Support volunteer volunteer roles in sittingbourne, kent

The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association is looking for a volunteer Graphic & Visual Designer to help us pro-bono for up to one day per week.

Why are we recruiting for a pro bono contractor?

As a global non-profit whose funding is primarily for our impactful in-country programmes, we have very little budget for our marketing and communications needs, and there are very few sources of funding for charities to get help with this. We need to create capacity within our staff team to free up time to focus on activities like fundraising in the hope that we can one day invest more in our human and technical communications resources.

This role could suit:

• An early career professional graphic designer looking for a unique professional opportunity for their portfolio that showcases their skill and impact at a global level.

• An experienced, professional graphic designer looking to give back to a worthy cause by using their professional skill set.

• A capable “amateur” graphic designer looking for a solid, stable opportunity to develop their professional portfolio and secure a robust client reference from a respected organisation.

• A professional graphic designer looking for an opportunity to contribute their core skills whilst accessing mentoringship from a professional who can provide advice and insight on furthering their current career, working in the charity sector, or broadening skills to include PR, media relations, strategic communications, copywriting, copyediting and more.

Role definition and Purpose

To support the CPA’s global Communications Team by producing impactful, original and eye-catching designs for both print and digital usage that support our programmes to improve healthcare outcomes for patients in more than 60 countries. The pro bono contractor will work with the Communications Team to create or format content in line with the CPA’s evolving Brandbook, having a chance to make their mark on the identity of this global organisation.

About CPA’s design philosophy

In our approach to visual design, we seek to create content in line with an aesthetic theory that can arguably be described as a form of digital neoclassicism in its aesthetic values. By this, we mean our designs embrace the best of the modern digital aesthetic popular in the Global North, making use of the colour blocking and some simplicity of the “vector minimialism” that became the foundation of the Corporate Memphis identity. We favour designs that lend themselves to accessibility, elegance and ease of visual navigation.

However, we also seek to recall the best of the Frutiger Aero aesthetic that dominated digital media from the mid-2000s to early 2010s in the Global North, and which in many ways lives on in the contemporary aesthetic choices popular in South Africa, India and South-East Asia. CPA’s aesthetic eschews both flat design and the dispersonal visualisations of Corporate Memphis for the three-dimensionality and emotional authenticity of Frutiger Aero. We add a maximalist flourish, playing with perspective, colour and boundaries in a way that helps bring our designs to life and make them relevant to our audience whilst still feeling fresh, clean and contemporary.

We cherish being pixel perfect for accessibility and comfort, but embrace the freedom to make considered choices to break the rules for visibility and impact.

Available benefits to the volunteer / pro bono contractor

• Mentoring and professional development. You will have the opportunity to work with an award winning strategic communications expert with 15 years of experience, including campaign management with M&C Saatchi for His Majesty The King’s Coronation, running campaigns for major political parties, and who is currently serving as Deputy Chair for the Commonwealth’s global communications forum. Formal mentorship is a possibility.
   

• Strengthen your portfolio with a unique pro bono opportunity. You will be able to evidence working on global healthcare campaigns and projects that reach people in dozens of countries around the world, and will have a chance to help shape the visual identity of a global NGO.
   

• Work on unique and impactful projects that change the lives of hundreds of thousands. Our charity works to improve the lives of patients in more than 30 countries with our highly impactful in-country partnership programmes. Your graphic design work will help make the world a healthier, happier and safer place for all.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with the Communications Team to produce visually appealing graphical assets in line with CPA’s new Brandbook.

• Create visual content to support social media campaigns and enhance educational content on our CPD Platform, working to a brief provided by colleagues.

• Offer expert advice and support in the formulation of visual content, particularly for social media and web.

• Professionally brand and format documents to the specifications of the Communications Lead and the Brandbook.

• In the future, the pro bono contractor may be asked to help contribute to an update to the visual identity of the charity.

