Full or community fundraising manager volunteer roles

Every disabled person should have the opportunity to connect with others and be included in the world. Which is why we’re here, in people’s homes, centres and communities, focusing on the things a person can do, not what they can’t. We celebrate the moments of connection that bring more joy to life. Together, we always find a way, no matter how many barriers a person might face.

Sense is a leading disability charity with extensive knowledge and expertise in delivering personalised, creative and flexible support for disabled people with complex needs. Our tailored approach ensures that every person is empowered to live fully at every stage of life.

About the role:

As a Shop Volunteer you’ll be joining a friendly, welcoming team of volunteers and staff who support each other and have a lot of fun along the way. We value every volunteer and the unique perspective, skills and energy you bring. 

Whether you’re sorting donations, creating beautiful displays, or chatting to customers, every task you take on helps to build a more inclusive world. 

We value volunteer development, and as part of this role your can develop your skills further by training to become a till user alongside your regular shop volunteer responsibilities, or progressing into a Key volunteer, a role which includes opening, running, and closing the shop in the absence of the manager.

No matter your reason for volunteering – whether it’s to meet new people, build new skills or support Sense’s cause – there’s a place for you in one of our shops. 

Due to the nature of the role, we require all applicants to be aged 16 or over. You must have a UK address to volunteer with Sense.

Key responsibilities: Shop volunteer 

You’ll spend time doing a range of activities, including:

• Welcoming and assisting customers, providing great customer service, helping create a wonderful shopping experience.
• Receiving donated items from the public, thanking them for their support.
• Sorting, steaming and preparing donations for sale.
• Helping to display stock in eye-catching and exciting ways.
• Keeping the shop floor clean, safe and tidy.
• Talking to customers about Sense and the work we do.

Key responsibilities: Till volunteer

Being a till volunteer includes all the same responsibilities as a shop volunteer, however, when you’re ready, we’ll provide you with additional training to:

• Serve customers on the till in a warm and friendly way.
• Put sales through the till, packing them and thanking the customer for shopping with us.
• Talk to customers about Gift Aid and other fundraising initiatives.

If you are interested in becoming a till volunteer straight away, please select ‘Till volunteer’, as well as ‘Shop volunteer’, when asked which volunteer role/s you are interested in during your application.

Key responsibilities: Key volunteer 

Being a Key volunteer includes all the same responsibilities as a shop and till volunteer. However, if you’re interested in taking on additional responsibilities, you can train to become a Key Volunteer, helping the shop manager by:

• Helping supervise the shop and other volunteers.
• Supporting the shop manager to make sure customers have a great experience.
• Opening and closing the shop when needed.
• Cashing up at the end of the day. 

If you are interested in becoming a Key volunteer straight away, please select ‘Key volunteer’ when asked which volunteer role/s you are interested in during your application.

Skills and qualities:

This role would suit you if you’re:

• Passionate about Sense’s work to support disabled people with complex needs.
• Calm, kind and have a friendly personality.
• A team player who enjoys working with others.
• Enthusiastic, motivated and someone with a positive attitude.
• Respectful of others. 

What we offer you:

As one of our volunteers, you’ll get:

• Full training with ongoing support and guidance from your team.
• A chance to meet new people.
• A great way to develop new skills and share your existing skills.
• The feeling you get knowing you’re making a difference to the lives of disabled people with complex needs.
• A reference to support future applications for paid or voluntary roles.
• Support from our Mental Health First Aiders, should you need it. 

Our values:

Everything we do is underpinned by five core values. These values shape the way we work every day. Our values are:

• We include
• We collaborate
• We find a way
• We challenge
• We celebrate

The British Society for Heart Failure (BSH) is seeking an experienced senior leadership professional to join our Board as the Appointed Trustee for Operations and the CEO link – a vital role to join the eminent Heart Failure clinical experts that make up our Board, in our mission to reduce heart failure mortality and improve patient care across the UK.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Trustee of the British Society for Heart Failure (BSH), the leading UK charity dedicated to improving care for people living with heart failure. Our work supports education, research, collaboration, and national awareness - all aimed at improving outcomes for the nearly 1 million people in the UK living with this serious condition and the further 400,000 estimated to be undiagnosed.

