Community volunteer roles in abbey wood, greater london

Spires, a South London homelessness charity, is seeking trustees to support its mission and growth.

About Spires

Spires is an award-winning charity that has been working with homeless and disadvantaged people in Streatham, South London, since 1990.  Working with some of the most isolated and vulnerable in our society, we support over 900 men and women every year.

Our vision and aim is to be the best support that we can in helping people move from lives of distress, isolation and insecurity to a future of greater stability and hope. The majority of our clients are homeless or have insecure accommodation, with many also facing complex issues such as long-term unemployment, problems with poor mental and physical health, addiction and substance abuse, or they may even be imprisoned by sex work.

What will you be doing?

Trustees at Spires are responsible for overseeing the charity’s strategic direction and ensuring its long-term sustainability. Key responsibilities include:

• Strategic oversight: Help shape and support Spires’ evolving strategy
• Legal and regulatory compliance: Ensure adherence to governing documents, charity law, and relevant regulations
• Financial oversight: Together as a board, approve annual budgets, monitor financial performance, and support the Treasurer in maintaining financial health
• Resource management: Ensure that the charity’s resources are used effectively to meet its mission
• Support and challenge: Engage actively in board meetings, offering advice, support, and constructive challenge
• Ambassadorship: Promote Spires within your networks, helping raise its profile and attract support for its mission
• Uphold best practices: Ensure high standards of governance, transparency, and accountability throughout the organisation

This role is mainly home-based

The board meets six times a year, with an estimated time commitment of around 4 hours per month.

Please request the candidate pack for more information.

What are we looking for?

We’re seeking trustees with the following attributes:

• Commitment to Spires and its mission
• Good, independent judgment and strategic vision
• Willingness to speak up and share your opinions
• Understanding of legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship
• Willingness to devote the necessary time and effort to duties as a trustee
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Creative thinking and problem-solving skills

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds but are particularly interested in those with experience in marketing, social media, fundraising, finance, governance, or legal compliance. Additionally, lived experience of homelessness or related challenges is highly valued, as we strive to ensure our board reflects the community we serve.

No prior trustee experience is required - just a willingness to contribute time, expertise, and fresh perspectives.

What Difference will you make?

By joining Spires as a trustee, you will directly influence the charity’s ability to support homeless and at-risk individuals. Your contributions can help shape policies, enhance fundraising efforts, and strengthen governance, ensuring Spires can continue providing life-changing services. Whether by improving financial oversight, increasing community engagement, or advocating for those in need, your involvement will play a vital role in improving lives and preventing homelessness in South London.

The Programmes & Services department keeps our organisation running. Our team work directly with volunteers by offering them support.

Our Programmes & Services department is divided into four roles. Each of these roles reports to our Programmes & Services Manager. Our four roles are: 

• People Coordinator 

• Volunteer Engagement Coordinator 

• Referrals Coordinator 

• Training Coordinator 

Key tasks and responsibilities 

• Track the attendance of all volunteers. 

• Maintain friendly relationships with caseworkers. 

• Be the first point of contact for queries from volunteers and signpost to the relevant team/person. 

• Support the accessibility needs of volunteers attending in person or online. 

• Organise socials for the organisation. 

• Feedback volunteer experiences to the management team. 

• Support the People Coordinator to ensure the smooth onboarding and offboarding of volunteers. 

• In person attendance on Saturdays is compulsory but there is no expectation of remote work throughout week. 

This volunteer role is designed to provide vital operational and logistical support to the CEO’s Personal Assistant, ensuring that both day-to-day and ad hoc matters requiring a physical presence or UK-based coordination are managed smoothly. As the CEO’s primary PA is remote, this role will act as an essential on-the-ground extension of the executive support function, helping to manage communications, logistics, administrative tasks, and in-person coordination.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build experience in executive support, charity operations, and stakeholder engagement in a forward-thinking and dynamic third sector organisation.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Support (In-Office & On-Site)

• Serve as the local point of contact for tasks requiring physical presence – such as receiving mail, managing office-based documents, collecting/delivering resources, and setting up meeting spaces.
• Assist in coordinating in-person meetings, events, and visits, ensuring smooth logistics and professional presentation.
• Support the maintenance of filing systems and physical records in alignment with digital processes.

