Peer To Peer Researcher Volunteer Roles in Edinburgh
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Our challenge
Our Support and Information team offer a wide range of inclusive and accessible services to support those diagnosed with a brain tumour and their families.
One of our most critical services is our Support and Information Line, which is open between 9am-5pm, Monday—Friday. This service offers a place for people affected by a brain tumour diagnosis, to ask questions or raise concerns about a diagnosis, and how to support a loved one. We continue to see an increase in people accessing these services, and strive to work in smarter ways to manage this increase.
How can you help?
We’re looking for volunteers to help us make sure the Support Line runs more efficiently, by answering calls and asking a small number of specific questions to ensure the caller is transferred/triaged to the most appropriate support for them. This role also has the opportunity to develop into providing support to the community about specific areas.
- Answer incoming calls to the Support Line with empathy and understanding
- Ask specific questions to understand the caller’s support needs and transfer to the appropriate teams
- Accurately record information about the call onto our secure database
- Assist the support team in specific project areas where appropriate
- Respond to support emails from our community
- Support our digital support team with our peer support groups on Facebook • The role could develop into providing support over the phone regarding specific areas
What impact will you have?
This is an opportunity to be the first point of contact for our community, ensuring those that we support get the best service possible.
We’re looking for...
- Experience or confidence in answering calls and speaking on the phone
- Strong IT and computer skills, ideally experience of using databases
- Ability to demonstrate a high degree of empathy and resilience
- Active listening and strong communication skills
- Ability to separate own experiences from others, offering support and signposting in a non judgemental way
- Confidence to work autonomously and as part of a team
- Organisation and reliability
- Demonstrable understanding of confidential working
We particularly encourage applications from those who are significantly underrepresented in our sector, including individuals from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
What can I gain from volunteering with you?
- You’ll have the opportunity to utilise your existing skills, while developing and learning new ones to take forward into the future
- You’ll join a friendly, passionate team and develop an understanding of how this team at The Charity operates
- The satisfaction of knowing that you’re assisting those affected by a brain tumour diagnosis to gain the appropriate support
- The opportunity to expand the role in the future, by taking on additional training
Time commitment
To ensure we have volunteer cover for the full Support Line opening hours, we are looking for volunteers to commit between 1-4 hours a week. However, are open to talking about the regularity of these shifts.
The available times that we currently have are:
- Monday, 9am—10am
- Monday’s, 1pm-5pm
- Tuesday’s, 9am-10am
- Tuesday’s, 12.30pm-5pm
- Wednesday’s, 9am-10am
- Every other Thursday, 9am-1pm
- Friday’s, 1pm - 5pm
Due to the continuous training involved, we would ask that volunteers commit to a minimum of six months spent volunteering with us. This is a remote role where you can volunteer from home. You will have regular contact with our Support and Information team who, while facing tough challenges along the way, look out for each other and nurture an inspiring, positive team environment.
Practical considerations
You’ll receive a full online induction to The Brain Tumour Charity and specific training for the role, as well as training on the use of our database and phone system.
You’ll receive weekly supervision after each shift and ongoing support through online webinars, emails and telephone calls, from a team member within the Support team. You’ll have the opportunity to keep in touch and gain support from other volunteers in the same role.
Incoming support call numbers may vary, so some shifts may be quieter than others. We’ve created a number of different activities that you can get involved in between calls, if you would like to. This role has the opportunity for development to other areas of the support team— guidance and training will be provided for this.
We carry out reference checks for all individuals who will be volunteering with us on a regular basis. Volunteers will also be required to complete some internal data protection and disclosure documentation before commencing the role. Volunteers must be over 18.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Do you want to take part in vegan volunteering around your local area?
You can do that – right here at The Vegan Society.
We have an ever-growing Community Network of vegans just like you, who have a passion to volunteer and promote veganism where they live.
Every month, our Network choose from a range of outreach tasks. These could include town centre stalls, writing to a councillor or MP, sharing our campaigns on social media or contacting local businesses. You're in control of how much or how little you do.
As an Advocate, you will have a network of other Advocates and an Organiser in your area. Your Organiser will be your main point of contact. They will send you tasks every month and ask you to feed back on what you've completed and any positive outcomes.
Why do we need you to volunteer?
As the vegan community grows, veganism itself becomes better understood. We're finding that more people are looking to The Vegan Society to find out what being vegan is all about.