We’re at an exciting stage of growth, with a new team, a new strategy launching this summer, and bold plans for the future.

As Appointed Trustee, you will provide strategic leadership oversight to a respected national charity with an annual income of £1.5 million. You will play a key role in supporting our flagship strategic commitment, 25in25, which aims to reduce deaths from heart failure by 25% in the year following diagnosis over the next 25 years. 

We are seeking an experienced senior operations professional with a recognised qualification or extensive experience and a strong track record in senior leadership roles in successful organisations. You’ll have excellent communication skills and be confident supporting strategic decisions at board level. Charity experience is desirable but not essential. 

BSH is a registered charity and professional membership organisation governed by a Board of Trustees, mostly elected from our 1,300 members - heart failure clinicians including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. The Trustee is a co-opted position, appointed for their senior leadership expertise.

Our team is small and mostly remote, with occasional co-workling usually in London. The Board consists of 9 volunteers and is supported by over 50 active committee members working across education, research, and regulatory affairs.

Our Values

• Collaborative - we seek out experts, resources and influence to achieve more.
• Evidence-based - our work, our policy & our campaigning is grounded in quality research & robust evidence.
• Inclusive - we value and empower a diverse, UK-wide multidisciplinary community

Trustee Duties

All Trustees are expected to:

• Uphold BSH’s mission, values, and governance.
• Act in the charity’s best interests, ensuring compliance and minimising risk.
• Participate in Board meetings and contribute to at least one committee.
• Use personal expertise to add value and support innovation.
• Seek professional advice when necessary.

Additional Appointed Trustee - Operations and CEO Link Responsibilities

• Monitor the Charity's organisational health, ensuring systems, processes and organisational capabilities support delivery of the agreed strategy. Ensure robust reporting is in place. 

• Advise the Board on the organisational implications of strategic and operational plans.

• Monitor compliance with relevant governance, regulatory and employment requirements.

• As a Link Trustee, oversee, with the Chair, the performance management of the Chief Executive Officer.

• Chair the CEO Performance and Remuneration Panel.

• Provide guidance on the Charity’s people policies and practices.

• Offer expert insight on fundraising, policy, lobbying and commercial activity.

This is a voluntary, unremunerated position. The Board meets 4-5 times per year (2 in-person, in London). Average time commitment is 1-2 days per month. Trustees serve a three-year term, renewable once. Travel expenses are reimbursed, and full induction provided.

To apply, please provide:

• Your CV (max 3 pages, including 2 referees)

• A supporting statement (max 2 pages), outlining your motivation for applying and confirming that you meet the requirements in Part 1 of the Person Specification and detailing how you meet the criteria in Part 2 of the Person Specification

Timetable:

• Closing date:  Sunday 26th April 2026 (11.59pm) 

• Final interviews:  May 20th 2026 (digitally)

• Commencement of term:  May/June 2026 

• First formal Board meeting:  June 10th 2026 

This Role Is Not Symbolic. It Is Structural.

Safeguarding is not a policy document. 

It is not a checkbox.

It is not a compliance exercise.

In this CIC, safeguarding is the infrastructure that allows the work to exist at all.

We work with:

• Survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA)
• Vulnerable adults
• Young people
• Ex-offenders
• Volunteers with lived trauma
• Communities historically failed by institutions

If safeguarding fails, everything fails.

This role exists to make sure that never happens.

Purpose of the Safeguarding Officer Role

The Safeguarding Officer is responsible for designing, implementing, and protecting the safeguarding framework that allows the CIC to operate safely, ethically, and lawfully at scale.

This role ensures:

• Survivors are protected, not re-exposed
• Volunteers are supported, not exploited
• Risks are identified early, not ignored
• Safeguarding is embedded into every system, not bolted on

About the role:

To design and uphold safeguarding systems that protect survivors, volunteers and the organisation, ensuring safety, ethics and legal compliance are built into every practice as the CIC grows. Safeguarding is the infrastructure that allows the work to "SAFELY" exist at all.

