Community works volunteer roles

Learning and curriculum designers wanted to help East London Waterworks Park deliver its environmental learning goals.

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

We are looking for volunteers to develop learning content and resources, such as lesson plans and educational materials, to support our environmental learning goals. This role will focus on creating school-friendly resources for our website and collaborating with educators to enhance our offerings.

The role would include:

• Developing online learning resources for our website (on-going project)
• Designing or tailoring existing lesson plans and activities for schools 
• Supporting the creation of ELWP’s Under 18s volunteering policy
• Supporting outreach efforts to promote ELWP’s existing learning programmes

Schools, universities and youth groups we've collaborated with include:

• Waltham Forest College 
• Henry Maynard Primary School, Walthamstow
• Buxton School, Leytonstone
• Kingsmead Primary School, Hackney
• Daubeney Primary School, Hackney
• UCL 
• Royal College of Art
• University of Westminster 
• Project Zero
• Voyage Youth 
• Loyola University Chicago 
• Vanderbilt University Nashville

We're looking for people to lead on these projects and facilitate the direction of the learning working group.

The Learning Circle currently meets monthly on a Wednesday evening at 8pm for an hour on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely.

Ideal candidates have experience in curriculum design, teaching, or educational resource development. Creativity, strong writing skills, and an understanding of outdoor or environmental education will be valuable. Our roles are quite flexible. We hope that people bring radical imagination, peace with nature, and courageous inclusiveness to the role.  

Your support will help young people and learners improve their environmental knowledge of design and research as well as contributing to our community-owned park. This will in turn provide a sense of stewardship over the land once the park is created and student's ideas have been built into the park. Creating learning projects with educational institutions will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. 

You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds. By volunteering in this role, you will help shape the future of East London Waterworks Park as a community-led environmental learning space. This will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you!

Learning and curriculum designers wanted to help East London Waterworks Park deliver its environmental learning goals.

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

We are looking for volunteers to develop learning content and resources, such as lesson plans and educational materials, to support our environmental learning goals. This role will focus on creating school-friendly resources for our website and collaborating with educators to enhance our offerings.

The role would include:

• Developing online learning resources for our website (on-going project)
• Designing or tailoring existing lesson plans and activities for schools 
• Supporting the creation of ELWP’s Under 18s volunteering policy
• Supporting outreach efforts to promote ELWP’s existing learning programmes

Schools, universities and youth groups we've collaborated with include:

• Waltham Forest College 
• Henry Maynard Primary School, Walthamstow
• Buxton School, Leytonstone
• Kingsmead Primary School, Hackney
• Daubeney Primary School, Hackney
• UCL 
• Royal College of Art
• University of Westminster 
• Project Zero
• Voyage Youth 
• Loyola University Chicago 
• Vanderbilt University Nashville

We're looking for people to lead on these projects and facilitate the direction of the learning working group.

The Learning Circle currently meets monthly on a Wednesday evening at 8pm for an hour on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely.

Ideal candidates have experience in curriculum design, teaching, or educational resource development. Creativity, strong writing skills, and an understanding of outdoor or environmental education will be valuable. Our roles are quite flexible. We hope that people bring radical imagination, peace with nature, and courageous inclusiveness to the role.  

Your support will help young people and learners improve their environmental knowledge of design and research as well as contributing to our community-owned park. This will in turn provide a sense of stewardship over the land once the park is created and student's ideas have been built into the park. Creating learning projects with educational institutions will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. 

You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds. By volunteering in this role, you will help shape the future of East London Waterworks Park as a community-led environmental learning space. This will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you!

Youth Helpers work directly with young people in St John Ambulance Badger Setts and Cadet Units. By supporting our Youth Leaders to deliver a sessions across our range of programmes. In this role, you'll support the learning and development of young people into the next generation of health citizens. Youth Helpers also help young people develop their confidence, teamwork skills, self-discipline, and generally encourage them to strive to be the best they can be, as well as supervise and support other adult volunteers in their team.

You’ll get a huge sense of satisfaction and pride delivering an essential service. It’s great for you, great for your community and great for our nation, and it requires only a small commitment of your time. 

Closing date for these opportunities is: 28/02/2026

We'll invite you for a friendly chat to get to know you better and see how your skills and passion align with working with young people.

Youth Helpers work directly with young people in St John Ambulance Badger Setts and Cadet Units. By supporting our Youth Leaders to deliver a sessions across our range of programmes. In this role, you'll support the learning and development of young people into the next generation of health citizens. Youth Helpers also help young people develop their confidence, teamwork skills, self-discipline, and generally encourage them to strive to be the best they can be, as well as supervise and support other adult volunteers in their team.