Remote Administrative Support

 Assist the Personal Assistant with diary management, follow-ups, and meeting coordination.

• Draft correspondence, schedule appointments, and prepare briefings or summaries as needed.
• Maintain records, digital filing, and update cloud-based systems (e.g. Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint).

Communication & Liaison

• Support communication between the CEO's office, staff, volunteers, trustees, and external stakeholders – particularly where in-person contact or faster turnaround is beneficial.
• Relay key information between the remote PA and UK-based teams or partners in a timely and professional manner.

General Tasks

 Assist with preparing for workshops, club events, and community engagements.

• Maintain confidentiality and represent the CEO’s office with professionalism and discretion at all times.
• Attend internal meetings or external events as delegated, capturing notes and key actions for follow-up.

Person Specification

 Essential

• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Clear and confident communicator with excellent interpersonal skills.
• Comfortable working independently and taking initiative.
• Based in London with the ability to work both remotely and in person as required.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office 365 and general digital platforms.

Desirable

• Experience in administrative, PA, or coordination roles.
• Interest in the charity or youth/community sector.
• Familiarity with platforms such as Teams, SharePoint, Trello, or CRM tools.

What You’ll Gain

Hands-on experience supporting executive functions in a respected charitable organisation.

• Opportunities for personal and professional development, including mentoring and training.
• Exposure to high-level operations, event delivery, and partnership engagement.
• Reimbursement of reasonable travel and agreed expenses (per Volunteer Policy).

Sustainability Research Volunteer
People & Planet is looking for volunteers to assist with compiling its 2025/26 People & Planet
University League; the only higher education ranking that classifies based on ethics and climate
justice criteria.
Universities impart skills and knowledge, form life-long beliefs and behaviours, act as centres of
communities, employ, house and feed large numbers of people and promote the creation and
sharing of knowledge. We believe this makes them uniquely placed to lead on environmental and
ethical issues. For this reason the People & Planet University League has been running since 2007
and has been published by high-profile media partners such as The Guardian (2021, 2022. 2023,
2024) and whose data is used in the Sunday Time Good University Guide.
Volunteers will research publicly available university documents and assess universities against
our marking criteria, which cover a wide range of climate and social justice issues including
decarbonisation, fossil fuel divestment, ethical banking, workers’ rights and environmental
management among others. This work will help to incentivise the university sector towards taking
immediate and appropriate action on the climate crisis and upholding the rights and wellbeing of all
people internationally.

The role will develop and improve the following areas:
●​ Qualitative research skills
●​ Attention to detail
●​ Use of data collection software
●​ Time management and keeping to deadlines
●​ Working independently and remotely
●​ Communication skills
●​ Knowledge of environmental management processes and sustainability reporting.

Training is provided for the role. We believe the skills and experience gained could be valuable for
a number of career paths, including working in NGOs, corporate sustainability, estates
management, higher education policy making, research and campaigning among many others.
People & Planet would like to support volunteers in their future careers, so will give all volunteers
an official reference letter on successful completion of their placement and will act as a referee for
future positions for which you may apply. From last year’s cohort, 100% said they would
recommend this position to someone who wanted to add experience to their CV.

Feedback from previous volunteers
‘I think as someone looking for relevant experience to bolster a CV, this is a helpful and
not-too-time-consuming position. It had exactly the kind of flexibility that I required at this point in time.’
‘It's a really great opportunity to hone one's research skills, learn more about what our universities can do to
improve their impact on the planet, and make a small but real difference.’

Person Specification -the following are essential:

• Access to a computer or laptop and internet connection.
• Familiarity with desk-based research.
• Ability to work accurately and efficiently to agreed standards.
• Reliability and commitment to completing work to deadlines.Sustainability Research Volunteer
• Able to communicate needs with staff at People & Planet and if needed, ask for appropriate
• support to complete tasks in time.
• Ability to search policy documents for specific information in English.
• Ability to assess information against standardised frameworks.
• Ability to work remotely and independently

The following are desirable:

●​ Awareness of current issues in sustainability and ethics.
●​ Experience of research and data collection.
●​ An interest in higher education policy.
You will need to commit to
●​ Two 25 hour weeks of remote work in July and August.
●​ 5 hours work per day for the two week period. Volunteers can manage their own time
flexibly and will receive support from People & Planet, but must meet task deadlines on a
weekly basis and attend a short daily meeting.
●​ One half day of remote training and induction the week prior to your 2 week engagement.
●​ Attending a brief meeting in the morning or afternoon each day and one individual check-in
meeting in week 1.

