Volunteer roles in tower hamlets

Description

Join our amazing team and make a real difference to people living with sight loss. Help create a welcoming and safe environment for people to share their experiences, ask questions and support each other and connect with a local community in a group setting via Facebook.

In this role you will be:
• Managing group membership – authorising Requests to Join.
• Creating a warm and welcoming environment by welcoming new members to the group and encouraging participation.
• Supporting group conversations – Instigating dialogue based on eye health related days/events or more interest-based topics.
• Working with a Volunteer Moderator Team to create engaging content for the Group.
• Ensuring group rules are followed and that content is appropriate by alerting managers when inappropriate content is posted or when there is a safeguarding issue.

What you’ll gain from the role:
• An opportunity to give something back.
• A chance to build a strong community by by engaging with the people with sight loss, local and national organisations.
• A sense of achievement through the difference you make.

•  A chance to be part of a team of like-minded people
• An opportunity to develop and explore different roles with RNIB, including our internal job vacancies.

In return for donating your time we will provide:
• A rewarding experience.
• A great Induction and training.
• A supportive manager.
• Regular updates and catchups.
• Expenses.
• An opportunity to connect with other volunteers through regular moderator meetings

Time commitment
• This volunteering role requires a commitment of around 5 hours a week, there is the option to volunteer for a greater number of hours but this isn't essential.

Description

Join our amazing team and make a real difference to people living with sight loss. Help create a welcoming and safe environment for people to share their experiences, ask questions and support each other and connect with a local community in a group setting via Facebook.

In this role you will be:
• Managing group membership – authorising Requests to Join.
• Creating a warm and welcoming environment by welcoming new members to the group and encouraging participation.
• Supporting group conversations – Instigating dialogue based on eye health related days/events or more interest-based topics.
• Working with a Volunteer Moderator Team to create engaging content for the Group.
• Ensuring group rules are followed and that content is appropriate by alerting managers when inappropriate content is posted or when there is a safeguarding issue.

What you’ll gain from the role:
• An opportunity to give something back.
• A chance to build a strong community by by engaging with the people with sight loss, local and national organisations.
• A sense of achievement through the difference you make.

•  A chance to be part of a team of like-minded people
• An opportunity to develop and explore different roles with RNIB, including our internal job vacancies.

In return for donating your time we will provide:
• A rewarding experience.
• A great Induction and training.
• A supportive manager.
• Regular updates and catchups.
• Expenses.
• An opportunity to connect with other volunteers through regular moderator meetings

Time commitment
• This volunteering role requires a commitment of around 5 hours a week, there is the option to volunteer for a greater number of hours but this isn't essential.

Young Carers Volunteer: Role Description 

We are recruiting passionate and motivated volunteers looking for an opportunity to make a significant impact on the wellbeing of Young Carers’ in Wandsworth.

Please note that this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.  

Outline of service 

Our new Young Carers’ Connect project is designed to support the wellbeing of Young Carers’ in Wandsworth. The aim of the service is to reduce isolation, promote wellbeing, connect young people and provide opportunities for fun and respite.

Wandsworth Carers’ Centre supports individuals who are looking after someone who has an illness or disability. By volunteering with us you can help look after the health and wellbeing of Carers and provide them with the opportunity to take a break from their responsibilities and have time out for themselves. 

Outline of Role 

As a Young Carers’ volunteer, you will have the opportunity to support in a wide range of exciting and dynamic activities such as peer support groups, workshops, events, activities and trips. 

Main Responsibilities 

• Building rapport with Young Carers and helping them to feel safe and comfortable 

• Co-facilitating workshops and groups 

• Supporting with the facilitation of trips, events and activities 

• Supporting with setting up and tidying up 

• Supporting with keeping a record of attendance 

• Actively participating in activities, games, events and trips 

• Recognising and responding appropriately to safeguarding concerns by reporting to them to the responsible member of staff 

• Upholding confidentiality 

• Maintaining good communication with responsible staff member.

