Customer assistant volunteer roles in Manchester
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!
Would you like to help end food poverty and tackle climate change and CO2 emissions in Greater Manchester, whilst at the same time gaining valuable CV-enhancing experience and skills?
What we offer you
Induction, training and support from the staff of FareShare and its parent charity, EMERGE 3Rs.
Practical experience and transferable skills in warehousing and food redistribution.
A reference after 2 months with us.
An understanding of warehousing and logistics, and the importance of food surplus and recycling initiatives.
Expenses:
We reimburse travel expenses up to £6 for car drivers, and up to £5 for public transport costs.
Up to £3 is given towards the cost of lunch if a volunteer has special dietary requirements. (We provide lunch for our volunteers, so will contribute towards the cost of a volunteer's meal, should they bring their own, if what we are offering in the canteen isn't considered suitable; for example, a diet that's restricted for reasons of health, religion, or ethics).
As a sustainability charity, we take surplus food that's donated to us and redistribute it to people in need. The front line initiatives we support include food banks, schools, community groups and charities who, in turn, help people who are disadvantaged by poverty.
Our vital work supports people experiencing extreme hardship and prevents perfectly good food going to landfill, where it would otherwise contribute to climate warming.
We need helping hands in our busy warehouse to receive and catalogue supplies, to load and unload vans, and to prepare orders for delivery. In return we offer training and support to help you obtain skills and experience to boost your CV if you are seeking work. If you're not looking for employment, volunteering with us is rewarding in many other ways; offering an opportunity to make friends, keep physically active and support your community.
This role is vital to the work of FareShare, ensuring that the food in our warehouse is correctly sorted, labelled and organised into orders placed by our charities and community groups.
It is perfect for someone who is:
a) Looking for a practical activity.
b) Looking for experience and skills to gain employment in the food industry, warehousing and customer service.
c) Wanting to help their community and/or help tackle global warming.
d) Wanting to make new friends.
e) Wanting to keep busy and/or physically fit.
Our volunteer opportunities are available Monday to Friday, for a whole or half day, with shifts between 8:30-am - 12:30pm and 12:30 - 4:30pm. Volunteers are typically involved for one day a week.
What will I be doing?
Receiving, sorting, cataloguing and storing chilled and ambient surplus food in a warehouse, and preparing orders for delivery. You may also be assisting customers when they pick up their orders.
Ensuring food quality and safety by checking ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates.
Sorting and unpacking deliveries, categorising and recording food.
Assembling food orders placed by charities and community groups.
Assisting our Community Food Members with their food order collections.
Maintaining health and safety and food hygiene standards.
Helping with cleaning and other tasks identified by warehouse staff.
Person Specification:
Must be reasonably physically fit to carry out tasks, including lifting and loading.
Have a good command of English in order to understand and follow instructions and health and safety rules.
Have basic literacy and numeracy skills to record quantities and types of food donated.
Able to work in a manner that respects Health and Safety standards.
Be happy to complete tasks independently according to instruction.
Be positive, friendly and enthusiastic about tackling food waste and food poverty.
Must be reliable and able to commit to an agreed session/day.
We are located in our brand new depot at Maynard House, New Smithfield Market, Openshaw, Manchester M11 2WJ.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
You must be resident in the UK and living in Greater Manchester, or within easy commuting distance of our base, in order to volunteer with us.
This is because we require volunteers to be able to reliably commit to regular shifts for some of our roles.
We are unable to offer sponsorship for overseas applicants.
Know someone else who might be interested in volunteering with us?
Please pass our details on to them as we always welcome new people on our teams. :)
Registered Charity
21 - 50
As a leading food charity to tackle hunger, our aim is to help tackle the food poverty issue in Greater Manchester.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank 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!
Looking for a way to give back to your local community without a long-term commitment? Not sure exactly what you’d like to do, but know you want to help?
Sometimes we come across one-off community tasks that just need a few volunteers to give us a good old Yorkshire helping hand. We also know life can get very busy and people don’t always have time to commit to a regular volunteering role.
Being a Community Squad volunteer is a flexible way to get involved. You’ll find out when and where one-off tasks are happening near you, and you can choose to help whenever it suits. There’s no ongoing commitment, you’re in control.
As a Squad volunteer, you’ll regularly receive updates about opportunities across Yorkshire. There’s no obligation to sign up for any of them, but if something catches your eye, just put your name forward. We’ll send you all the details you need, and you simply turn up on the day!
Tasks vary widely, so there’s something for everyone. You might help at a community clean-up, plant spring bulbs, hand out leaflets, put out grit or clear a path when it’s snowed for a neighbour. Or you could be handing out popcorn at a cinema event, making cups of tea at a social club, supporting someone with their digital devices, creating glitter tattoos at a children’s event, or writing letters to customers who are isolated.
There will be lots of varied things to help with!
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank 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!
FareShare Greater Manchester is looking for volunteer Driver's Assistants to join our busy friendly delivery team with redistributing tonnes of surplus food a month to charities and community initiatives across Greater Manchester.
FareShare is a national charity fighting food poverty and global warming by tackling food surplus. We source overstocked food from retailers and manufacturers and engage many volunteers to help re-distribute it to over 220 frontline charities and community groups across Greater Manchester. These groups, in turn, provide meals to vulnerable people experiencing food poverty, individuals who are homeless, families, and people who are unemployed or socially isolated. This food would otherwise have gone to waste, so we are simultaneously supporting people in need and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Key responsibilities
Working closely with the driver of a temperature-controlled 3.5 tonne Mercedes Sprinter van to deliver surplus food orders to the premises of the benevolent projects we support.
