Office Support Volunteer Roles in Liverpool

Across the UK, our 270 local groups play a vital part in supporting people affected by MS. They provide sense of belonging, unity and friendship. And they deliver services and support for their local MS community.

We are looking to recruit a Support Volunteer for the Wigan and Leigh Group. As our local group Support Volunteer you’ll help people affected by MS find information about local and national services. That could be helping someone access local information about the care or benefits they need or giving them a hand with a grant application. See a video about one of our Support Volunteers here.

In this role you’ll be able to develop your listening and communication skills, as well as your knowledge of local services. Most importantly you’ll help people affected by MS to access the help they need. 

Time commitment

We estimate this role will need around 2 hours a week. Our roles are flexible and aim to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities. This is an ongoing role.

This is a great opportunity to gain experience within a large charity and develop your existing skills and learn new ones. We need you to get involved and help make positive changes to the lives of people affected by MS.

About you

You’ll have an interest in the MS Society and the work that we do, as well as the enthusiasm to represent both us and our values locally. You will understand the needs of people affected by MS in your area and be sympathetic to the needs and motivations of volunteers. You’ll be confident using Microsoft Office, the internet and email. You’ll be able to apply disability, equality and inclusion practices and understand and apply our risk management system. Ideally you’ll understand the local area and organisations that provide local services.

You will be reliable and easy to contact and you need to live in or near the local area the group to carry out this role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully

2. Apply online

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

Across the UK, our 270 local groups play a vital part in supporting people affected by MS. They provide sense of belonging, unity and friendship. And they deliver services and support for their local MS community.

We are looking to recruit a Support Volunteer for the Wigan and Leigh Group. As our local group Support Volunteer you’ll help people affected by MS find information about local and national services. That could be helping someone access local information about the care or benefits they need or giving them a hand with a grant application. See a video about one of our Support Volunteers here.

In this role you’ll be able to develop your listening and communication skills, as well as your knowledge of local services. Most importantly you’ll help people affected by MS to access the help they need. 

Time commitment

We estimate this role will need around 2 hours a week. Our roles are flexible and aim to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities. This is an ongoing role.

This is a great opportunity to gain experience within a large charity and develop your existing skills and learn new ones. We need you to get involved and help make positive changes to the lives of people affected by MS.

About you

You’ll have an interest in the MS Society and the work that we do, as well as the enthusiasm to represent both us and our values locally. You will understand the needs of people affected by MS in your area and be sympathetic to the needs and motivations of volunteers. You’ll be confident using Microsoft Office, the internet and email. You’ll be able to apply disability, equality and inclusion practices and understand and apply our risk management system. Ideally you’ll understand the local area and organisations that provide local services.

You will be reliable and easy to contact and you need to live in or near the local area the group to carry out this role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully

2. Apply online

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

Do you enjoy speaking to people and working with computers? Are you organised? You could support our Talk and Support team to run our award winning befriending groups by matching blind and partially sighted people from our waiting list into our telephone befriending groups. You would be helping people to get into one of our groups as quickly as possible and helping to end the isolation of sight loss. We are looking for someone who is available one day each week who is comfortable using computers and computer based telephony systems and who is familiar with Microsoft Office 365.

• Ability to use your own initiative
• Good Attention to detail
• Good communication skills
• Treat information confidentially
• Willingness to work as part of a team

Volunteering within elop’s mental health team is opportunity to work as part of our professional team providing much needed mental health support to LGBT+ people.  Induction training will be provided alongside line management support. 

Admin support volunteers have opportunity to support a range of tasks in our mental health team:

· Contacting clients to arrange initial appointments

· Sending booking confirmation emails

· Checking and maintaining booking systems

· Data entry and analysis

· Collating qualitative and quantitative data for reports

· Communicating bookings with staff and volunteers

· Maintaining our office diary

· Maintaining team contact details

· Updating files

· Following up on feedback

· Service promotion

Good communication is key in this role as you will have contact with clients, volunteers and elop wider staff team.  Managing and maintaining operational systems are essential to ensuring the smooth experience for all staff and service users. You will be inducted to the organisation and all individual tasks and supported throughout your time with us by our Services Administrator.

This role requires access to some client data and as such an awareness of managing sensitive data, GDPR regulations and confidential practice is essential.  Respecting and valuing the diversity and lived experiences of our communities, understanding and upholding professional boundaries are fundamental to this role and you are expected to support this.

We know life can be busy, but we ask all group volunteers to make a 6-12 month minimum commitment of around 14-21 hours a week.

