Early years volunteer roles

Trustee

The charity Citizens Advice Lewisham (CAL) is a member of the national Citizens Advice (CitA) organisation. We deliver free, impartial and confidential advice to those who live, work or study in the London borough of Lewisham.

We are a highly engaged board who are passionate about ensuring our charity makes a big difference to Lewisham residents, especially to the most vulnerable people. We work in a collegiate way, respecting the diverse viewpoints board members bring to the table and hold ourselves to high professional standards.

Role focus for this appointment

This role is aimed at candidates with senior leadership experience within a charity. We are particularly interested in individuals who can bring strategic insight into fundraising, risk, governance and impact to ensure the organisation continues to deliver its charitable purpose.

What will you do?

• complete an induction for your role
• maintain an awareness of how the local Citizens Advice is operating
• read papers for board meetings and attend 5 meetings per year
• depending on your skills and experience, work on specific projects with other trustees or staff within the local Citizens Advice and the Citizens advice network to further strategic objectives
• Provide thought leadership in areas agreed with the Chair (for example Governance, Fundraising, Finance, Technology).
• Act as a senior charity voice on the Board, offering strategic challenge and support on governance, risk, safeguarding and organisational effectiveness.
• Take an active part in discussions during board meetings and work with other trustees to:
  • set policy and strategy direction, set targets and evaluate the performance of the local Citizens Advice within the quality assurance frameworks set by the network
  • monitor the financial position of the local Citizens Advice ensuring that it operates within its means and objectives
  • ensure that all the finances and supporting financial control systems of the local Citizens Advice are in order including that full financial records are kept for all transactions, that money is only spent for the purpose given, and that proper financial controls are in place to safeguard the organisation’s resources
  • monitor the financial position of the local Citizens Advice ensuring that it operates within its means and objectives, ensuring that there are clear lines of accountability for day to day financial management
  • seek the views of all sections of the community and monitor how well the service meets the needs of the local community
  • ensure that the service plans for the recruitment and turnover of staff and volunteers
  • review its own work and how effectively it operates including action for improvement

What’s in it for you?

• use your experience to make a positive impact for people in your local area by ensuring the local Citizens Advice is sustainable and meeting the needs of the community
• meet people and build relationships with trustees, staff and other volunteers
• build on your governance, leadership and strategy knowledge and skills 
• increase your employability

And we’ll reimburse expenses too.

What do you need to have?

You don’t need specific qualifications but you’ll need to:

• understand and accept the responsibilities and liabilities as trustees
• be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
• have good listening, verbal and written communication skills 
• be able to exercise good independent judgement
• have good numeracy skills to understand accounts with the support of the treasurer
• Senior leadership experience within a charity (for example Chief Executive or Executive Director, Director, Head of Service, or equivalent senior role)
• a strong grasp of charity governance, risk management and strategic planning
• confidence reading management information and contributing to financial decision-making at Board level
• be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection
• be willing to undertake annual mandatory training in your role

How much time do you need to give?

Trustee boards usually meet in the evenings to accommodate the needs of trustees,  and you’ll likely need to give a few hours a month to read papers and support the board.  You may need to attend other meetings if you’re involved in specific projects, or meet with volunteers and staff occasionally within the local Citizens Advice. We can be flexible about the time spent, so come and talk to us.

Valuing inclusion

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people, and people from ethnic minority communities.

If you are interested in becoming a trustee and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us. 

Closing date: 26 October 2025. We do reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Role Title: Innovation & Impact Volunteer
Salary: Volunteer
Location: London -hybrid 
Tenure: 6 month fixed term

ActionAid UK is a member of the ActionAid Federation, an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty. We work with our partners and dedicated staff in 43 countries to end violence and fight poverty so that all women, everywhere, can create the future they want

Are you a keen advocate of women and girls’ rights in emergencies? 

Are you passionate about global justice, liberation movements and reparations?

Do you want to be part of an international effort that challenges systems of inequality and re-imagines a fairer world?

Then we'd love to hear from you!

ActionAid UK is offering a unique six-month volunteer opportunity within our Innovation & Impact Department to help bring to life a powerful series of federation-wide webinars exploring liberation and reparations across movements and geographies.

You’ll work within  ActionAid’s Decol Unit, supporting our global secretariat to design and deliver this ground-breaking webinar series. Together, we’ll build spaces for learning, dialogue and solidarity – connecting thinkers, activists, and ActionAid colleagues from around the world who are confronting the legacies of colonialism, extractivism and patriarchy. 

Your days might involve researching inspiring speakers, coordinating logistics with grassroots movements, shaping engaging event materials, or helping make each session come alive online. You’ll play a key role in gathering stories, insights and learnings that will deepen our collective understanding of what true liberation and reparations can look like – and how ActionAid can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with others driving this change.

We’re looking for someone with a keen interest in decolonial and feminist thought, ideally with some experience of organising or supporting online events. You’ll be comfortable communicating across cultures, excited to collaborate, and motivated by ActionAid’s commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and feminist leadership. Fluency in an additional language would be an advantage.

This is a volunteer role of around two days a week, mostly home-based, with occasional in-person meetings in our Farringdon, London office. It’s a rare chance to contribute to a global project at the heart of ActionAid’s mission to challenge systemic injustice and to connect with networks of activists, thinkers and changemakers across the world.