Other Duties: May be agreed with the responsible staff member as per the requirements of the group. 

Skills and Experience 

• Ability to communicate with Young Carers and their families in a helpful and caring manner 

• Reliable and punctual 

• Ability to work effectively in partnership with Centre staff 

• Empathetic and understanding 

• An understanding of professional boundaries and confidentiality 

• Awareness of issues affecting Young Carers 

• Commitment to the implementation of our Equality and Inclusion policy and all the Centre’s polices 

Code of conduct

As a volunteer, and therefore a representative of the Carers’ Centre, you will be expected to comply with this code of conduct.

• Treat all Carers and the people they care for politely and with respect 

• Ensure that your appearance is clean, neat and tidy at all times 

• Conversations of a personal nature to you should not be had around Carers or the people they Care for 

Benefits To Volunteer 

• Obtain experience of working with a diverse group of young people 

• Reasonable out of pocket travel expenses will be covered 

• Provide support to Carers and the people they Care for in Wandsworth 

• References available upon request (after 6 months) 

• Regular support and supervision 

Additional Information: 

DBS required: Yes – Enhanced.

Responsible to: Ms. Eleanor Sandler-Clarke

Supervised by: Ms. Eleanor Sandler-Clarke 

Hours: Availability after school and/or during school holidays. For peer support groups or regular activities: A minimum commitment of one session a month. 

Expenses: Reasonable expenses (e.g. travel and parking) incurred through carrying out volunteering activities will be reimbursed, upon the production of receipts. 

Supervision: Regular sessions with the appropriate staff member to be arranged mutually.

This role provides a telephone listening and support service to bereaved carers’ and family members whose relatives died under the care of The Hospice of St Francis. Last year our Bereavement Support Line volunteers made over 1,000 calls.

We are looking for additional volunteers to support this service.  Do you have strong listening skills?  Are you reflective, self-aware, adaptive with basic IT skills?  We'd love to hear from you. 

The role will be ome based and you will receive full training and ongoing support.

This role provides a telephone listening and support service to bereaved carers’ and family members whose relatives died under the care of The Hospice of St Francis. Last year our Bereavement Support Line volunteers made over 1,000 calls.

We are looking for additional volunteers to support this service.  Do you have strong listening skills?  Are you reflective, self-aware, adaptive with basic IT skills?  We'd love to hear from you. 

The role will be ome based and you will receive full training and ongoing support.

This role provides a telephone listening and support service to bereaved carers’ and family members whose relatives died under the care of The Hospice of St Francis. Last year our Bereavement Support Line volunteers made over 1,000 calls.

We are looking for additional volunteers to support this service.  Do you have strong listening skills?  Are you reflective, self-aware, adaptive with basic IT skills?  We'd love to hear from you. 

The role will be ome based and you will receive full training and ongoing support.

This role provides a telephone listening and support service to bereaved carers’ and family members whose relatives died under the care of The Hospice of St Francis. Last year our Bereavement Support Line volunteers made over 1,000 calls.

We are looking for additional volunteers to support this service.  Do you have strong listening skills?  Are you reflective, self-aware, adaptive with basic IT skills?  We'd love to hear from you. 

The role will be ome based and you will receive full training and ongoing support.

This role provides a telephone listening and support service to bereaved carers’ and family members whose relatives died under the care of The Hospice of St Francis. Last year our Bereavement Support Line volunteers made over 1,000 calls.

We are looking for additional volunteers to support this service.  Do you have strong listening skills?  Are you reflective, self-aware, adaptive with basic IT skills?  We'd love to hear from you. 

The role will be ome based and you will receive full training and ongoing support.

The Mental Health Recovery Pathway (MHRP) service provides day service opportunities for people with low and medium Preventative Care Needs.

We are currently looking to offer volunteering placements with our Mental Health Recovery Pathway (MHRP) – a mental health provision based across three sites in Islington responding to the mental health needs of Islington residents.

You will be assisting service users who experience mental distress in group settings.