Admin Support Volunteer Skills

The below specification is in addition to elop’s main volunteer person specification.

Applicants should:

· have awareness LGBT mental health experiences

· have good communication skills

· be competent in Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel

· have experience in data entry and analysis

· demonstrate professionalism and respect for individuals

· communicate any concerns in a timely way in line with our risk assessment practice

· adhere to elop’s policies and procedures around note taking and storage, including legal requirements for confidentiality and data protection

· not engage in any personal, romantic or sexual relationships with elop service users

Do you enjoy teamwork and helping others? Are you empathetic with good organisation, IT and communication skills? If so, we’d love to hear from you. You don’t need an Armed Forces background, just a commitment to providing great support to our beneficiaries.

What is a Branch Support Coordinator?

There are SSAFA branches throughout the UK and overseas, each delivering support to serving personnel, veterans, and their families. Every branch has a team of volunteers who make this possible.

The Branch Support Coordinator is a key member of the team, ensuring that beneficiaries access the right support in a timely manner. This role involves liaising with regional and national teams and coordinating casework support provided to beneficiaries by Branch volunteers.

Why do we need you?

We’ve been supporting the Armed Forces community since 1885. Our clients come from all backgrounds and age groups and may have served in WW2 or in a more recent conflict like the Falklands or Afghanistan.

There are SSAFA branches throughout the UK and overseas who support local volunteers to deliver services to veterans, serving personnel and their families. Some branches are divided into smaller divisions to ensure the best local service delivery. Each branch has a team of volunteer caseworkers, support volunteers, executive roles and fundraisers.

In recognition of our clients’ service to the Nation we aim to provide financial, practical, and emotional support when it’s needed most. To do this we need excellent coordination of local services and between our teams.

What would you be doing?

• Accepting referrals for beneficiary casework support from SSAFA’s Regional Office and allocating beneficiaries’ cases to branch volunteers.
• Overseeing SSAFA casework across a branch, ensuring beneficiaries receive support that meets SSAFA’s casework standards and raising issues where it does not.
• Using SSAFA’s case management system to record, coordinate and track beneficiaries’ cases.
• Ensuring volunteer caseworkers have a manageable caseload and that effective support and supervision is in place.
• Liaising with Central Office and Specialist Services teams to ensure access to specialist support where needed e.g., Mentoring.
• Supporting the Branch Training Coordinator and Volunteering Coordinator to ensure volunteer caseworkers are up to date with training and have the information needed to carry out their role.

The remit of this role may change over the next 12-18 months depending on the outcome of a trial currently being undertaken.

What can you gain from this volunteering role?

• Use your skills, knowledge, and life experience to benefit others.
• Excellent experience, training, and skills that you can highlight on your CV and in job interviews.
• Give back to the Armed Forces community.
• Become part of the SSAFA community and build networks across your local area.
• Better physical and mental health – studies show that volunteers live longer and experience lower levels of stress and depression!

What training and support would you receive?

• Role specific training to prepare you for your voluntary role - confidentiality and boundaries, caseworker training, caseworker IT system training, volunteer management - case management and quality. This training would take approx. 1 day
• Mandatory on-line training modules to complete at home, so you are up to date on how to keep clients, their families safe and personal information safe.
• Local induction and support, from other branch volunteers.
• Access to a wide range of e-learning courses to keep your knowledge and skills up to date.
• Support from SSAFA’s regional volunteering and operations teams.
• Regular meetings and local events to learn and share information.
• Reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.
• Volunteers will be covered by SSAFA's Public Liability insurance while carrying out the role.

What are we looking for?

• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Good IT skills e.g., confident using email and online systems – you will use SSAFA's case management system as part of the role.
• Time management and organisation skills
• Respectful and non-judgemental approach to others
• Understanding of the importance of confidentiality and boundaries
• Some experience of coordinating people
• This role would suit someone who would like to volunteer regularly, each week.

We welcome volunteers of all backgrounds, abilities, races, sexual orientations, socio-economic backgrounds, and of all faiths and none. SSAFA are committed to making reasonable adjustments to support volunteers with disabilities, so they have access to the same opportunities and experiences as volunteers who do not.

Minimum Age: 18

Safer Recruitment: SSAFA takes the utmost care at every step of volunteer recruitment to ensure that the people we involve are suitable and appropriate. All measures taken are to help make volunteering at SSAFA a positive and safe experience.