You’ll get a huge sense of satisfaction and pride delivering an essential service. It’s great for you, great for your community and great for our nation, and it requires only a small commitment of your time. 

Closing date for these opportunities is: 28/02/2026

We'll invite you for a friendly chat to get to know you better and see how your skills and passion align with working with young people.

We are looking for a dedicated Grant Writer to help us secure the resources that keep children in school, nourished, healthy, and prepared for the future.

In this role, you will support the development of grant proposals, funding applications, and concept notes that communicate the real challenges children face and the impact of our work across education, nutrition, health, and climate literacy. Your writing will directly influence our ability to reach more children and sustain life changing programs.

This role is ideal for someone who believes strong storytelling and clear data can open doors. You will work closely with our leadership team to translate community realities into compelling proposals that funders can understand and support.

By volunteering as a Grant Writer with Lead Me Back Foundation, you are not just writing applications. You are helping unlock opportunities for children who depend on consistent support to learn, grow, and thrive.

Minimum Hours per Week:

2-3 hours per week

Duration:

1-2 months

Beacon for Rare Diseases hosts The Resources Hub, a 100% free and accessible e-learning platform created to support the rare disease community, including:

• Patient groups, patients and families
• Researchers and life science professionals
• Rare disease advocates

The Resources Hub brings together over 100 free resources, including written courses, video guides, webinars and recordings from events and conferences. These resources are designed to support people at every stage of their rare disease journey, whether they are just getting started or are part of a well-established organisation.

We are incredibly proud of the breadth and quality of what’s available on the Hub. However, much of our long-standing content is under-promoted, meaning that people don’t always find the right resource at the right time.

“The Resources Hub provides invaluable resources to help patient group leaders navigate challenges such as caring responsibilities, health issues, and employment.”

“It breaks down topics relevant to the rare community in a way that's easy to digest and empowering to take action!”

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About the role

We are looking for a social media volunteer to help us shine a light on the wealth of content already available within the Resources Hub.

In this role, you will:

• Spend time exploring our existing Resources Hub content
• Write 1–3 social media posts per resource, tailored for different platforms
• Help us build a reusable library of social media posts that we can draw on to promote resources when they are most relevant

This role is about helping people discover support that already exists, making it easier for patient groups and advocates to find information that could make a real difference to their work.

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Who this role would suit

This is a specific, project-based placement and would suit someone who already has experience in communications, social media or content creation.

You’ll be someone who:

• Enjoys writing clear, engaging social media copy
• Understands how to adapt messaging across different platforms
• Is comfortable working independently and managing their own time
• Can take guidance on tone and branding and run with it

While we don’t have capacity to provide training, you won’t be left on your own. We will:

• Provide clear direction on priorities and approach
• Share brand guidance and examples
• Review initial work to make sure everything feels aligned
• Have routine check-ins, provide feedback, and an end-of-placement review

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Time commitment and flexibility

​This is a fully remote volunteering role, which we ideally hope can be completed within around three months. We anticipate a minimum commitment of approximately two hours per week, though a shorter, more intensive placement could also be arranged to suit the volunteer. We are open to having more than one volunteer on this project and do not expect a single person to work through the entire Hub.

Please note: we are looking for this placement to begin as soon as possible. 

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Why volunteer with Beacon?

By volunteering with Beacon, you will:

• Help improve access to free, high-quality resources for the rare disease community
• Support patient groups, patients and advocates to build confidence and capacity
• Gain experience working with a well-established national charity
• Take on a clearly defined project with flexible working

Join Our Team as a Youth Helper! ? Dudley & Sandwell Network Youth Groups – St John Ambulance 

Are you passionate about helping young people grow, learn, and thrive? Do you want to make a real difference in your community? We’re looking for enthusiastic Youth Helpers to support our vibrant St John Ambulance youth groups across the Dudley & Sandwell Network, including: Stourbridge, Dudley, Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Blackheath, Smethwick, Sedgley & Upper Gornal. 

What you’ll do: ✨ Support our leaders in running fun, engaging sessions for Badgers and Cadets ✨ Help create a safe, inclusive, supportive environment ✨ Encourage young people as they develop first aid skills, confidence, and teamwork ✨ Be part of a friendly volunteer team making a positive community impact What we’re looking for: ✔ Friendly, reliable individuals ✔ Good communication with young people ✔ Willingness to learn and get stuck in ✔ No prior first aid experience needed — we provide all training! Time Commitment: ? Around 10 hours per month, flexible across the network If you’re ready to support the next generation of lifesavers, we’d love to hear from you! ? Get in touch today to find out more or start your volunteer journey.