We ask for a commitment of at least 1 day a week 10:15am – 4:00pm for a full year (+ about 2-3 months for DBS check and induction), though there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer more than one day a week.

If this sounds interesting and suitable to you, please complete the MHRP volunteer application form and return with your CV, indicating why are you interested in volunteering for Islington Mind, if there is anything specific that you would like to do in your volunteering placement – e.g. facilitate activities, support our open access drop-in sessions, support service users with completing forms, accompany service users to appointments etc, and your availability – e.g. one or more days a week and which days of the week you are available.

Today Kensal Green Cemetery is at the start of an exciting new chapter in its history.  After several years of hard work and collaboration with stakeholders such as Historic England, a private Bill is currently passing through parliament that will enable the General Cemetery Company to transfer the land, buildings and company into the ownership of a newly formed charity.  As a result, the cemetery will be owned and operated by a modern organisation with contemporary powers and freedoms, releasing it from the constrained governance arrangements of the founding Act(s).

In parallel with the Bill making its passage through parliament, the General Cemetery Company directors are setting up a Steering Group that will form the embryo of the board of trustees of the proposed charity that will ultimately own and operate the site. 

We are therefore seeking three experienced external individuals to join the Steering Group and contribute towards the establishment of the new charity and form the starting point for a larger board of trustees.  It is anticipated that the Steering Group members will transition into trustees in the next 12 months or so as the charity is established.

About Kensal Green Cemetery

Kensal Green Cemetery and the company that owns and operates it - the General Cemetery Company - was established by an Act of Parliament in 1833.  It is one of the ‘magnificent seven’ great Victorian London cemeteries and the only one that remains owned and operated by its original founding company. 

Kensal Green Cemetery is widely regarded architecturally as the most important of the great Victorian cemeteries, containing the greatest concentration of buildings and monuments of particularly high-quality design.  As the chosen location for several Victorian royal burials, Kensal Green Cemetery also became regarded as particularly desirable amongst the great and the good of Victorian and Edwardian society.

Over the last half a century the General Cemetery Company has struggled to keep up with the huge task of maintaining the site to the standard it deserves.  And as time has passed, the General Cemetery Company’s 200-year-old governance framework has become increasingly anachronistic in the modern world, preventing it, for example, from applying for major capital grants or making structural changes to the way the site is owned and operated.  Whilst the company is in reasonable financial shape and actively serving its community with burials and cremations, parts of the cemetery are in poor condition and it contains one of the largest concentrations of ‘Heritage At Risk’ structures in England.

Our vision

The GCC directors and inaugural members of the proposed charity have established an outline vision for the future of Kensal Green Cemetery for the next 25 years to 2050 to give the proposed charity a clear purpose. We have also started to set a series of objectives that the charity must deliver to give its role and function more definition:

The vision is to care for Kensal Green Cemetery as a place of burial, cremation and quiet contemplation for current and future generations of our diverse community.  To do this we will carefully and sensitively conserve and repair our buildings and monuments, promote education about them and improve the condition of infrastructure & landscape whilst operating an active cemetery and crematorium for the public benefit.

The strategic objectives are:

1. To maintain an open and active cemetery and provide for existing and future generations of friends and families of the deceased

2. To conserve and enhance the heritage of Kensal Green Cemetery;( the densest concentration of highly listed heritage assets in England)

3. To continue to operate a high quality, financially viable cemetery and crematorium whilst diversifying income streams from other assets and activities

4. To engage and educate people about the social, economic, architectural, environmental and cultural history of the cemetery and those buried in it

5. To balance the conservation and enhancement of the historic landscape features with nature conservation to provide a green space for commemoration and the quiet enjoyment and contemplation of the community.

We are seeking three high calibre individuals to the following three roles:

1. Treasurer

2. Heritage-lead

3. Management-lead

Further details are provided in the attached information pack however it is key that all three trustee roles are filled by individuals who have board-level experience and experience of charities, and ideally charitable start-ups in particular.

We are looking for individuals who understand and will embrace our vision and who can help to shape plans for the future of Kensal Green Cemetery.