References Required: Yes. We will ask for two character references, this can be a former employer or someone that know you well (other than a relative)

Is a criminal record check required? Yes, this is provided by SSAFA at no cost to the potential volunteer. This role requires an enhanced check (including a check against the  adults barred list)

*A disclosure certificate that contains convictions, cautions, or other information will not automatically mean that you are not able to volunteer. All certificates will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Connection Support carries out a wide range of marketing activities internally and externally, overseen by our Marketing Manager. We are looking for volunteers to assist with marketing and communications tasks to help raise our profile and spread the word about what we do. Marketing and Administration Volunteers will also support our team of Volunteer Coordinators with administrative tasks relating to bringing volunteers on board with the organisation.

How You’ll Help

Tasks may include:

· Creating visual and text based content for social media, the Connection Support website and intranet

· Creating content for and updating external websites such as Indeed and Do:It

· Periodically review local media publications to identify relevant content

· Respond to routine queries from volunteer applicants

· Assist with maintaining volunteer records

· Carry out research for volunteer recruitment purposes

· Occasionally assist with mailings to volunteers such as Volunteers Week certificates, Christmas and religious holiday cards

Volunteer Profile

· Ability to communicate confidently in written English

· Ability to use Microsoft packages such as outlook, word, excel and teams

· Ability to work within organisational policies regarding confidentiality and use of data

· Experience with using (or ability to learn) web based graphics software such as canva

· Understanding of social media and ability to use facebook, twitter and linked in for professional purposes

Location

This role is offered on a flexible basis. It is possible to undertake this volunteer role remotely, or volunteers can be based at one of our offices in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire or Milton Keynes. Volunteers will need to use a Connection Support laptop or PC so applicants will need to be located within reasonable collection distance for equipment. Please state your preference for location during your application.

Time Commitment Required

So that the volunteer can work effectively with our Marketing Manager and Volunteer Coordinators, we ask that applicants are available between 9am and 5pm on at least one day per week.

Training Offered

We will provide training and an induction 

We are looking for new trustees to join us supporting the Norfolk Chair to develop all aspects of the charity, and particularly welcome applications from those with an interest in marketing, campaigning and promotion of our membership.

CPRE Norfolk, the countryside charity, works to make Norfolk a better place for everyone to live, work and enjoy. We act locally and, with our head office nationally, to protect, shape and enhance a beautiful, thriving countryside for everyone to value and enjoy. We are an independent voice for the landscape, engaging with local and regional planning systems to ensure that our views are heard by decision makers. We campaign locally for positive solutions that will support the long-term future of Norfolk – one of England’s most rural areas.

By volunteering as a trustee with CPRE Norfolk you'll be helping us to find positive solutions for the issues facing the countryside and the environment in our beautiful county.

Our trustee roles involve being an active committee member by attending meetings and contributing ideas to develop and implement our Vision for Norfolk strategic plan; supporting the effective administration of our charity;being a positive advocate for CPRE Norfolk and encouraging others to support our work.

You will have good organisational and interpersonal skills and ideally an interest in marketing. Previous experience of working with committees is welcomed but not necessary, but we do ask for a commitment to CPRE policies.

We envisage that you will have at least 2-4 hours per month to spend developing this role which can largely be done from home. 

Please see the role profile document for more details about our needs, and our 'more about us' document for background to CPRE Norfolk. 

There is flexibility within our requirements, and we will provide support for the right candidate.

We are looking for someone with a passion for environmental and countryside issues to join us in a leadership role as Hon Secretary, supporting the Chair and Treasurer to develop all aspects of the charity, including governance, campaigning, marketing and promotion. 

CPRE Norfolk, the countryside charity, works to make Norfolk a better place for everyone to live, work and enjoy. We act locally and, with our head office nationally, to protect, shape and enhance a beautiful, thriving countryside for everyone to value and enjoy. We are an independent voice for the landscape, engaging with local and regional planning systems to ensure that our views are heard by decision makers. We campaign locally for positive solutions that will support the long-term future of Norfolk – one of England’s most rural areas.
By volunteering with CPRE Norfolk you'll be helping us to find positive solutions for the issues facing the countryside and the environment in our beautiful county.

The Secretary role involves being an active committee member by attending meetings and contributing ideas to develop and implement our Vision for Norfolk strategic plan; circulating meeting papers; supporting the effective administration of our charity; contributing to investment decisions; ensuring compliance with the charity's constitution and charity law; being a positive advocate for CPRE Norfolk and encouraging others to support our work.

