National volunteer manager jobs in Birmingham, west midlands
Are you our next Trusts Fundraising Officer?
If you have a talent for story telling, are looking for a role where your words can make a lasting impact and are passionate about giving vulnerable young people life changing opportunities, then this is the job for you. We’re seeking a talented individual who can tell our story and help secure vital funding from trusts and grant-makers.
Trusts and other grant-makers are an important source of funding for our charity. As we look ahead, we’re expanding our Trusts fundraising portfolio to meet the growing needs of our programmes. This is where you come in.
As our Trusts Fundraising Officer, you’ll be an inspiring storyteller whose enthusiasm for our work shines through in your writing. You’ll play a key role in researching new funders, crafting compelling funding applications and keeping our supporters engaged with our work. Your work will involve developing case studies and gathering evidence to show the need for our services. This will help secure sustainable funding. You’ll be supported by our experienced Trusts Fundraising Manager to build lasting relationships with funders. Together, you’ll keep them engaged and informed about the positive impact they’re making on the young people we support.
The Trusts Fundraising Officer must be self-motivated, well organised, able to multi-task, have good administration skills and understand the “power of the outdoors”. Paid or voluntary experience in a fundraising environment is essential. This is a great opportunity for somebody looking to take the next step in their career, with plenty of scope to develop your skills and experience within a supportive team. Whilst the role is home-based you must live in the South West to ensure easy access for in-person meetings.
The Charity
At the Youth Adventure Trust, we use outdoor adventure to empower vulnerable young people from Swindon, Wiltshire and Somerset to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future. We work with them to build resilience, develop confidence and learn skills that will last a lifetime, helping them to face the challenges in their lives. Dedicated support, guidance and mentoring from our staff and volunteers ensures young people receive the maximum benefit from our long-term intervention. Our aim is to make a lasting improvement to the lives of vulnerable young people. All our services are provided completely free of charge to the young people who are nominated by schools and other youth organisations to take part.
We’re proud to offer our programmes completely free of charge to participants which means the fundraising team is crucial. With ambitious plans to help more young people over the coming years, our Events Fundraising Officer role is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference. You’ll be well-supported as part of a small fundraising team with a big heart, with plenty of opportunities to visit our programmes and see the tangible impact of your work.
What We’re Looking For:
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Outstanding communication skills – You can write clearly, persuasively and passionately. You’re confident speaking to others about the charity’s work.
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Writing experience – You have experience writing successful funding applications, proposals, or compelling articles, ideally but not necessarily with a fundraising focus
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Fundraising experience - You may not have written a grant application before but you should have some paid or voluntary experience in a fundraising capacity.
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Attention to detail – You take pride in your work, have a good eye for detail and a thorough approach.
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Creativity - able to put together eye-catching proposals, impact graphics and social media posts.
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Self-motivation and organisation – You’re able to manage your own time and prioritise effectively.
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Passion for the outdoors and youth development – You understand the importance of giving vulnerable young people outdoor experiences and are willing to put on your waterproofs and join in on our activities and camps to witness first-hand the difference the Youth Adventure Trust makes.
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Willingness to learn - if you think you have what it takes but don’t have lots of experience as a Trusts Fundraiser, this role comes with plenty of scope to develop your writing skills and gain experience within a supportive team environment.
Safer Recruitment
The Youth Adventure Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and requires all employees to share this commitment. The suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance.
We use outdoor adventure and one-to-one support to empower young people to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
About Chapter One
Chapter One is a growing charity, working to ensure that every child has 1:1 reading support at the time they need it most.
Our unique Online Reading Volunteer programme currently supports about 3,500 children a year. It pairs disadvantaged, struggling five to eight-year old (KS1) readers with reading support volunteers who come from over 180 local and national businesses. The volunteer task is very focused: readers commit 30 minutes a week to read with a child using a bespoke digital platform for an entire academic year. The results are transformative, boosting children's reading confidence and ability.
We have set ourselves ambitious targets and want to support 3,900 children by 2026/27, so this role, with responsibility for communicating and maintaining relationships with our existing corporate partners, will be crucial to ensuring that we have sufficient volunteers and support to achieve this target.
For more information about our programmes please visit our website. Please also take some time to visit our social media channels and watch our videos.
About the Role
Chapter One is seeking a proactive, organised and enthusiastic Corporate Partnerships Communications Officer, reporting to our Marketing & Communications Manager, to support the delivery of excellent communications and content for our growing portfolio of corporate partners. Working closely with the Corporate Partnerships and Marketing & Communications teams, you will coordinate partner communications activity, managing workflows, timelines, approvals and follow-up to ensure a smooth and positive partner experience.
You will build strong relationships with corporate partners across our partnership tiers, acting as a key point of contact where appropriate and helping to identify and develop engaging stories, case studies and content opportunities. You will create tailored communications for partners, including internal announcements, intranet content and employee-facing materials, ensuring messaging is aligned with partner needs and Chapter One’s mission.
