Diy Volunteer Volunteer Roles in Belfast

Bath Welcomes Refugees (BWR) is seeking a Volunteer Communications Lead to become part of our Management Committee.  The holder of the role will develop and also implement a communications strategy, coordinating our communications with members and supporters, our donors (current and potential), wider stakeholders and the general public. 

Who we are

BWR harnesses the goodwill of the community in welcoming and supporting refugees and asylum seekers to thrive in their new community.  BWR is a small inclusive charity. Volunteer-led and non-partisan, we help refugee families out of desperate circumstances and into a promising future. Our volunteers assist with English-language teaching, DIY, fundraising, gardening, employability needs and more. We also have the hands-on support of befrienders, assistants at social events and helpers at our weekly crèche and at social events.

Expectations for this volunteer role

• Development of a communications strategy and its implementation in line with our wider policies

• Coordinating appropriate responses to any media enquiries, including monitoring and managing our media@  email address

• Engaging proactively with relevant media to help publicise our activities, needs and events by:

  • Writing occasional press releases

  • Creating content and posting on our social media channels

  • Updating our website periodically 

• Coordinating the production of a regular membership newsletter.

• Monitoring and moderating content on our social media channels, taking steps to ensure it’s in line with our values and ethos 

• Assisting in the development of written copy and visuals so that they support our aims, and are in line with our values and responsibilities 

• Supporting our fundraising team by assisting it to develop and implement effective communication plans 

• Monitoring national and international media for relevant issues that BWR should be aware of and may wish to take action to support

• Attending monthly meetings of the Management Committee and contributing to the overall management of the charity

Your skills and experience

Ideally you will have a background in communications in a commercial, public sector or charity setting or you may have a background as a journalist.

Excellent written communication skills are needed and previous hands-on experience of managing social media feeds would be preferable.   Skills in the development of visuals for use both online and in hard copy would also be welcomed. 

As a regionally based charity, local media contacts would also be very valuable to us.

You will need to undertake a DBS check.

Time commitment

The time may vary from week to week but we would expect that most weeks it  would be around 7 hours spread across the week to make sure we are monitoring media enquiries and updating social feeds in a timely way. 

As a member of the management committee you would also be expected to attend committee meetings (one evening per month) and attend occasional meetings with the Trustees (also held in the evening or on a Saturday).

We would provide back-up support for times when you are not available to volunteer, for instance due to holidays.