Researcher volunteer jobs in Gerrards cross, buckinghamshire

At Ambitious about Autism, we are looking for a Programme Director – Service Development to join our team. You'll develop Ambitious about Autism's and the Trust's education and care services for autistic children and young people.

You'll lead on key strategic projects to extend existing or develop new education and care services for autistic children and young people, providing strong project leadership, strategic integration and managing project-related governance. You'll identify and pursue new business opportunities to drive growth and expansion of our educational settings, including school bids.

You'll be involved in new service development, conducting thorough assessment to identify gaps and opportunities for new provisions or products, whilst developing innovative concepts for new services and seeking approval through business cases. You'll also provide leadership to the Service Development team, with line management of 3 direct reports, whilst upholding Ambitious about Autism's core values.

We are looking for someone who has:

• Extensive business development and project planning knowledge
• Working knowledge of the education, health or social care of children/young people with SEND
• Working knowledge of: The social, policy, regulatory issues affecting children and young people with special educational needs or Commissioning and service delivery for children, young people and their families
• Proven experience of leading the development and delivery of new services for children, young people and/or adults with special educational needs or disabilities either from a third sector, educational, health or local authority background
• Experience of developing strategic and business plans

In return, we offer great benefits including a generous holiday allowance and commitment to continued professional development (CPD), flexible, hybrid working and more!

This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual who would like to work for a forward-thinking, open and honest organisation and make a real impact to the young people we work with. Please find our full recruitment pack on the link below.

If you have any questions about the role or would like to have a confidential chat, please contact James Axford, Recruitment Officer.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We warmly welcome applications from all qualified candidates, valuing the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives they bring. We encourage applications from individuals regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or parental status, disability, or age.

Our recruitment process promotes equal opportunities, and we are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or additional needs throughout the recruitment process. Please contact our Recruitment Team for accommodations. We recognise disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly and long-term affects a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities, as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010. All applications will be considered solely on merit, aligned with our mission to support autistic children and young people.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.

The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.
Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.

Purpose of the job

As Major Donor Manager, you will support the delivery of UK Youth's major donor programme, cultivating high-value, long-term relationships with high-net-worth (HNW) individuals in support of UK Youth's mission and vision. You will build and manage a pipeline of major donors and prospects, working towards income targets that grow year on year, and play a critical role in securing unrestricted funding, programme funding and transformational capital investment.

This role requires a strategic, relationship-led approach and a deep understanding of major gift fundraising. You will work closely with senior leadership to ensure credibility, effective stewardship and meaningful donor engagement. The Major Donor programme prioritises depth of relationship and long-term value over short-term income targets, and you will be instrumental in embedding this culture across the organisation.

The role sits within the strongly performing and highly motivated Fundraising department, including events, corporate, trust and foundation fundraising.

Why work at UK Youth?

Every young person deserves a youth worker. UK Youth exists to make that a reality. As the UK’s infrastructure body for youth work, we support a network of thousands of youth organisations to improve young lives every day. At the same time, we are transforming the policies, investment, and ideas needed to future-proof youth work for generations to come.

UK Youth exists to widen the reach and deepen the impact of youth work and outdoor learning. By joining UK Youth, you can help create a society that backs young people – through each spark, struggle and success.

Key responsibilities

• Major Donor Fundraising and Pipeline Development

• Cultivation, Stewardship and Events

• Capital Appeal Support – Avon Tyrrell

• Communications and Engagement

• Strategy and Performance

Experience we're after

• Proven experience in major donor fundraising, with a track record of cultivating and securing five or six figure gifts from HNW individuals.

• Experience of building and managing a major donor pipeline from prospect identification through to solicitation and stewardship.

• Experience of senior stakeholder management, including working with CEOs, trustees and senior volunteers.

• Experience of managing a diverse workload with multiple deadlines, stakeholders and deliverables.

• Experience of thinking strategically and developing compelling fundraising propositions aligned to organisational priorities.

• Experience of delivering cultivation and stewardship events for major donors.

What we can offer you

We offer a competitive range of benefits, good work/life balance, excellent learning and development opportunities and vibrant organisational culture:

• Flexible/Agile Working

• 27 days annual leave (24 days + 3 days winter closure) plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time employees)

• Funded training provided in; Safeguarding, GDPR, Information and Cyber Security & Equality & Diversity

• Other training available in support of your personal and professional development

• Pension scheme (currently UK Youth match employee contributions up to 5%)

• Membership of our life insurance scheme which would pay-out up to 4 times your salary

• Employee Assistance Programme to support employees both professionally and personally

• 20% discount off bookings at Avon Tyrrell, our New Forest Outdoor Centre, including camping, lodges and outdoor activities.

• IT equipment provided for the duration of contract

• CycleScheme and TechScheme

How to apply

If you would like to be considered for this fantastic opportunity, please complete an application via our completely anonymised recruitment system provided by Applied which looks to create a fair and unbiased application process for all. Scroll to the top of the page and start your application.