This is a new role within Chapter One and is an opportunity for an early career professional to learn about charity partnership communications in a dynamic charity which is flexible and agile.
Key Responsibilities
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Act as the primary coordinator for corporate partnership communications and content, managing workflow, timelines, follow-up and sign-off.
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Build and maintain effective relationships with corporate partners across the Platinum, Gold, Silver and other partnership tiers, acting as their main point of contact where appropriate.
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Proactively identify, gather, and develop stories, case studies, and other content opportunities from across the corporate partnership base.
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Draft bespoke content for individual corporate partners on request — for example, internal announcements, intranet copy, or employee-facing campaign materials.
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Work closely with the Marketing & Communications and Corporate Partnerships teams to ensure content is aligned with the corporate partner journey and that sign-off processes run smoothly.
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Support the production of corporate partner impact reports, award entries, and a content and asset library relevant to corporate partners.
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Maintain accurate records of corporate partner activity, approvals, preferences and key communications.
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Contribute to improving processes, workflows and consistency across corporate partnership communications activity.
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Represent Chapter One professionally in all partner interactions.
General Responsibilities
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Attend online and in-person meetings and relevant team sessions to support collaboration, communication and delivery of Chapter One’s activities.
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Provide general administrative support to the Marketing & Communication and Corporate Partnerships teams as required.
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Manage multiple priorities and deadlines, ensuring content requests, approvals and partner communications are delivered in a timely and organised way.
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Support the maintenance and organisation of corporate partnership resources, including content libraries, assets and shared team materials.
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Represent Chapter One professionally at meetings, events and partner interactions, demonstrating commitment to the organisation’s mission and values.
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Undertake other duties as required to support the delivery of Chapter One’s objectives.
We are looking for applicants with the following essential qualities:
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Strong relationship-builder, confident working with a range of partners and stakeholders.
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Highly organised, with excellent attention to detail and a reliable approach to follow-up and record-keeping.
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A clear and adaptable communicator, able to write well for different audiences and channels.
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Proactive and self-starting, with an eye for stories, content opportunities and ways to improve how things work.
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Process-minded and comfortable managing multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.
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A collaborative team player, happy working across teams and with shared sign-off processes.
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Calm and flexible under pressure, able to exercise good judgement and handle sensitive information with discretion.
How to Apply
Please send your CV (maximum 2 A4 sides) and a covering letter via Charity Jobs. Your covering letter (maximum 1 side of A4) should:
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Detail your relevant experience, including clear examples.
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Tell us about a specific example of a piece of work you were responsible for - a relationship, a project, a piece of content - that wasn't going as planned. What did you do, and what would you do differently? We will expect you to talk about this at the interview.
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Tell us about how our organisational mission is in line with your values.
Applications that fail to meet these criteria will automatically be discounted. We understand that you may use AI to help craft your application, but do remember that we will be looking for individuals who write a covering letter that stands out. We want you to have every opportunity to shine and to show us your talents - please let us know if there is anything we can do to make sure the assessment process works for you.
Chapter One is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value and celebrate diversity in backgrounds and experience and are deliberate about the kind of inclusive teams we are building. Literacy is a universal concern, and we need people from all backgrounds to maximise our innovation, creativity and impact. We especially welcome applications from persons who have experienced disadvantage and/or from those who are of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities who are currently underrepresented in the organisation.
Chapter One is committed to safeguarding children and young people. All post holders are subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service disclosure. Copies of our Safeguarding Policy and Safer Recruitment Policy are available on request.
N.B. Shortlisting is likely to take place from 29/06/2026. Stage 1 interviews are planned for 08/07/2026 and 09/07/2026 with successful applicants being invited to a second interview between 15/07/2026 - 16/07/2026. These dates have been scheduled based on the recruiting team’s availability, however we will make every effort to accommodate alternative requests where possible.
At Chapter One, we want to create a world where all children have the literacy skills needed to thrive.
Context and Background
Our award-winning Creative Team sits within the NSPCC's Communications directorate. We're made up of creatives with design, writing and film production expertise. We create campaign and marketing identities, concepts, and materials, across all channels and for all audiences. We mainly work across three brands -- NSPCC, Childline and NSPCC Learning.
Our team has a broad skillset, covering creative strategy, ideation and delivery. We provide consultancy, art direction, planning, tone of voice guidance and copywriting across print and digital. So whether our colleagues are promoting a fabulous new fundraising event, introducing one of our frontline services, or kickstarting a new national campaign, our team is on hand to offer expertise.
As our new Senior Writer, you'll play a fundamental role in making sure the work we put out is as engaging and impactful as possible to a wide range of audiences.