Closing date for these opportunities is: 31/03/2026

We'll invite you for a friendly chat to get to know you better and see how your skills and passion align with working with young people.

Chatterbox Befrienders offer one-to-one telephone support and will call a client once a week offering companionship and a listening ear for an individual who might otherwise go unheard. Chatterbox volunteers befriend a variety of people including carers, socially isolated individuals who are struggling with loneliness, people with ill health and those that 
have been bereaved. 

THIS ROLE COULD BE FOR YOU IF:

- Would like to make a real difference in someone’s life

- Want to challenge loneliness and can commit to a weekly phone call

- Are a good listener

- Are empathetic, patient and of a caring nature

- Have good verbal and inter-personal communication skills

- Recognise the importance of confidentiality and can uphold this in practice

- Are committed to inclusion and treating people with dignity and respect

REQUIREMENTS OF A BEFRIENDER INCLUDE:

- Calling your client once a week for a chat of up to 45 minutes; this is a 26 week initial commitment, at the end of which each client’s needs are reviewed

- Completing an online call log record promptly after each phone call

- Ensuring immediate contact with the Chatterbox Coordinators if you feel that the client might be a risk to themselves or others

- Liaising with the Chatterbox Coordinator on a regular basis regarding the service, as well as discussing personal learning and development needs

- Respecting service standards, appropriate boundaries and recognising the range of policies and procedures that impact on befriending vulnerable adults

BENEFITS OF THE ROLE MAY INCLUDE:

- Knowing you are making a difference to someone’s life

- Joining the Omega Team who are taking action against loneliness and isolation

- An opportunity to enhance your CV or learn new skills

- An opportunity to engage with your community

SUPPORT AND TRAINING PROVIDED:

- Omega Chatterbox induction program

- Safeguarding training

- Ongoing support from Chatterbox Coordinators for all questions, concerns, and support

- Out of pocket expenses are reimbursed and a mobile phone can be provided if appropriate

- Monthly Befriender group support meetings via the Zoom app

LOCATION OF THE ROLE:

- Home-based

WHEN ARE YOU NEEDED:

- Provided on enquiry

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required for this role. If you have a criminal record this does not automatically prevent you from being considered as an Omega Chatterbox Befriender. We will take into account the nature of the offence, when it happened and whether it is relevant to the voluntary role. If you are shortlisted, this will be discussed with you during the recruitment process.

Cadet Group Leaders work directly with young people in St John Ambulance Badger Setts and Cadet Units. By organising a mixed weekly programme, this role will support the learning and development of young people into the next generation of healthy citizens. Youth Leaders also help young people develop their confidence, teamwork skills, and self-discipline, and generally encourage them to strive to be the best they can be, as well as supervise and support other adult volunteers in their team.

You’ll get a huge sense of satisfaction and pride delivering an essential service. It’s great for you, great for your community and great for our nation, and it requires only a small commitment of your time. 

Closing date for these opportunities is: 28/01/2026.

To apply for this opportunity, please follow the link below:

Volunteer Social Media Assistant (Office-based) — 5 hours/week  
Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex (office-based)  
Time: 5 hours per week
Organisation: MenWalkTalk (Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Reg. No. 1188361)  
Reports to: Marketing Officer (with support from the wider team)

About MenWalkTalk  
MenWalkTalk is a free, non-judgemental space for men aged 18+ to walk, talk (or not talk), and feel part of something. We run walk-and-talk groups across the UK, led by trained volunteers, focused on connection, belonging, and peer support.

The role (what you’ll do)  
You’ll help us keep our social channels active, clear, and welcoming — turning real moments from our walks and community into simple, human content.

Typical tasks include:
- Drafting and scheduling posts for Facebook (main channel), plus Instagram and LinkedIn
- Turning photos, short quotes, and updates from walk leaders into posts (with guidance/templates)
- Light graphic creation using Canva (basic edits, resizing, adding text/branding)
- Replying to comments/messages in a friendly, on-brand way (or flagging anything sensitive)
- Helping keep a simple content calendar up to date
- Supporting small campaigns (e.g., volunteer recruitment, awareness weeks, fundraising pushes)

What we’re looking for  
You don’t need to be a pro — just reliable, thoughtful, and happy to learn.

Ideal if you:
- Write clearly in plain English (warm, human tone)
- Have good attention to detail and can follow brand guidelines
- Are comfortable using Facebook and basic tools like Canva
- Can handle sensitive topics with care (men’s mental health) and know when to escalate
- Are organised and can work independently for a few hours each week

Nice to have (not essential)
- Experience volunteering or working with charities/community groups
- Basic photo/video editing (even just phone edits)
- Familiarity with scheduling tools (e.g., Meta Business Suite)

What you’ll get  
- A friendly team and a calm, supportive environment
- Clear guidance, templates, and a simple process to follow
- A meaningful role where your work helps more men find support locally
- A reference after a consistent period of volunteering (if helpful.