Summer timetable
June 30th-July 11th Ethical Investment and Banking, Ethical Careers and Recruitment,
Education for Sustainable Development. Training and induction w/c 23rd June
July 21st-1st August Sustainable Food, Staff & HR, Environmental Policy and Strategy
Training and induction w/c 14th July
August 11th-August 22nd Managing Carbon, Workers’ Rights, Staff and Student
Engagement, Environmental Management and Auditing. Training and induction w/c August
4th

Application

Applications will be processed on a rolling basis until positions are filled, so please apply early to
avoid disappointment. The deadline for applications is Friday June the 6th 2025
Candidates will need to attend a non-competitive group recruitment session and complete an
online self-access task before being invited to volunteer with us.
Please let us know if you have specific access needs and what we can do to make the interview,
training and volunteer experience more accessible to you, including organising a one-on-one
interview. We welcome people with hearing loss, deaf and or disabled people to apply for thisSustainability Research Volunteer volunteer opportunity -unfortunately we don't use BSL so would need to make alternative support provisions for the training, unless a BSL interpreter can join you. If you have specific needs where
we might support you by making this volunteering opportunity more accessible, please let us know via email
People & Planet welcome applications from BAME folks and people of colour, from disabled people, from LGBTQI*people, from people who speak English as a second language, from people who identify as non-binary gender, from women, from people of different ages, from people with caring responsibilities and from people with irregular migration status, people seeking asylum in the UK or with a migrant background, folks with a working class background, and everyone else.

TikTok and Instagram Reels Content Creator (Volunteer, Unpaid)

Empathos Foundation is looking for a creative and enthusiastic TikTok and Instagram Reels Content Creator to help us craft impactful short-form videos that amplify our mission and campaigns. This is a volunteer, unpaid role designed for individuals passionate about storytelling, social media trends, and creating meaningful content. This remote position requires a commitment of approximately 4 hours per week, with access to Canva Pro for your video editing needs.

What You’ll Do:

• Edit and create a series of TikTok and Instagram Reels using post-event footage, photos, and media that we’ll upload to Google Drive.
• Transform raw content into engaging short-form videos that highlight events, promote campaigns, and resonate with our audience.
• Stay on top of TikTok and Instagram Reels trends, incorporating music, transitions, and styles to increase engagement.
• Collaborate with the team to align your work with our branding and objectives.
• Produce visually compelling and shareable videos to promote events, initiatives, and impact stories.

The Impact of Your Work:

Your contributions as a volunteer will help us:

• Amplify our mission: Use engaging videos to highlight our work in academia and welfare, inspiring wider support and participation.
• Promote events effectively: Showcase event highlights and key moments to attract and engage audiences.
• Expand our reach: Build a stronger social media presence, reaching new audiences and increasing our visibility.
• Foster community engagement: Use storytelling to connect with supporters and encourage their involvement.

Skills, Experience, and Qualities:

• Video Editing Skills: Proficiency with Canva Pro, CapCut, Adobe Premiere, or similar tools to create professional-quality videos.
• Social Media Trend Knowledge: Awareness of TikTok and Instagram Reels trends, including popular music, challenges, and editing techniques.
• Creative and Organised: Ability to create engaging narratives from raw footage and maintain consistent quality and branding.
• Passion for Storytelling: Strong enthusiasm for using video to inspire change and communicate our impact.
• Time Management: Commitment to approximately 4 hours per week, with the ability to meet deadlines.
• Collaborative Mindset: Comfortable working remotely with a team and open to feedback.

While this is an unpaid role, it’s a fantastic opportunity to gain experience, grow your portfolio, and make a real difference by contributing to meaningful causes.

Join Empathos Foundation as a TikTok and Instagram Reels Content Creator. Help us turn post-event media into inspiring stories that engage and empower communities!

A well established care home in Dagenham East London caring for the elderly is looking for Trustees to assist with the governance and strategy of the charity.

We provide high quality, stimulating and holistic residential care for elderly people living with dementia. The support and care we provide to our residents enables their families to go about their everyday lives knowing that their loved ones are safe and well cared for in a homely environment.