In the short-term the individuals will be members of the Steering Group.  It is anticipated that these individuals will be key members of the team which will create the proposed charity and that their roles will transition to trustees during their tenure.

What you will gain

• The opportunity to shape an organisation responsible for one of the most remarkable concentrations of heritage assets in England
• Satisfaction for being responsible for a cemetery and crematorium that is deeply rooted in the lives of the West London community
• The opportunity to develop your strategic and leadership skills
• Working with a friendly and committed team of trustees and staff.

Location

All members of the Steering Group and successor trustee board will be expected to participate fully in the development of proposals for the future of Kensal Green Cemetery including at the attendance of events and relevant meetings on site in London.  It is expected that there will be five formal meetings each year which will be a mixture of virtual and in person that members will be required to attend as a minimum.  During the first formative year or so of the start-up phase we expect the level of time commitment will exceed that of a typical trustee position.

Terms of appointment

The three roles are voluntary and will not be remunerated however reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.

The appointment is for a three-year term, which can be renewed for one further term.

About being a Trustee

It is fully expected that the individuals we are seeking for the Steering Group will transition into trustees in due course. More information is available online about general trustee responsibilities from websites such as the Charity Commission however, in summary, trustees have overall control of a charity and are responsible for making sure it’s doing what it was set up to do.  Trustees have six main overarching duties:

1. To ensure their charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit

2. To comply with their charity’s governing document and the law

3. To act in their charity’s best interests

4. To manage your charity’s resources responsibly

5. To act with reasonable care and skill

6. To ensure their charity is accountable.

Join Westfield Academy’s Board of Trustees to support strategic growth, educational excellence, and inclusive opportunity.

Applications close: 9 a.m. Monday 28th July 2025

Location: Watford, Herts

Time commitment: c. one day per month (25–30 hours per year).

About Westfield Academy

Westfield Academy is a thriving, oversubscribed single academy trust serving a diverse and dynamic community in Watford. With over 1,300 students, including a significant proportion eligible for free school meals and a growing number of learners with education, health and care plans, we are proud of our inclusive ethos and high standards.

Since converting to academy status in 2013, Westfield has consistently been rated “Good” by Ofsted, most recently in November 2024. Our ethos is centred on three drivers – Believe, Strive, and Achieve — and these are central to the culture of the school and underpin everything that we do. Our students are supported to reach their full academic potential and to grow into resilient, confident and compassionate young people.

We have an experienced and high-performing leadership team, excellent facilities and a growing reputation as the leading non-selective school in West Watford.

Our recent focus has been on improving student enrichment, strengthening financial resilience and ensuring a robust safeguarding framework. We are shaping our future ambitions, which include further capital investment and the development of our site, as well as other educational and community initiatives. Anyone joining Westfield Academy now has the opportunity to make a tangible impact and influence our future.

About the roles

As a trustee, you will play a key role in shaping the strategic direction of Westfield Academy. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the school delivers the best possible outcomes for students while maintaining sound financial management and effective governance.

Who we are looking for

For both roles, we are interested to speak to those who have governance experience.

For the education role, we are seeking someone currently or recently working in secondary school leadership, ideally at Assistant Head level or above. You will bring a strong understanding of attainment data, teaching and learning, safeguarding, and strategic school improvement. Experience with Ofsted inspection frameworks, curriculum development, or SEND provision would be valuable.

For the business leadership role, we are looking for a local employer or senior business figure with strategic oversight experience, financial acumen and a genuine interest in education and the local community. You will be comfortable operating in a governance setting and prepared to engage fully with the details of reports and strategic plans. Knowledge of organisational development, audit, or risk would be an advantage.

We particularly welcome interest from individuals with a local connection to Watford or the surrounding areas. This ensures our Board remains rooted in the community we serve and attuned to the lived experience of our students and families.

This is an exciting time to help lead an academy with strong foundations and real ambition. If you can bring the commitment and capabilities we are looking for, we would love to hear from you.