You will have good leadership, management and organisational and interpersonal skills, and previous experience of working with committees plus commitment to CPRE policies.

We envisage that you will have at least 4 hours per month to spend developing this role which can largely be done from home. 

Please see the role profile document for more details about our requirements, and our 'more about us' document for background to CPRE Norfolk. 

There is flexibility within our requirements, and we will provide support for the right candidate.

NEW VOLUNTEER TEAM NEEDED! A DYNAMIC AND DEVELOPING MENTAL HEALTH CHARITY URGENTLY SEEKING VOLUNTEERS. HELP FORGE THE BEST MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELLING SERVICE

Evolve Counselling is … changing. Over the next year we have an ambitious programme to meet a large and growing demand for professionally-delivered talking therapies. We have plenty of volunteering opportunities for you. Bring your skills and experience to help us, and in return be part of an empowering community - where you can thrive in a rewarding project. Build your CV! Try something new! Put your spare time to use! Revive your career skills! Do life-enriching work helping others! All roles are flexible hours, working remotely with full IT support.

Exciting and absorbing NEW volunteer job roles

Admin Assistant . Secretarial tasks supporting the Trustee Board: Scheduling meetings, preparing agendas and board papers, taking minutes, keeping records, monitoring compliance  with legal and contractual rules, etc. Admin support for CEO: Arrange external meetings, attend planning sessions and produce notes and minutes, schedule key business events, and keep diaries up to date. General office administration: Keeping records, directing calls and messages, maintaining files and building the business ‘memory’. We are looking for a highly efficient organiser, someone used to routine and fine detail, with good IT skills.

Finance Controller or Finance Assistant. Finance tasks supporting our growing charity, working with our external Book Keeper, outsourced payroll service, and the Board Treasurer. Tasks include producing monthly reports and stats for the Board, for funders and fundraising bids. Monthly financial reporting including monitoring of income and expenditure, variance analysis and cashflow forecasting, monthly management accounts, and annual financial statements - charity income and expenditure, balance sheet, P&L. Supporting annual budget setting, and assisting when data is required for grant submissions. You will ideally be, or have been, a chartered, AAT, or qualified-by-experience accountant, have Third Sector knowledge, and have an interest and passion  for charitable enterprises.

Communications and Media Coordinator or Assistant. We are looking for help to communicate much much better with counselling clients, funders, our own “Counselling Community” of therapists, and the wider voluntary sector across our large area. You’ll be writing news stories, success ‘profiles’, publicising regular and special events, and driving social media and the web  - building the brand for Evolve. This job will be great  for a pro-active social media “story teller”, looking to build their own profile by ‘owning’ this new area of Evolve’s work. You’ll need to be creative, organised, and literate, with a very self-motivated  approach. A background in PR, marketing, social media or news will be great for this role.
 

Marketing and Fundraising Specialist or Assistant. Help us to grow our client numbers, improve the service, generate a development fund for new innovations, and get our name in front of sponsors, donors, and other charity project funders. In this demanding but hugely rewarding new role you will be in at the beginning - creating campaigns, researching and writing bids, and working with our communications and media volunteer to build and promote compelling fundable projects.

About Evolve Counselling. Evolve Counselling is a long-established charitable social enterprise, providing low cost, affordable or funded mental health counselling to adults in Cambridgeshire and surrounding counties. Our counselling community is made up of 50 – 60 qualified self-employed practitioners, working part-time. We deliver talking therapies to adults – online and in person. Our service delivers around 500 counselling sessions per month to a broad range of individuals, many of whom would not otherwise be able to access counselling support. Evolve also provides supervision, reflective practice, critical incident support and mental health awareness and related training to organisations and businesses large and small.

We’re passionate about making the countryside in Norfolk a better place for everyone to enjoy and are seeking a proactive leader, ideally with some experience of charity governance and board management, to become Chair of our charity.

We need someone to help advocate for our campaign priorities and oversee the future direction and development of our charity. Someone who will support our fundraising, membership and engagement initiatives, build relationships and represent CPRE Norfolk at key external stakeholder meetings, and liaise with other local CPREs and national CPRE.

As Chair you’ll provide leadership to our Board of Trustees, a team with a broad range of experience, and guide the future strategy, direction and development of our charity. Working collaboratively with your fellow Trustees, volunteers and paid support staff, you will help increase our visibility, promote our campaigns and increase our membership. You’ll help advocate for positive solutions and make a real difference with regard to the issues facing the local countryside and the environment.