What will you be doing?

The care home is very well respected in the community and mostly looks after residents from the local area.

The care home was established 32 years ago and is looking for trustees with various skills, such as marketing, finance, healthcare and strategy to join the existing trustee. A care background would be beneficial but is not essential.

The care home has a good reputation in the area and is ranked as 'good' by the Care Quality Commission.

The management in the home have been in position for many years and are a great source of stability for the home.

Estimate of time needed: 0-5 hours / month

What are we looking for?

· Marketing and income generation

· Strategy

· Finance 

· Healthcare

What difference will you make?

As a trustee and part of the board you will play a vital role not only ensuring current good governance but also with the discussion and development of a strategy for the business, to help the charity and care home evolve to reflect the changes over the last 32 years.

How to apply

To apply, please click on the link provided and follow the instructions provided.

We are currently recruiting volunteers to be part of our Governance team. The Data Protection Advisor will be responsible for overseeing the clinic's use of data and legal obligations under GDPR, maintaining high standards throughout. They will respond to the Governance and Compliance Manager. 

We are a forward-thinking advice and support charity for the Trans Community. As we continue to grow, we are seeking a Data Protection Advisor to consult on our data protection procedures to ensure we are compliant with all regulations relating to data privacy. 

 The Data Protection Advisor will play a pivotal role in guiding our clinic through the data protection processes. This entry-level position will involve overseeing the clinic’s data protection policies and procedures, ensuring best practices are followed, and fostering a culture of compliance. You will work closely with senior leadership to develop strategies for growth while safeguarding the clinic’s data protection. 

 This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing legal clinic through a pivotal stage of development. You will play a key role in shaping the future of the clinic, ensuring it meets the highest professional standards while contributing to a meaningful cause. We offer a supportive and collaborative work environment with opportunities for professional growth and development. 

PINT (People In Need Today)

We create awareness for people experiencing homelessness through media, publicity and projects.

We aim to create awareness for those in need via promotion of our work to the homeless and those in need through media and publicity. The aim is to show the majority that what they see and hear is an actual myth of what they see and believe homelessness is. We also highlight the fact that so much is wasted that can go to help other especially people in need around the globe.

PINT aims to highlight that awareness can be created by team work showing the world that so much gets wasted daily which can be contributed towards many that are suffering without on a daily basis. Our project has been in existence for 15 years now in that time we have grown from feeding tans supporting those in need in the community to covering a number of areas in London and the United Kingdom.

Business Administration

Volunteer Role Description (remote, unpaid)

We are looking for a Business Administration Volunteer with a hands on view of helping our organisation reach its goals and target. The role is administrative and require good communication skills as well as excellent grammar and knowledge of the English language. You will need to be able to evaluate, make reports and show metric details. This will include the compilation of databases. U.K. based applicants are requested but we are open to individuals that have exceptional knowledge of the U.K.

Weekly Time Commitment

2-3 hours per week

Duration of Volunteer Role (remote)

1-2 months

Information reviewers

We’re the MS Society – a community of people living with MS, scientists, campaigners, listeners, organisers, ambassadors and fundraisers. Our volunteers are a key part of achieving our goals and their support is vital. Join us.

About this opportunity
If you or a family member has MS,  we need your help in reviewing our information. 

Your ideas, your experiences and your feedback help make sure our info is clear, useful and appropriate for everyone living with MS. 

You’ll have an impact on the info we can provide online and in print.  

This is a great opportunity to get involved with a national charity. We need you to get involved and help make positive changes to the lives of people with MS.

About you
You’ll have MS or personal experience of supporting someone who has MS. You’ll want to share your thoughts on making information work better for people with MS. 

Apply 
- Read through the role description carefully

Fill out the application form

The MS Society is committed to promoting diversity. We can only offer roles to over 18s.

Do you have a great idea to benefit people living with MS? At the MS Society, we campaign on a range of issues like welfare, treatments, care and support that people with MS need. We want to do more locally and want to support your ideas on making change happen. Together we can do more.

Perhaps you’ve spotted there are no blue badge spaces at your local supermarket? Or maybe your neighbourhood has no kerbs easy for wheelchairs to use? In this volunteer role, you’ll help drive change for people with MS in your community and develop your networking and influencing skills along the way.

