. While you are in training and before you are allowed on the platform we will carry out a background check.
Registered Charity
Shout is the UK’s only free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank 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!
***Please note that this is an opportunity based in Nottingham (shire) in the United Kingdom and we don’t offer sponsorship or accept overseas applicants***
Age UK Notts are seeking individuals who would like to be considered as a volunteer for our Companion Service.
Volunteers will be supporting people remotely, in their own homes and in the community within Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and ideally, we ask all applicants to provide a minimum of 1 hour volunteering a week.
The companion service volunteer can choose to be:
• A companion telephone/video caller
• A companion within the person’s home
• A companion outside the person’s home
• Or a combination of all three.
Examples of the type of support the service offers include:
• Telephone / video calls for an older person/s on a regular basis at a mutually agreed time for a friendly chat.
• Supporting an older person/s hobbies and interests or simply chatting with them in their own home on a regular basis.
• Supporting with digital access & building confidence skills & motivation to access the opportunities of the internet.
• Supporting the person outside of their home e.g., by accompanying them on a walk, to the shops, to a café, garden centre, theatre or cinema or other social activities / community groups.
• Where appropriate, supporting the older person to access other services through information and signposting or referring to the Companion Service Coordinator for support.
We are looking for the following skills/interests:
• Individuals with a genuine interest in the wellbeing of older people who are committed to volunteering on a regular basis.
• Commitment to complete our Volunteer Report Form accurately and regularly.
• Ability to travel for visits in the local community either by car or public transport for those volunteers who choose to participate in this type of activity.
• Digital literacy for those volunteers who choose to participate in this type of activity.
Please do note, however, that at the moment we are not looking for Volunteer Telephone Companions.
We are looking for volunteers with good daytime availability in specific areas of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Please contact the volunteering team for further information on where specifically in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
101 - 500
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
We are looking for individuals to join our Board in 2025. In recent years we’ve increased and diversified the membership of the Board including the launch of our Associate Board Member programme in 2023. We are looking to continue this work with dynamic and committed people to support further growth and development, building on our achievements.
We want to recruit new Board Members, alongside an opportunity for two Associate Board Members.
Being a Board Member
Board Members play an integral role in providing robust governance and stewardship, in externally supporting future development through advocacy with regional, national and international stakeholders, potential funders and partners from the public and private sectors. Board Members benefit from working with a small, creative and enthusiastic team on the strategic development of the organisation.
What is an AND Associate Board Member?
We have developed a 12 month programme for two Associate Board Members. These roles will work alongside the AND Board of Trustees, and have been designed as a development programme aimed to support potential candidates who do not yet have (sufficient) board-level experience, or the required availability, but have the passion and potential to be a future AND Board member.
The Associate Board Member roles have been created to support individuals who are currently under-represented in the cultural sector, providing greater access to training opportunities, and to add further diversity and richness of perspective to the organisation.
Associate Board Members will:
- bring unique experience from their field of expertise
- share our passion for new ideas and artforms
- place inclusion and engagement at the heart of our culture and vision
- be provided with relevant shadowing, mentoring or training opportunities to support their skills development over 12 months
- attend quarterly AND Board meetings (without legal responsibility or voting rights)
- have the opportunity to apply to become a Board Member after 12 months
It is not necessary to have governance/board-level exposure or experience, but a general understanding of how boards work is required.
If you feel that you don’t quite meet the person specification in the recruitment pack but you’re excited and interested in the opportunity, please get in touch following the application process outlined below.
Joining the AND Board as a Trustee
We are currently looking for individuals to join the AND Board with experience in the following areas:
- Strategic Regional Public Sector Knowledge
- Environmental Sustainability
- Charity Finance
- PR / Digital Communications
- Regional commercial business knowledge across the creative sector, immersive and digital technologies
This isn’t an exhaustive list, and we’re interested in hearing from anyone who believes they have skills or experience to positively contribute to the organisation. We’re also looking for candidates interested in exploring a Vice Chair role with a view to future succession planning for AND Chair. We’re committed to opening up opportunities to people who are currently under-represented in the cultural sector, and we particularly welcome applications from candidates from ethnically diverse backgrounds, Disabled candidates and candidates under 30.
What is it like to be on the AND Board?
Read an interview with our Trustees Sam Bompass and Katie Moffat about being on the AND Board.
About AND
AND is an arts organisation known for creating radical, site-responsive projects at the intersection of art, technology and digital culture.
Working across the UK and internationally, AND commissions artists to explore the social, environmental and ethical implications of emerging technologies. Our portfolio includes large-scale outdoor artworks, exhibitions, research programmes, residencies, online projects and our flagship AND Festival — a nomadic biennial bringing cutting-edge digital experiences to diverse locations.
Our work often takes place in unexpected settings, from post-industrial towns to natural landscapes, creating space for bold experimentation and critical reflection. At our core, we champion interdisciplinary collaboration and are committed to inclusive, sustainable practices that challenge what is considered ‘normal’ in culture today
Practical Details
AND’s Board currently meets for a minimum of four times a year, through a mix of online, and in person meetings in Manchester (UK). There are additional, occasional meetings and sub-committee groups which can be attended via video call. We are particularly interested in hearing from North-based candidates, especially those with regional public sector or commercial business expertise, although we are open to applications from candidates from across the UK.
This is an unpaid role. You’ll need to commit around a day a month to the role. AND will reimburse reasonable travel expenses to meetings in full.
How to apply
- Read our AND Board Membership Recruitment Pack or our AND Associate Board Membership Pack
- If you’d like to speak informally about becoming an AND Board Member or Associate Board Member, you are welcome to request a conversation by Friday 30 May 2025
- Following this, we ask for a CV along with a short written statement (max 1 page) / video (max 3 minutes) to be submitted by Midnight Sunday 22 June 2025 with AND BOARD MEMBER ROLE or AND ASSOCIATE BOARD MEMBER ROLE as the subject field.
- Complete an Equal Opportunities Form (submitted anonymously)
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.