Practical bits  
- Commitment: 5 hours per week (ideally a consistent weekly slot)  
- Location: Office-based in Littlehampton  
- Expenses: Reasonable travel expenses can be discussed  
- Safeguarding: You’ll be asked to follow MenWalkTalk safeguarding guidance; checks may apply depending on duties

How to apply  
Send a short note about you and why you’re interested, plus any examples of social posts/design work (optional).

Youth Helpers work directly with young people in St John Ambulance Badger Setts and Cadet Units. By supporting our Youth Leaders to deliver a sessions across our range of programmes. In this role, you'll support the learning and development of young people into the next generation of health citizens. Youth Helpers also help young people develop their confidence, teamwork skills, self-discipline, and generally encourage them to strive to be the best they can be, as well as supervise and support other adult volunteers in their team.

You’ll get a huge sense of satisfaction and pride delivering an essential service. It’s great for you, great for your community and great for our nation, and it requires only a small commitment of your time. 

Closing date for these opportunities is: 31/03/2026

We'll invite you for a friendly chat to get to know you better and see how your skills and passion align with working with young people.

Youth Helpers work directly with young people in St John Ambulance Badger Setts and Cadet Units. By supporting our Youth Leaders to deliver a sessions across our range of programmes. In this role, you'll support the learning and development of young people into the next generation of health citizens. Youth Helpers also help young people develop their confidence, teamwork skills, self-discipline, and generally encourage them to strive to be the best they can be, as well as supervise and support other adult volunteers in their team.

You’ll get a huge sense of satisfaction and pride delivering an essential service. It’s great for you, great for your community and great for our nation, and it requires only a small commitment of your time. 

Closing date for these opportunities is: 31/12/2026

We'll invite you for a friendly chat to get to know you better and see how your skills and passion align with working with young people.

Teachers and educational facilitators wanted to help East London Waterworks Park deliver its environmental learning goals.

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

We are seeking experienced teachers and educational facilitators to lead workshops and deliver engaging environmental education sessions to children and young people. Sessions may take place at schools or around the perimeter of the site we want to transform into East London Waterworks Park.

This role would include:

• Leading hands-on outdoor learning workshops
• Delivering nature-based activities to school groups
• Supporting the creation of ELWP’s Under 18s volunteering policy
• Supporting outreach efforts to promote ELWP’s existing learning programmes

Schools, universities and youth groups we've collaborated with include:

• Waltham Forest College 
• Henry Maynard Primary School, Walthamstow
• Buxton School, Leytonstone
• Kingsmead Primary School, Hackney
• Daubeney Primary School, Hackney
• UCL 
• Royal College of Art
• University of Westminster 
• Project Zero
• Voyage Youth 
• Loyola University Chicago 
• Vanderbilt University Nashville

We're looking for people to lead on these projects and facilitate the direction of the learning working group.

The Learning Circle currently meets monthly on a Wednesday evening at 8pm for an hour on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely

You should be an experienced teacher, educational consultant, forest school leader, training and development specialist, learning designer, facilitator or any other kind of role creating learning projects, programmes and experiences. Our roles are quite flexible. We hope that people bring radical imagination, peace with nature, and courageous inclusiveness to the role. 

Your support will help young people and learners improve their environmental knowledge of design and research as well as contributing to our community-owned park. This will in turn provide a sense of stewardship over the land once the park is created and student's ideas have been built into the park. Creating learning projects with educational institutions will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. 

You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds. By volunteering in this role, you will help shape the future of East London Waterworks Park as a community-led environmental learning space. This will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you!

We're looking for Trustees with a range of skills (HR, fundraising and bid writing, governance, strategic planning, impact and evaluation reporting and more) to support the Sheffield ME and Fibromyalgia Group to move forwards and positively impact the lives of our members.

What will you be doing?

We're looking for up to 10 Trustees, including a Chair, to continue the amazing work already achieved. 

As a Trustee you’ll have an essential role in contributing towards our journey of change and continuous improvement. We are looking for individuals with an open mind, a willingness to challenge each other and the Manager constructively, a willingness to understand the needs of our members and a desire to positively impact their lives. 

In an attempt to increase the diversity of both the Board and the membership, we particularly welcome applications from those aged 30 or under and people of colour; the perspectives of individuals with lived experiences of chronic illnesses is important to us too. 

The charity is currently unincorporated but this is a decision that the new Board will consider.