If you’re ready to put your passion for liberation, reparations and system change into action, we’d love to hear from you.
 

Additional information

Diversity, equality, inclusion and belonging:

Diversity, inclusion and belonging are key to our organisational culture. We are on a journey to become not only an anti-racist organisation but one that proudly celebrates the diversity of all applicants and employees. We look forward to you bringing your full self to work, proudly sharing your unique perspective and helping us to shape our combined future. We especially welcome applications from those from under-represented/marginalised communities.

AAUK is a Disability Confident Committed organisation and as such any candidate that declares a disability will be shortlisted for interview if they meet the essential criteria for the role.

Referencing and safeguarding:

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, safeguarding, criminal records and terrorism finance checks. By submitting an application the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures. 

ActionAid UK is committed to preventing any form of sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse (including child abuse and adult at-risk abuse) and responding robustly when these harms take place. We expect all ActionAid UK staff and ActionAid UK representatives to share this commitment. We will not tolerate our staff or other representatives carrying out any form of sexual harassment, exploitation or abuse towards anyone we come into contact with through our work. 

Working practices:

ActionAid is committed to supporting flexible working. If you would like to discuss flexible working options, including the possibility of a job share for this role, there will be space to do so during the interview process.

ActionAid UK has a hybrid working policy for many of our roles. The requirement will vary from team to team and the responsibilities of individual roles. As a minimum, all colleagues are expected to attend the office 12 days per year, plus additional time for induction, training, and company connection days. Some roles may require in-office attendance on all days and if so, these will clearly be marked as in-office roles.

Please note that ActionAid UK does not offer fully remote working options. We encourage you to discuss hybrid working expectations at interview.

Recruitment processes:

Please note that ActionAid UK may review, shortlist and interview candidates prior to the closing date so we encourage all candidates to apply as soon as possible. If we receive a very high response, we may close the vacancy early and will not accept further submissions.

This is an excellent opportunity to directly shape Grow's future and guide our fundraising efforts. We are seeking a strategic and passionate individual to support our Head of Fundraising in building a robust strategy that will diversify our income and help us achieve our goals.

You will provide expert guidance to our trustee board on developments in the fundraising sector and help us make informed decisions based on your fundraising expertise. This role also involves supporting key fundraising events and assisting with the monitoring of our progress against our targets.

If you are excited by the prospect of helping a small charity grow its impact and sustain its vital work, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.
 

Role responsibilities

• Support Grow’s Head of Fundraising in building a robust fundraising strategy that diversifies our income streams
• Advise the trustee board on all developments in the fundraising sector
• Support the board to make decisions based on fundraising predictions
• Support Grow’s fundraising events
• Assist with the monitoring of fundraising against targets and report on this to the trustee board

Inspiring, supportive, and committed - just a few of the words we’d use to describe our volunteers. 

At Rethink Mental Illness, volunteers are at the heart of what we do. They play a vital role in supporting our services and making a real difference in people’s lives. If you’re looking for a rewarding role where you can have a positive impact while developing your own skills and experience, we’d love you to join us. 

About the role

We are looking for Volunteer Befrienders to support our Brent Mental Health service in the London Borough of Brent. 

As a Volunteer Befriender, you will be required to travel across Brent to meet with service users and carry out your role. Ideally, you will be able to commit a minimum of 2 hours per week to volunteering. 

You will be supported by Befriending Volunteer Coordinators who will provide regular supervision to ensure you feel confident in your role. You can read more about the benefits of volunteering on the full advert on our website.

About the service

Our Brent Mental Health service provides support to people aged 18 and above, who live in the Borough of Brent, and who have a mental illness and are known to the local NHS trust Central and North West London (CNWL).

The Befriending Service aims to;

• Reduce social isolation of service users
• Increase the confidence of service users in accessing community resources independently
• Provide meaningful activities and peer support for service users 
• Help service users to live happier, healthier, independent lives
• Provide volunteering opportunities for people with mental health issues
• Reduce stigma and raise mental health awareness

What you will be doing as a Volunteer Befriender:

• Meeting with service users in locations and times which meet their needs (including evenings and weekends)
• Provide befriending support to a maximum of 2 service users at any one time
• Provide emotional support based on your own lived experience
• Support service users to access and build social and community networks and activities
• Act as a community connector to local services

What will make you a great fit for this role?

• You will have good communication skills
• You will be flexible to meet the needs of the service users

How to apply 

To apply, simply click the “apply now” button on the advert on our website and complete a short interest form. 

If you would like to express an interest in this opportunity, please complete an application as soon as possible, as the advert may close early if we receive a high level of interest.

Who are we?

We’re Rethink Mental Illness, a leading charity provider of mental health services in England. We support thousands of people through our groups, services, policy, campaigns and advice and information. Our work supports us in delivering on our mission: “A better life for everyone severely affected by mental illness.”    

It is an exciting time to join our growing charity. We are on a transformation journey, one that supports the delivery of the organisation strategy – delivering Communities that Care. Supporting employees, managers and leaders through this change is a key priority for the People function. Just like its key that we attract diverse people to come and work for us.    

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion  

Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer.  We recognise and support staff networks for our Black, Asian and minority ethnic and our LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.  

Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation  

We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrate our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.  

We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (or questioning), Intersex and (asexual) (LGBTQIA+), people with a disability, and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.