Loading and unloading the vehicle and carrying out a range of tasks, from basic vehicle checks to delivery administration.
The required skills and attributes are:
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Reliability and ability to commit to pre-agreed volunteer shifts (ESSENTIAL)
-
Physical fitness, to take on moving and handling of food orders
-
Ability to follow procedures and instructions
-
Good verbal communication skills
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Interest in the work of FareShare Greater Manchester and our values
-
High respect for Health & Safety procedures and standards
In return you will gain:
Career and CV advice and support
A reference for future employers
Reimbursement of travel and lunch expenses
The opportunity to give practical help to fight food poverty and reduce food waste (and associated CO2 emissions)
The opportunity to meet like-minded people and make new friends
Our operating hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm.
Driver and Driver’s Assistant shifts begin at 8:30am.
We welcome volunteers who can commit to one day a week.
The days and rota hours of volunteering are agreed around your availability.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
You must be resident in the UK and living in Greater Manchester, or within easy commuting distance of our base, in order to volunteer with us. There are no exceptions to this rule. This is because we require volunteers to be able to reliably commit to regular shifts for some of our roles. We are unable to offer sponsorship for overseas applicants.
Know someone else who might be interested in volunteering with us?
Please pass our details on to them as we always welcome new people on our teams. :)
Registered Charity
21 - 50
As a leading food charity to tackle hunger, our aim is to help tackle the food poverty issue in Greater Manchester.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank 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!
FareShare Greater Manchester is looking for safe, confident drivers to join our busy, friendly delivery team.
We re-distribute tonnes of surplus food a month to charities and community initiatives across Greater Manchester. This is an achievement of which we’re proud, and want to expand and is why we need your driving and delivery skills to support our growing operation, especially in these current times of increased need.
Key responsibilities
Driving a van to deliver surplus food orders to the premises of the various Community Food Members we support.
Loading and unloading the vehicle and carrying out a range of tasks, from basic vehicle checks to delivery administration.
As a Delivery Driver at FareShare, you will be driving a temperature-controlled 3.5 tonnes Mercedes Sprinter van; working closely with a Driver’s Assistant to re-distribute food orders to the premises of a wide variety of Community Food Members. You will be involved with loading the vehicle and carrying out a range of tasks, from basic vehicle checks to delivery administration.
The required skills and attributes are as follows. You must:
Be aged 25 or over, with a clean driver's licence (or a maximum of 3 points).
(Experience of driving a van is desirable though not essential).
Be reliable and be able to commit to pre-agreed volunteer shifts.
Be physically fit to take on moving and handling of food orders.
Possess the ability to follow procedures and instructions.
Have good verbal communication skills.
Have a high respect for Health & Safety standards and procedures.
Have an interest in the work of FareShare Greater Manchester and our values.
In return you will gain:
Career, CV advice and support
A reference for future employers
Reimbursement of travel and lunch expenses
The opportunity to give practical help to fight food poverty and reduce food waste (and associated CO2 emissions)
The opportunity to meet like-minded people and make new friends
Our operating hours are Monday - Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm.
Drivers' 4 hour shifts begin at 8:30am.
We especially welcome volunteers who can commit to one day a week.
The days and rota hours of volunteering are agreed around your availability.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
You must be resident in the UK and living in Greater Manchester, or within easy commuting distance of our base, in order to volunteer with us. There are no exceptions to this rule. This is because we require volunteers to be able to reliably commit to regular shifts for some of our roles. We are unable to offer sponsorship for overseas applicants.
Know someone else who might be interested in volunteering with us?
Please pass our details on to them as we always welcome new people on our teams. :)
Registered Charity
21 - 50
As a leading food charity to tackle hunger, our aim is to help tackle the food poverty issue in Greater Manchester.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
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!
We’re looking for reliable, tech-savvy people who’d like to use their digital or IT skills to help improve our online systems and website.
As a Web and IT Support Volunteer, you’ll help us keep our website up to date, support digital record-keeping and assist with maintaining efficient systems that help us work effectively. You’ll play an important role in helping us stay connected, accessible and organised across our programmes.
This role is ideal for someone with an interest in IT, websites or digital operations who wants to make a practical contribution to community-focused work.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Updating website pages with new events, news and programme information
- Supporting the layout and accessibility of website content
- Uploading photos, articles or updates to digital platforms
- Helping staff and volunteers use digital tools
- Assisting with digital forms, data collection and record management
- Providing basic troubleshooting support or referring technical issues to the appropriate person
- Helping test and improve the digital tools and systems used by the team
Skills and Qualities We’re Looking For
- Confidence using websites, IT systems and digital tools
- Good understanding of basic data management and online platforms
- Problem-solving and attention to detail
- Clear communication and teamwork skills
- Reliable and organised approach to tasks
- Awareness of data protection and confidentiality principles
What You’ll Gain
- Experience supporting the digital operations of a community charity
- Opportunities to develop IT, web management and problem-solving skills
- Insight into digital tools used in the voluntary sector
- The satisfaction of helping improve online access and efficiency
About Us
We are a community-led charity tackling poverty at its root by empowering people and communities to overcome barriers and build sustainable futures.
Our programmes support children, young people, adults and families through education, employability, wellbeing and social inclusion activities that promote confidence, connection and opportunity.
Safeguarding and Inclusion
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults involved in our work.
Safeguarding training will be provided for all volunteers and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check may be required for this role.
We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and will make reasonable adjustments to support participation wherever possible.
Registered Charity
6 - 10
A catalyst for overcoming poverty at its root by empowering marginalised people and developing sustainable communities.