One of the challenges is that the Board and staff team are small, with several Trustees either having chronic illnesses themselves or caring for those that do. With the loss of our last manager, the Trustees have become fairly operational; this new chapter of our journey will re-establish these boundaries, enabling Trustees to be strategic and empowering staff to be operational. 

We are also looking for a permanent Manager and will shortly be recruiting an Benefits Adviser, a fantastic service that has a real impact on the lives of our members. 

Additional challenges are that we rely on external funding to ensure that we continue to deliver high quality services for our growing membership.

In the coming years we aim to work more closely with local communities and medical practitioners to raise awareness of these conditions, that are often dismissed, reaching many that might not see themselves as having a chronic illness in the first instance.  We will also develop our relationship with our members to ensure that the services we provide continue to meet their needs.

Following Covid and the introduction of long Covid as a chronic illness, societal perceptions are changing and more research is being undertaken in this area.  

We hope to have convinced you that it is an exciting time to be part of the Sheffield ME and Fibromyalgia Group!

What are we looking for?

Any skills and experiences you can provide will be hugely beneficial...

Our Board is currently small and as such we are looking for up to 10 Trustees with skills in a range of areas:

HR and governance: we are currently incorporated but this is a decision we hope the Board will consider. Expertise in these areas will ensure we remain legally compliant

Strategic planning: in addition to having an understanding of our current intentions, the ability to scan the horizon and identify new possibilities will continue to ensure the charity grows

Coupled with individuals with fundraising / bid writing experience, we can continue to deliver our current programme but identify gaps within our provision that benefit our members whilst matching these with potential funders.

Impact and evaluation reporting: as a charity we are brilliant at what we do however we are not so effective at communicating this. Assistance in this area will enshrine our work locally and nationally.

We need to represent our members effectively, undertaking research with our members will ensure that we continue to meet their needs with current and new opportunities. It is important to hear the voices of those un(der)represented. A focus on equity, diversity and inclusion can help us increase our diversity, both as a Board and our membership, ensuring that our support reaches those individuals that require it and that we identify ways of engaging them that are meaningful to those communities.

It is equally important to ensure that the views of those with lived experiences continue to shape the actions of the organisation, be that through ring-fence roles on the Board or a sub-committee that reports directly to it.

Please get in touch if your skills aren't listed but you are committed to making a difference, we'd love to hear from you!

What difference will you make?

Why become a Trustee at the Sheffield ME and Fibromyalgia Group?

Becoming a Trustee of the Sheffield ME and Fibromyalgia Group is more than a governance role — it’s an opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of people living with chronic, often misunderstood conditions.

The impact you’ll nave

• Championing voices: Trustees ensure that the needs and experiences of people with ME and Fibromyalgia are heard, respected and represented in local health and community discussions.
• Strengthening support: By guiding the charity’s strategy, you help sustain vital services — peer support, advocacy and wellbeing activities — that reduce isolation and improve quality of life.

• Driving change: Trustees influence how the organisation grows, ensuring it remains resilient, inclusive and responsive to the evolving needs of its members.

Why it matters

• Chronic illnesses affect thousands of people across South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire, and beyond, often leaving individuals feeling invisible or unsupported.
• The Group provides a lifeline — connection, understanding, and practical help— that empowers people to live fuller lives despite their conditions.
• Trustees safeguard this mission, ensuring the charity continues to thrive and expand its reach.

What you’ll gain

• Personal fulfilment: Knowing your skills and decisions directly improve lives in your community.
• Professional growth: Experience in charity governance, leadership, and strategic planning.
• Community connection: Join a passionate team committed to compassion, advocacy and positive change.

By becoming a Trustee, you’re not just joining a board — you’re joining a movement to bring hope, dignity, and support to people living with ME and Fibromyalgia, CFS and long Covid.

Before you apply

Please don't hold back because of imposter syndrome — that voice that says “I’m not good enough” or “others are more qualified.”

• Imposter syndrome is common
• Your lived experience, skills and perspective are valuable. Roles like this aren’t about being perfect — they’re about bringing diversity of thought, passion and commitment.
• Growth comes from stepping forward. You don’t need to have all the answers; you just need the willingness to learn and contribute.

If you’re hesitating remember the very fact that you care enough to doubt yourself shows humility and integrity — qualities that make you exactly the kind of person organisations need.

Don’t let self-doubt silence your potential. Apply anyway. You may be surprised at how much you have to offer and how much impact you can make.

This is an open application; there are no scheduled interview dates. We will contact applicants and arrange a suitable time to meet. 

We reserve the right to remove this post once suitable candidates have been found. 

Start date: as soon as possible, training will be provided.