Experience Qualification and Requirements

• Experience in safeguarding within:

 Charity

 Statutory services  

 Education

 Health

 Grassroots or community settings

• Experience working with vulnerable adults and/or children.
• Strong understanding of trauma-informed practice.
• Ability to respond to disclosures calmly and appropriately.
• Experience writing and implementing safeguarding policies.
• Risk assessment and incident management experience.
• Understanding of UK safeguarding legislation and guidance.
• Confidence challenging unsafe practice at any level.
• Ability to balance care with boundaries.
• Strong judgement under pressure.
• Clear written documentation skills.
• Capacity to work unpaid and full-time during build phase.
• Emotional regulation and professional restraint.
• Integrity, steadiness and clarity.

Main Responsibilities/ Key Duties

• Design, implement, and maintain a safeguarding framework that protects survivors, volunteers, members and the organisation.
• Develop and own safeguarding policies, procedures and reporting pathways covering:

 Adults and children at risk

 Volunteers and peer supporters

 Digital spaces, storytelling, and online engagement

• Ensure safeguarding is embedded into:

 Recruitment and onboarding

 Training and supervision

 Programme design and delivery

 Digital systems and data handling

• Establish clear risk assessment processes for activities, campaigns, and content.
• Act as the safeguarding lead for concerns, disclosures, and incidents, ensuring:

 Timely, appropriate responses

 Accurate recording

 Correct escalation to statutory agencies where required

• Build systems that prevent re-exposure, re-traumatisation, or exploitation of survivors.
• Ensure volunteers are supported, supervised and not placed in unsafe or inappropriate roles.
• Advise leadership on safeguarding risks, capacity limits and ethical boundaries.
• Deliver safeguarding guidance and training proportionate to role and risk.
• Monitor safeguarding practice across teams and intervene early where drift appears.
• Work closely with Digital, Membership, Fundraising, and Social teams to manage risk in:

 Storytelling

 Online engagement

 Data use

• Maintain professional distance and emotional steadiness when handling complex situations.
• Review and update safeguarding systems as the CIC scales.
• Contribute to external accountability and transparency where appropriate.

You must:

• Be able to commit 80% dedication during the build phase
• Be comfortable working unpaid while the CIC is being built
• Be emotionally grounded and professionally boundaries
• Understand trauma without centring yourself
• Be able to hold complexity without collapsing into control or avoidance

You should have experience in some of the following:

• Safeguarding (statutory, charity, education, health, or grassroots)
• Working with vulnerable adults and/or children
• Trauma-informed practice
• Policy development and implementation
• Risk assessment and incident management

Formal qualifications are welcome but not essential.
Integrity, clarity and steadiness are.

This role is not for you if:

• You want safeguarding to be “light touch”
• You avoid difficult conversations
• You seek authority without responsibility
• You are uncomfortable challenging leadership when needed
• You are looking for a title rather than accountability

What You Gain:

• A founding leadership role in a CIC tackling real harm
• The chance to build safeguarding the right way
• Influence over how protection, care, and accountability coexist
• The opportunity to shape a future paid safeguarding role
• Deep purpose-driven work that actually protects people

As the CIC scales, this role is expected to evolve into a paid senior safeguarding position, shaped by the person who built it.

Formal qualifications are not required, but desirable.
Essential equivalent experience mandatory.

Next Steps:

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to:

• A values-led conversation
• A practical discussion about event planning, coordination, and execution

If you believe that well-organised, purposeful events can change communities, and that experiences inspire action, this role is for you.

A Final Word

Safeguarding is an act of love.
It is also an act of discipline.

If you know that:

• Survivors deserve better systems
• Vulnerable people deserve real protection
• Community work must be safe to be sustainable

The food system is unsustainable and unjust, and it’s damaging the health of a generation. We are a youth activist movement set up to challenge a food system that’s been set up to fool us all. We're looking for a new Chair who shares our passion for empowering youth leadership and transforming our food system