Social media volunteer volunteer roles in Upminster, greater london

Purpose of the Role

The Communications & Social Media Volunteer will support Disability Africa in strengthening its external communications and digital presence. The role focuses on translating programme realities into clear, consistent, and engaging content across social media and other communication channels, aligned with the organisation’s values and voice.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the planning and scheduling of social media content (primarily LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook).
• Draft posts that communicate programme updates, impact stories, partner highlights, and key milestones.
• Help ensure consistency of tone, messaging, and visual identity.
• Work with the team to translate project updates into clear and accessible communications.
• Support basic analytics tracking (engagement, reach, growth trends).
• Contribute ideas for campaigns linked to fundraising, events, or key moments in the year.
• Assist in maintaining simple content calendars and communication plans.

What We Are Looking For

• Strong written communication skills in English.
• Ability to communicate impact clearly without exaggeration or tokenism.
• Basic understanding of social media platforms and content formats.
• Organised and comfortable working to light deadlines.
• Creative but structured approach to storytelling.
• Comfortable working independently with guidance from the team.

Approach and Mindset

• Alignment with Disability Africa’s Social Model of Disability and rights-based framing.
• Strong awareness of ethical storytelling and representation.
• Care to avoid perpetuating traditional “aid” narratives that centre pity, saviourism, or deficit-based portrayals.
• Commitment to communicating dignity, agency, and structural inclusion.
• Respect for partner-led priorities and contextual nuance.
• Interest in inclusive communication and accessibility.

Desirable (but not essential)

• Experience managing social media for a charity, NGO, or small organisation.
• Basic design skills (Canva or similar).
• Familiarity with simple analytics tools.
• Interest in disability inclusion or international development.

Time Commitment

Flexible; typically 4–6 hours per week.
Minimum commitment of 12 months.

What the Volunteer Will Gain

• Experience shaping communications within a growing international charity.
• Exposure to programme-based storytelling grounded in dignity and inclusion.
• Opportunity to contribute to campaigns with real organisational impact.
• Professional reference upon successful completion of the role.

We are looking for a creative and enthusiastic Social Media Volunteer to help strengthen our digital presence and raise awareness of the Helen Bamber Foundation's work and the issues we advocate for.

This role will play an important part in shaping our social media presence, particularly on Instagram, helping to develop engaging visual content, Reels, and other short-form video formats. We are seeking someone with a strong eye for design and visual storytelling, an understanding of branding and the importance of consistency, and a passion for human rights, asylum, migration, and trauma-informed practice.

Working closely with the Communications Manager, you will help generate ideas, create and schedule content, contribute to campaigning and marketing, and support the monitoring and evaluation of content performance to help grow our reach and engagement.

MAIN TASKS AND ACTIVITIES

• Support the planning, creation and delivery of engaging social media content across the Helen Bamber Foundation Group's channels, with a particular focus on Instagram.
• Design high-quality graphics, carousels, stories, and other visual assets that align with the Foundation's brand guidelines and communications objectives.
• Create and edit Reels and other short-form video content to increase audience engagement and communicate key messages in accessible and creative ways.
• Generate content ideas and contribute to the development of campaigns, awareness days, fundraising activities and advocacy initiatives.
• Help develop and refine visual templates, formats and design approaches for Instagram, ensuring strong branding and visual consistency.
• Identify opportunities to repurpose existing content, including reports, research papers, case studies, blogs, media coverage, and impact/annual reports into compelling social media posts.
• Assist with content scheduling and maintaining a social media content calendar to ensure a consistent and timely online presence.
• Monitor social media trends, platform updates, and emerging content formats and suggest new approaches to enhance engagement and reach.
• Help ensure all content is accessible, inclusive, and reflects the Foundation's values and trauma-informed approach to communications.
• Assist in tracking and reporting on social media performance, including engagement, reach, follower growth, and content effectiveness, and contribute ideas for continuous improvement.
• Work collaboratively with the Communications Manager to support Ambassadors for Change, a group of campaigners at the charity with lived experience of the asylum system, to use our social media channels, where appropriate, to promote their campaigns.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE NEEDED

Essential:

• Experience creating social media content for personal, academic, voluntary, or professional projects.
• Strong interest in human rights, social justice, refugee rights or the charity sector.
• Ability to work collaboratively and respond constructively to feedback.
• Proficient in using Canva and/or design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite.
• Ability to plan, script, produce, edit reels and short-form video content.
• Good understanding of social media trends, visual branding and tone of voice, as well as the different styles, audiences and content requirements of various social media platforms, with the ability to adapt content accordingly.
• Ability to generate creative content ideas that respond to current affairs, news cycles, awareness days and relevant social media trends.
• Organised, dependable, and proactive in meeting deadlines
• Understanding of, and commitment to, the objectives of the Helen Bamber Foundation and Asylum Aid.
• Demonstrable empathy for our clients, including people seeking asylum, refugees and survivors of torture and trafficking, and sensitivity when working on topics related to human rights, trauma, or lived experience.

Desirable:

•  Experience working with charities, non-profits, or campaigning organisations.

WHAT YOU WILL GET OUT OF THE ROLE

• The opportunity to use your creativity to support survivors and advocate for human rights.
• Experience of working within human rights charities with a focus on advocacy-driven communications.
• Support, feedback, and mentorship from experienced staff.
• A chance to contribute directly to meaningful change for people rebuilding their lives and raising awareness.
• A strong understanding of communications and advocacy work of leading human rights charities.
• An appreciation of the processes and systems that people seeking asylum and refugees deal with in the UK.

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply please send us a CV along with a short cover letter (max 300 words) about why you would like to volunteer as social media volunteer with us.
• Please also provide a link to samples of your work.

We will be conducting interviews for this role on a rolling basis, so please apply early.

Please note, all voluntary roles across the HBFG are subject to a 3-month probationary period.