Person Specification 

• Experience, competency using and independent access to advanced graphic design tools, which should include at least one tool on the list below, or an equivalent:

  • Adobe Photoshop

  • Adobe Illustrator

  • Adobe InDesign

  • Affinity Publisher

  • Affinity Designer

  • Affinity Photo

  • CorelDraw

• Experience using Canva or Adobe Express is also desirable, but we are ideally looking for someone with skill in a more advanced tool.

• Comfortable working with design asks for web and print.

• Understanding of the principles of good design, in particular balance, proportion, hierarchy, movement, variety, rhythm and use of white / negative space.

• Passion for visual identity and good graphic design, exciting by the prospect of working with a brand that celebrates the best of modern digital design but embraces the best elements of previous eras.

• Strong people skills, able to work well with a diverse team of people drawn from cultures and countries around the world.

• Attend a fortnightly team meeting online, which will be held during UK working hours (9am – 5pm UTC).

How to apply

Please include in your application:

• A short statement explaining who you are, your interest in the role and what you would like to bring to the table as a pro bono consultant.

• An attachment or link to a portfolio of your graphic design work to date. This portfolio can include example work, work you have done as part of a job, voluntary work or commissioned work – as long as it’s yours!

• A statement explaining what design tools you have access to and make use of in your graphic design work.

Whilst we welcome candidates who use AI as a supplementary tool in their work for speed and convenience, for example to aid with background removal or noise reduction, we are not interested in working with designers who use generative AI as a “design” tool in and of itself or create AI “artwork”.

Bring your professional skills, passion and enthusiasm for vocational education and belief in the positive impact of education on raising aspirations and providing a base for future success in careers and higher education.

Applications close: 9 a.m. Monday 15th September 2025

Location: Hybrid/Southend, Purfleet and Basildon

Time commitment: 2 – 3 hours per month

About South Essex College

South Essex College is the largest and most diverse vocational curriculum provider across Essex, offering a range of courses from entry-level to honour degrees, and providing bespoke training hand-in-hand with employers in state-of-the-art facilities.

South Essex is a vibrant and ambitious region with the ability to create jobs, attract new industry and cultivate entrepreneurs and investment. As a result of both the pandemic and the need for economic recovery, there has never been a greater need for skilled professionals and retraining in our region, and the College is a key partner in rebuilding the local economy.

In an ever-changing educational landscape, the College occupies a unique space. Located within the Unitary Authorities of Thurrock and Southend and the Local Authority (Essex County Council) in Basildon, the College aims to meet the aspirations and ambitions of each of the Unitary and Local Authority Partners by contributing to their regeneration plans and helping to meet the skills needs of its local communities.

Its aim is to provide young people and adults with the professional and technical skills they require to meet the skills needed of local and regional employers, so that they can gain quality employment and, in turn, improve the local and regional economy.

About the roles

Governors make an invaluable contribution to the development of excellence in colleges. As a member of the governing board, governors set the mission and strategic direction of the College and scrutinise its performance. Governors are volunteers.

Becoming a governor provides many opportunities to contribute to your local community and is an excellent way of developing strategic leadership skills.

Who we are looking for

The College sits in a strong and enviable position to build on its existing solid foundations and move forward, looking to the future to successfully develop and grow. It has high ambitions to continue providing a responsive level of education to its students and to develop and strengthen its activities in alignment with the local economy.

It is in this context that the College is now seeking to appoint new Governors to join the Board and associated Committees with an understanding of the FE sector landscape and a background in:

• Organisational Development
• Education Technology/Digital Transformation
• Marketing
• Education (FE experience)

You will bring senior leadership experience and a portfolio of expertise from your sector to support, challenge, and hold the executive team accountable in all matters concerning the college and its associated business cycle.

More importantly, you will hold a passion and enthusiasm for vocational education and the impact that the sector has on the lives of our students in raising aspirations and providing a base for future success in careers and higher education.

Peridot Partners and South Essex College are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and our client expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references before any final offer can be made.

Please click 'Redirect to recruiter’ to be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.

Applications for these roles close at 9 a.m. Monday 15th September 2025.