Ideally, you will bring some of the following qualities:

• Previous experience in leadership, management and organisational development
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to demonstrate diplomacy, impartiality, respect and confidentiality
• Previous experience of committee work – paid or voluntary
• Knowledge of environmental and countryside issues
• Knowledge of the charity sector
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Experience of working with people from different backgrounds and abilities
• Sufficient, flexible daytime and evening availability to fulfil the role (approximately 6 to 8 hours per week on average)
• A commitment to CPRE campaigns and initiatives
• We ask that all Trustees are, or are willing to become, members of CPRE (it’s quick and easy to join)

What’s in it for you?

You’ll have the satisfaction of leading a local charity with a long history of campaigning to promote, protect and enhance the Norfolk countryside. You’ll meet like-minded people throughout Norfolk and across the country,

You’ll get involved with social events, networking activities, and topical workshops on a local and national level, and you’ll be able to participate in relevant training.

The role requires approximately 2 to 4 hours per week on average, although this is flexible. You need to live in, or have close links to Norfolk to understand the local issues and challenges, and can carry out the role from home or the CPRE Norfolk office, with occasional travel elsewhere in the county.

We have 250 local groups which play a vital part in supporting people affected by MS across the UK. They provide sense of belonging, unity and friendship. And they deliver services and support for their local MS community.

We are looking to recruit a Group Coordinator for our Warrington and District group. As our local Group Coordinator you’ll take the lead in making sure your local group works as effectively as possible. You’ll recruit, induct and support other group volunteers to make sure your group’s activities meet the needs of your local MS community. You can see a video about one of our Group Coordinators here.

In this role you’ll be able to develop your leadership, management, communication, organisation and motivation skills. 

Time Commitment

We estimate this role will need around 5 hours a week. Our roles are flexible and aim to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities. This is an ongoing role.

This is a great opportunity to gain experience within a large charity and develop your existing skills and learn new ones. We need you to get involved and help make positive changes to the lives of people affected by MS.

About you

You’ll have an interest in the MS Society and the work that we do, as well as the enthusiasm to represent both us and our values locally. You will understand the needs of people affected by MS in your area and be sympathetic to the needs and motivations of volunteers. You’ll be confident using Microsoft Office, the internet and email. You’ll be able to apply disability, equality and inclusion practices and understand and apply our risk management system. Ideally you’ll understand the local area and organisations that provide local services.

You will be reliable and easy to contact and you need to live in or near the Warrington and District area to carry out this role.

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

The administrative assistant will be assisting in general administrative support. They will have a close dialogue with key stakeholders, funders and donors to create relationships to help the organisation move forward. The requirements for the job is basic office -and communicating skills. The administrative assistant should be keen on learning and developing new skills within an office-based workplace.  There will be opportunities to develop skills within several different units of the organisation such as; Marketing, Funding, Finance, HR and Legal. The position will give the volunteer the opportunity to get insight into these different units, and the choice to develop oneself within the one(or several) that becomes of most interest, while at the same time getting versatile, transferable skills that can be applied throughout the organisation. 

Main tasks:

• Contact and communication with stakeholders - explaining the organisational aims of the organisation and creating relationships and collaboration with other organisations.

• Office based work - assisting other volunteers in positions such as Marketing, Funding, Finance, HR and Legal. In addition the Admin Assistant will carry out other office based tasks.

To assist in the provision of a weekly social group for adults aged 18+ with a range of learning disabilities/autism in venues in the Bracknell Forest area and surrounding areas. The Group meet every Tuesday 7pm -9pm. They go to the cinema, pubs, bowling, swimming, pottery painting etc.

About Alopecia UK

Alopecia UK is a charity working to improve the lives of those affected by alopecia through aims of Support, Awareness and Research.  Founded in 2004, we work to help adults, young people and children affected by alopecia.  This includes those with the condition, as well as their loved ones.  We are a small charity working nationally across the UK.  Despite being small, we are the largest alopecia charity in the UK and have big ambitions to continue our growth and development, reaching more people and funding more research than ever before. 

We have a fantastic staff team and board of Trustees, as well as a loyal network of volunteers and supporters. This is a fantastic opportunity for a passionate and innovative applicant to support a small yet dynamic charity, and make a lasting difference to the lives of those affected by alopecia.

Alopecia UK Trustee Board

Our Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall strategic direction of Alopecia UK. They represent a wide range of expertise from across finance, healthcare, communications, management and risk; in both private and public sectors.