Local communities are starting to see the vegan movement as something real and something that’s happening in their area. More people are embracing a vegan lifestyle, which we welcome. From new businesses, to families, to councillors, many people need support. This could be with a range of topics: going vegan, finding correct information around a vegan diet, providing vegan options in their business, MPs listening to vegan constituents, and learning about our work.
Local issues are often unique and more varied than national issues. Our volunteers from local areas are vital! They enable us to share our messages and campaigns in an effective way. Research tells us that people are far more likely to trust information from a peer rather than an outside expert, so community volunteering vastly increases the impact of our campaigns.
Our network of committed local vegans across the country is growing! The Vegan Society organises various outreach activities to influence change in every level of society. There are a range of activities going on all the time, from general educational stalls at events to meeting with local policy influencers.
Advocates are a crucial voice in their own community. They ensure that our campaign messages are spread far and wide. They provide a strong vegan presence in local communities.
What does the Advocate role involve?
Being an Advocate for veganism with The Vegan Society will mean communicating with people in your local community. You'll share the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. You will form part of a local group, headed up by a local Organiser. The Organiser will feed back your collective efforts to staff. You will also be invited to our private Facebook group, for vegan socialising and ideas sharing.
You’ll stay in touch with the Organiser and bring your passion to tasks. Activities can range from staffing a stall to giving a talk at an employee event. It could also mean writing to a local newspaper or lobbying an MP.
Messaging can differ every month. Part of our mission statement is to ensure people can remain vegan, so you might focus on getting more vegan options available in local businesses. Or within our Live Vegan for Less campaign, you may share cheap vegan recipes to help people with the cost of living.
When acting as an Advocate, you will use The Vegan Society’s branding and messaging guidelines. Your local Organiser will guide you in doing this, as they hold physical resources and handbooks. You can report any issues and feedback you have to your Organiser. You can also contact staff if your Organiser isn't available or you have any problems.
What training and support is available?
You will be provided with a big welcome and full induction from your local Organiser. They will introduce you to the group and any actions that are ongoing. Any training and development will be provided via your Organiser, and you can also ask for specific training on any areas that you need some development in.
What skills would be useful in doing this role?
- The ability to stay motivated in order to achieve the best possible outcomes
- Good email etiquette, responding in a timely manner
- Committed to veganism and the mission of The Vegan Society
- Ability to stay calm if confronted with differing opinions or challenges
- A good communicator, with the ability to be persuasive
- Confident in communicating with people from a range of backgrounds
- Experience of campaigning
- Any experience in talking with members of the public through customer/public service would be helpful
- Awareness of current affairs, especially those that relate to veganism
- Regular availability and a willingness to stay committed to actions
- Good team player
How much time do I need to invest?
For Advocates, we ask for people to engage in a minimum of four to six actions per year. An example of an action could be writing to an MP or holding a stall. But the more you can do, the better! On occasion, there may also be online meetings to plan for actions or provide training.
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.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Volunteers are an essential part of the work we do at YANA.
Many people involved within agriculture can feel isolated, depressed or unable to cope as well as normal.
95% of farm workers under 40 cite poor mental health as the biggest problem they face today. Farm Safety Foundation (2023)
That’s why the YANA helpline is a vital service for our agricultural communities in East Anglia.
Listening makes a difference
We are looking for empathic and sensitive individuals who want to make a positive difference to people’s lives.
Training for our Volunteers
With full training and support, our Helpline Volunteers develop their skills and knowledge, while offering compassionate, real-time support to over 18’s on the phone through our Helpline.
Could you be part of our Helpline team?
If you want to make a real difference, are happy listening and talking on the telephone, and are able to offer at least 3-4 hours of your time each month have a look at our recruitment pack to see how you can make a difference as a Helpline Volunteer.
The role of a Helpline Volunteer is to provide confidential support to people who contact YANA for help, alongside the wider team, ensuring the services maintain YANA’s high standards and provides effective support to those in need.
You will be part of a team who provide a professional and responsive helpline service, supporting people in agriculture and rural businesses struggling with poor mental health and other matters which may include things such as work issues, relationship problems, and financial pressures.
“Ultimately, what I’ve learned the most is that the impact of a simple phone call can be life changing. For me, that’s the reason I volunteer on the YANA Helpline.” Current Helpline Volunteer
This is a home working role with a wider team available to support remotely.
Improving mental health within agriculture and rural businesses in East Anglia.




The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.