Peridot Partners and Westfield Academy 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 candidates 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 this role close at 9 a.m. Monday 28th July 2025.

InterVol is a student volunteering charity in the United Kingdom that connects students with volunteering opportunities locally and overseas. InterVol supports students to develop their skills with community projects in the UK and then use those skills to support the work of charitable partners overseas on health, education, refugee support, and conservation placements. Our project placements and volunteering opportunities are designed by our local partners and with the long-term needs of beneficiaries and communities in mind. InterVol supports a network of five student societies at English universities with around one hundred volunteers annually.

InterVol is looking for new trustees to join our board. Trustees are responsible for ensuring that InterVol follows our guiding principles and acts within the law. This includes the timely submissions to the Charity Commission, ensuring that volunteering is safe and appropriate, and developing and maintaining a long-term strategy for InterVol. InterVol is a small charity with no staff, so trustees also play an important role in maintaining institutional memory for student committees which change annually. 

We are recruiting for general trustee roles and for a treasurer. For the treasurer role, we are looking for applicants with a specialism in financial management to oversee our bank account, monitor our online donation platform, make grants, donations and payments, and report on our finances annually to the Charity Commission. Trustees in non-finance roles will be allocated roles most relevant to their own experience e.g. specific university group support, specific placements, or thematic areas such as training or research.

As a trustee you are expected to take on roles including:

• Attend termly meetings (three annually, online) and annual meetings, where possible.

• Provide advice to the trustee board and our committees. This is either by email, or through the Trustees WhatsApp group.

• Work on specific projects with other trustees and advisors, e.g. managing interns, setting up new placement partnerships, and conducting/reviewing risk assessments.

• Identify potential partnerships in both the United Kingdom and overseas to forward the goals of the charity and strengthen our existing university projects.

• Attend training and network events to represent InterVol, make new connections and bring new ideas into the charity.

• Commit to 2-3 years of supporting the charity before handing over or renewing your term.

• Be based in the United Kingdom to allow travel to meetings.

Person Specification:

• Significant experience of volunteering in either the UK or overseas

• Passionate about ethical volunteering practises

• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills

• Flexible and able to provide support on an ad hoc basis

• Understanding of international development issues (desirable)

• Accounting and finance experience (treasurer role)

Do you have a great idea to benefit people living with MS? At the MS Society, we campaign on a range of issues like welfare, treatments, care and support that people with MS need. We want to do more locally and want to support your ideas on making change happen. Together we can do more.

Perhaps you’ve spotted there are no blue badge spaces at your local supermarket? Or maybe your neighbourhood has no kerbs easy for wheelchairs to use? In this volunteer role, you’ll help drive change for people with MS in your community and develop your networking and influencing skills along the way.

As a campaigner you’ll bring your own ideas, local knowledge and personal experience to your campaigns. You’ll make decisions about your own campaign activities and collaborate with other campaigners in your area.

This role is flexible and aims to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities and the campaigning you’d like to do. This is an ongoing role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully (available via file attached on the right hand side)

2. Apply online, and have a welcome chat with your support staff member

Do you have a great idea to benefit people living with MS? At the MS Society, we campaign on a range of issues like welfare, treatments, care and support that people with MS need. We want to do more locally and want to support your ideas on making change happen. Together we can do more.

Perhaps you’ve spotted there are no blue badge spaces at your local supermarket? Or maybe your neighbourhood has no kerbs easy for wheelchairs to use? In this volunteer role, you’ll help drive change for people with MS in your community and develop your networking and influencing skills along the way.

As a campaigner you’ll bring your own ideas, local knowledge and personal experience to your campaigns. You’ll make decisions about your own campaign activities and collaborate with other campaigners in your area.

This role is flexible and aims to fit around you. Time commitments for this role may vary depending on your activities and the campaigning you’d like to do. This is an ongoing role.

Apply 

1. Read through the role description carefully (available via file attached on the right hand side)

2. Apply online, and have a welcome chat with your support staff member