The Trustee Board meets 4 times a year (two face-to-face meetings and two virtual meetings). Face-to-face meetings tend to be held on Saturdays from approximately 11am-4pm. Virtual meetings tend to be held midweek from approximately 6.30-8.30pm.

Trustees are encouraged to participate in charity campaigns and attend flagship events e.g. our Big Weekend and Alton Towers trip.

Trustees serve for a period of three years, with some trustees serving for more than one term.

The duties of a Trustee are as follows:

• Ensuring that the organisation pursues its stated objects.
• Ensuring that the charity complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations.
• Ensuring that the charity applies its resources exclusively in pursuit of its charitable objects.
• Ensuring that the charity defines its goals and evaluates performance against agreed targets.
• Safeguarding the good name and values of the charity.
• Ensuring the effective and efficient administration of the charity, including having appropriate policies and procedures in place.
• Ensuring the financial stability of the charity.
• Protecting and managing the property of the charity and ensuring the proper investment of the charity’s funds.
• Following proper and formal arrangements for the appointment, supervision, support, appraisal and remuneration of the staff team.

In addition to the above statutory duties, each Trustee should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the board of Trustees reach sound decisions. This may involve scrutinising board papers, leading discussions, focusing on key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives, or other issues in which the Trustee has special expertise.

Please refer to the Charity Commission guidance on good practice of charity meetings, also to Alopecia UK’s Charity Commission records. You can also read Alopecia UK’s 2021-2024 strategy. 

Requirements for the role:

• A commitment to the charity’s mission to improve the lives of those affected by alopecia.
• A willingness to devote the necessary time and effort.
• Strategic vision with an ability to think creatively and generate ideas.
• Good, independent judgement.
• The confidence to challenge, question and speak their mind.
• An understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship.
• An ability to work effectively as a member of a team.
• A commitment to Nolan’s seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
• Ability to work collaboratively and establish credibility with the Charity's trustees.

Additional desirable skills:

• Charity experience/understanding of charity sector
• Legal background (compliance, data protection, HR etc)
• Fundraising experience
• Digital leadership skills
• Medical/clinical background

Supporting Statement

We would love to understand more about you and your reasons for wanting to join the board of trustees at Alopecia UK and this information will be key for us in shortlisting.  Within your supporting statement please comment on:

• Why you want to support the work of Alopecia UK as a trustee
• How you meet the person specification
• What you feel you would bring in terms of experience, skillset, and knowledge base
• Any knowledge/experience you have of Alopecia UK and whether you have been involved in the charity’s work in the past (not essential)

Your statement should not exceed 1,000 words. 

What is Alopecia?

Alopecia simply means hair loss.  There are many types of alopecia, and the charity supports people with all types of alopecia, because the psychological impact can be the same, regardless of cause or type.  The majority of people who contact Alopecia UK have Alopecia Areata, which is understood to be an autoimmune condition.  Alopecia Areata typically appears as patches on the scalp and/or beard. It sometimes progresses to Alopecia Totalis (total hair loss on the scalp), or Alopecia Universalis (total loss of hair from scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes and body).  This dramatic change in appearance, while not life threatening, is certainly life changing.  Altered feelings around identity and sense of self can impact on confidence and self-esteem, resulting in psychological challenges being presented in many everyday life situations.  What does Alopecia UK do?

Support – we facilitate peer support through our UK-wide support group network, online peer support platforms, national and regional events, and one-to-one support given to individuals via phone and emails.  We also maintain a website full of information, advice and support.

Awareness – we educate the general public about alopecia through social media, advice packs, events, our website and podcast.  We support various TV, radio, newspaper and magazine (both print and digital) media articles. We also advocate for the alopecia community amongst healthcare professionals and peer charities, with a view to improving the patient experience.

Research – we distribute research grants and lead our own research, with the support of our Research Committee and Lay Research Panel. We also support various research projects by helping to recruit participants for them.  We build awareness of alopecia research within the general public, the alopecia community and the medical community.

Alopecia UK Staff Team

Following 10 years of being entirely volunteer-led, Alopecia UK moved towards having paid staff resource in 2014, eventually culminating in the Charity’s first full-time employees in 2016.  The Charity opened its first office in the same year.  We now have six employed staff, led by our Chief Executive Officer Sue Schilling. Our staff are skilled, enthusiastic, and passionate about delivering the Charity’s aims.

While we have a small paid staff team, we have a larger overall team, as we utilise a lot of volunteer help in order for the Charity to provide the range of services that it does.