As a campaigner you’ll bring your own ideas, local knowledge and personal experience to your campaigns. You’ll make decisions about your own campaign activities and collaborate with other campaigners in your area.

This role is flexible and aims to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities and the campaigning you’d like to do. This is an ongoing role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully (available via file attached on the right hand side)

2. Apply online, and have a welcome chat with your support staff member

As our current Chair, Tim Roberts, comes toward the end of his final term of office, we are now seeking a new Chair of Trustees to succeed Tim and support The Mayor’s Fund for London as we take forward our ambitious strategy over the coming years.

It’s a vital time for young people in London – with many facing challenges around poverty and cost of living, mental health and wellbeing, and a lack of access to opportunities and services. But at the same time, there are real opportunities, through the London Growth Plan, and the appetite of communities, businesses and education to work together to ensure young people do have the chance to thrive. The Mayor’s Fund for London is a charity at the heart of connecting these agendas, driven by the voices of young people and the organisations that support them.

As Chair of Trustees, you’ll lead a highly skilled, very engaged and diverse board of Trustees, working with a talented staff team, within an organisation which enjoys great relationships and a growing reputation as a leading voice in London. If you care passionately about young Londoners succeeding, have great connections in business, can navigate through London’s civil society and the policy landscape and have a good grasp of governance, diversity and inclusion then this exciting and unique opportunity could be the one for you.

Volunteer Befriender: Home-Start Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham

Do you have experience with young children and have two hours to spare a week?

Are you a compassionate and reliable person who wants to make a real difference in the lives of families?

Home-Start WKCHF is looking for volunteers to support parents and children who are facing challenges such as isolation, mental health struggles, or financial difficulties.

About the Role

As a Home-Start volunteer, you will provide emotional and practical support to families with young children in their own homes. Your role may involve:                                                                                                                                                     

• Offering friendship, a listening ear and encouragement
• Helping parents build confidence in their parenting skills
• Providing practical support such as accompanying families to appointments, family hubs or groups
• Signposting to additional services and community resources

What We’re Looking For

• A friendly and non-judgmental attitude
• Experience parenting or caring for children
• Good listening and communication skills
• Commitment to volunteering for two hour per week for a minimum of six months
• Willingness to attend free preparation course and undergo a DBS / reference checks

What We Offer

• Free Volunteer Preparation Training Course
• Regular 1-to-1 supervision and ongoing support
• Additional training opportunities to enhance your skills and experience
• Reimbursement of travel and out-of-pocket expenses
• Volunteer Social Events
• A chance to develop new skills and meet like-minded people
• The opportunity to make a lasting impact on families’ lives

Join Us!

Do you have a great idea to benefit people living with MS? At the MS Society, we campaign on a range of issues like welfare, treatments, care and support that people with MS need. We want to do more locally and want to support your ideas on making change happen. Together we can do more.

Perhaps you’ve spotted there are no blue badge spaces at your local supermarket? Or maybe your neighbourhood has no kerbs easy for wheelchairs to use? In this volunteer role, you’ll help drive change for people with MS in your community and develop your networking and influencing skills along the way.

As a campaigner you’ll bring your own ideas, local knowledge and personal experience to your campaigns. You’ll make decisions about your own campaign activities and collaborate with other campaigners in your area.

This role is flexible and aims to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities and the campaigning you’d like to do. This is an ongoing role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully (available via file attached on the right hand side)

2. Apply online, and have a welcome chat with your support staff member

Do you have a great idea to benefit people living with MS? At the MS Society, we campaign on a range of issues like welfare, treatments, care and support that people with MS need. We want to do more locally and want to support your ideas on making change happen. Together we can do more.

Perhaps you’ve spotted there are no blue badge spaces at your local supermarket? Or maybe your neighbourhood has no kerbs easy for wheelchairs to use? In this volunteer role, you’ll help drive change for people with MS in your community and develop your networking and influencing skills along the way.

As a campaigner you’ll bring your own ideas, local knowledge and personal experience to your campaigns. You’ll make decisions about your own campaign activities and collaborate with other campaigners in your area.

This role is flexible and aims to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities and the campaigning you’d like to do. This is an ongoing role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully (available via file attached on the right hand side)

2. Apply online, and have a welcome chat with your support staff member