Closing date: 14th April 2026 at 23:59 (midnight)

Provisional Interview Dates: w/c 27th April 2026

As this role involves working in a regulated environment with young people, any offer will be conditional to satisfactory background checks, which include criminal record check and employment reference.

Join a team that's making a real difference.

Adfam is the leading national charity tackling the effects of alcohol, drug use or gambling on family members and friends. We improve life for thousands of people. One way we do this is by empowering families and friends to get the support they need.

We want anyone affected by someone else's drug or alcohol use or gambling problem to have the chance to benefit from healthy relationships, be part of a loving and supportive family and enjoy mental and physical wellbeing.

This role offers the opportunity to be part of a successful national remote service, offering support via the phone or Zoom to affected adults in the UK. We are looking to recruit experienced Family Support professionals to provide these virtual support sessions to individual family members and sometimes groups. We are offering a number of roles at 15-20 hours per week, across 3-5 days, including Wednesday and at least 2 evenings per week (Mon-Wed).

Experience in supporting family members affected by someone else’s substance use is essential, as is experience with assessing and managing risk. Ideally, you would also have experience of working to support parents with their parenting and / or those experiencing domestic abuse. We offer fixed hours part time contracts within a friendly and supportive team. Whilst based at home and requiring the ability to work autonomously, Adfam prides ourselves on our supportive team ethos and working culture. 

• Salary: £30,000 pro rata
• 6.5% contributory pension scheme
• Contract: One year with likely extension

This is a remote working position based at home.

Please note, although counselling skills and qualifications are welcome and valuable as part of a skillset for this role, these are not counselling roles. This is professional support work and requires additional experience or skills in substance use, social work, complex family work or a related field. The role requires directive and facilitative guidance and input. If you are a counsellor looking for typical counselling work, please do not apply for this role. Thank you.

Closing date: Sunday 19th April

Application packs can be downloaded from our website. Alternatively, please email us to request one.

Adfam actively welcomes applications from all sections of society.

About The Connection at St Martin’s

We believe that no one should have to sleep rough on London’s streets, and that everyone should get the support they need to find a place to call home. We get to know every person we work with, understanding what they need to recover, helping them build on their strengths, and supporting them to find their own way home. Help us make London a city where no one sleeps rough on our streets.

London’s diversity is its biggest asset and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London’s diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability.

We particularly encourage applications from candidates with lived experience of homelessness who we believe are an essential asset in our sector.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and welcome the opportunity to consider flexible working arrangements.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and creative communications generalist who enjoys working across a wide range of activities and can bring our mission to life through powerful storytelling and effective communications.

In this role, you will ensure that the charity’s mission, values and key messages are reflected clearly and consistently across all communications. You will be confident working with the press and welcoming high-profile visitors, helping to raise the profile of our work and the people we support.

As a small charity, we value creativity and initiative. You will enjoy finding innovative ways to maximise impact, using a mix of media, digital channels and partnerships to share our story and reach new audiences.

Working closely with colleagues across the organisation – including the people who use our services – you will help ensure our communications are authentic, inclusive and grounded in real experiences.

You will also collaborate closely with colleagues in the Fundraising team to develop and deliver a series of innovative fundraising and awareness-raising campaigns, helping to engage supporters, grow income and increase understanding of our work.

Our strategy focuses on developing services in new ways, involving clients in every aspect of our work and strengthening collaboration across the sector. The Communications Manager will play a key role in helping the organisation communicate more effectively, building communications confidence across the team, and supporting the growth of our fundraising activity.

This role is a 12 month FTC.

Salary: £44,181 - £50,461 (scale points 29 – 35)
Closing Date: Sunday 19th April
Interview Date: Tuesday 28th April

Our Benefits

· 30 days holiday plus bank holidays

· Generous training budget, plus an annual personal training budget

· Enhanced Sick Pay Policy

· Enhanced family friendly policies

· Day off for moving house

· Hybrid working (depending on role requirements)

· Pension – 5% Employer, 3% Employee

· Cycle to Work Scheme

· Season Ticket Loan

· Employee Assistance Programme

· Reward Gateway (access to discount vouchers and cashback at the UK’s favourite retailers)

We are a London Living Wage employer

Our Operations Director will lead the development of the operational infrastructure required to scale Fruitful Work nationally and internationally. Working in close partnership with the Founder & CEO, this role takes ownership of the systems, processes, team and organisational rhythms that enable the charity to grow rapidly and sustainably. This is a senior, hands-on leadership role for someone who enjoys building from the ground up, turning vision into reliable execution, and creating the foundations that allow a small team to deliver outsized impact.

You will take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the organisation and lead the recruitment and management of a growing operations team as Fruitful Work expands.

Please see our attached candidate pack for the full role description