Job purpose
The Senior Writer will be a highly talented communicator with substantial expertise in creative copywriting, branding and communications, preferably with experience in the charity sector.
You'll work on a wide range of creative briefs that might see you writing copy for print, digital, film, social media or web, based on briefs that come in from teams across the NSPCC. You'll also share your knowledge and expertise through workshops and consultation with internal teams and external agencies.
You’ll work closely with the Head of Creative to drive the quality, consistency, and effectiveness of our marketing and communications, making sure we’re talking to our supporters and the people we help in the most effective way possible. A large part of this is continuing to increase the use of plain English across the organisation.Finally, you will develop and lead strategy relating to copywriting, core messaging and tone of voice for the organisation. And as a senior member of the team, you'll help guide and mentor more junior colleagues.
Key relationships - Internal
• Reports to the Head of Creative.
• Is a key part of the senior Creative team and the wider Brand and Marketing department.
• Works collaboratively with all teams across the organisation to ensure creative excellence and brand integrity.
• Proactively engages with NSPCC colleagues.
Key relationships - External
• Liaises with external professionals e.g. freelance writers, agencies, filmmakers.
• Develops links and shares best practice with peers within the UK charity sector.
• Establishes networks with industry opinion formers, media and other stakeholders.
Main duties and responsibilities
• Develop verbal brand identity – through copywriting, core messaging and tone of voice guidance – across the NSPCC and Childline.
• Work with the senior Creative team to agree and deliver client projects from initial concepts through to the finished product, in line with our department’s annual business plan.
• Explore and develop creative concepts and help push the boundaries of the creative direction and output of the NSPCC, working closely with the Head of Creative and senior team.
• Pitch concepts and finished copy to commissioning teams, in line with brief objectives and the NSPCC brand.
• Make sure creative collateral across NSPCC and Childline marketing and communications is consistent and of a high standard.
• Partner with teams across the charity that create content, offering expert advice and creative solutions relating to brand and tone of voice.• Work effectively with other Communications colleagues to make sure we complete projects on time and in budget.
• Support junior team members, and contribute to the growth and personal development of communications team staff through supervisory, coaching and mentoring activities.
• Identify and provide long-term strategic solutions to the NSPCC’s editorial and copywriting needs, and fulfil them by working with the Head of Creative and senior team.
• Develop high-quality writing standards for the NSPCC, including style guides and training, with a focus on increasing the use of plain English and inclusive language across our work.
Responsibilities for all staff within the Communications directorate
• Actively participate in regular department and team meetings, contributing to strategy discussions and decisions which will benefit the NSPCC’s communications activities.
• Maintain an awareness Health and Safety and comply with the NSPCC’s Health and Safety policy and procedures.
• Take personal responsibility for keeping up to date with the NSPCC’s work to keep children safe.
• A commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of babies, children, young people and adults at risk.
Person specification
1. Substantial experience in a copywriter role in either an agency or in-house team, with demonstrable ability of working across a broad range of briefs.
2. Proven ability to communicate and present confidently and clearly to senior stakeholders and clients.
3. Enthusiastic about embedding EDI principles across all areas of copywriting and in our wider communications work.
4. Experience working with and creating brand guidelines.
5. Experience guiding and mentoring junior team members.
6. In-depth and up-to-date knowledge of current trends and best practise in marketing, advertising and communications.
7. Highly collaborative and focused on creating a collaborative team spirit.8. Solid understanding of copywriting and editorial across environments including social, web, film and online advertising.
9. Ability to manage numerous complex projects for senior stakeholders, working to agreed deadlines often with conflicting priorities.
Safer Recruitment
As an organisation, we are committed to creating and fostering a culture that promotes safeguarding and the welfare of all children and adults at risk.
Our safer recruitment practices support this by ensuring that there is a consistent and thorough process of obtaining, collating, analysing and evaluating information from and about candidates to ensure that all persons appointed are suitable to work with our children and adults.
The recruitment and selection of our people will be conducted in a professional, timely and responsive manner and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance.
Our principles:
• Always seek to recruit the best candidate for the role based on merit including their skills, experience, motivation and competencies. Our robust recruitment and selection process should ensure the identification of the person best suited to the role and the organisation.
• Committed to diversity and equality of opportunity and will interview all applicants (internal and external) who self-declare at application as having a disability and who meet the minimum requirements in the person specification of the vacancy they are applying for.
• We will make reasonable adjustments at all stages of the recruitment process in order to enable successful candidates who declare disabilities to start working or volunteering their time with us.
• Any current member of staff or volunteer who wishes to apply for vacancies and is suitably qualified will be considered and addressed fairly and objectively based on their merit.
• As an organisation committed to safeguarding, we will ensure all under 18’s joining the organisation will have ongoing risk assessments to ensure their role and activities are safe and appropriate.
• All documentation relating to candidates will be treated confidentially in accordance with the GDPR legislation.