26 Head of community services volunteer roles

This role has multiple locations: Cannock, Burton, Yardley, Market Drayton, High Wycombe, Newport (Wales), Moreton

About Newlife

At Newlife, we exist to champion the joy of childhood for every disabled child. We envision a world where every disabled child has the support, equipment and encouragement they need to live, grow and flourish. We’re on a mission to empower all disabled children and their families to live life to the fullest.

By joining our community of volunteers, you can help change the lives of disabled children. Together we will make a difference.

Volunteer in a Newlife store

We're recruiting retail volunteers to support us as we head into the retail peak season and beyond.

Become a Retail Store Volunteer and you’ll join our friendly community of staff and volunteers. We’re always searching for volunteers to help in our nine UK stores. You can find shifts that suit you.

• Where? Cannock, Burton, Market Drayton, Newport (Wales), Moreton, High Wycombe, Yardley
• How often? Flexible, to be discussed 
• Age? Volunteers must be 16 and over (parental consent is required for volunteers aged 16 and 17)

About the role: 

Retail Support Volunteers get involved in a range of tasks including supporting customers, sorting stock and working on the shop floor. 

If you’re looking for retail experience, enjoy working in a busy environment and are a great team player, this is the opportunity for you. 

What you’ll be doing:

• Providing excellent customer service and dealing with any customer queries 
• Setting up displays in store to showcase products
• Sorting through new products and displaying stock on the shop floor 
• Helping to maintain the standards of the store, keeping it clean, tidy and organised
• Highlighting the importance of the work we do and raising awareness.
• Helping with in-store fundraising activities 

By volunteering at Newlife, you can:

• Develop new skills and try new experiences in a safe and inclusive environment
• Meet new people and develop new friendships
• Build your confidence
• Enhance your CV and develop transferable skills
• Share your knowledge and expertise 
• Have fun and be part of a fantastic community 
• Contribute to our mission and make a real difference to disabled children

We look forward to hearing from you!

Inclusive Boards is delighted to be supporting Oaklea Trust in their search for their next Chair of Trustees. 

About Oaklea Trust

The Oaklea Trust is a charitable organisation whose purpose is to give vulnerable people the opportunity to live and work as independently as possible within their community. Established in 2002 and based in Cumbria, County Durham and Northumberland, we support disabled, disadvantaged and vulnerable children and adults. Our charitable work supports people of all ages who have Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, Mental Health needs, and/or Dementia.

The Oaklea Group is made up of the charity, Oaklea Trust, and its commercial arm, Right2Work. Together, they support people and communities to learn, develop and thrive through person-centred care and support, learning opportunities, and pathways into employment.

This is a unique opportunity to help lead a values-driven organisation that supports people and communities across the North of England to learn, develop and thrive.

About the Chair opportunity

As Chair, you will energise and empower the Board and the Group as a whole. You will foster a culture of openness, collaboration, and constructive debate. You will inspire confidence and ensure the highest standards of governance, integrity and accountability. 

You will also help shape the Group’s future impact, supporting our mission to reduce inequality and create opportunities for people and communities to thrive. Through your strategic insight and advocacy, you will help extend our reach, strengthen partnerships and ensure more people can access the care, support and opportunities they need and deserve.

The Chair of the Oaklea Board of Trustees will:

• Ensure the Board functions effectively
• Guide Oaklea Trust’s strategic direction
• Ensure governance oversight
• Represent Oaklea Trust internally and externally
• Evaluate and support the Chief Executive
• Champion the leadership of Committees

We are seeking a new Chair of Trustees who can bring the following experience and capabilities to the role. We recognise that lived experience can offer valuable insights that greatly enhance a role like this, especially when combined with professional expertise.

Experience/Background:

• Experience of strategic leadership and governance within an organisation of equivalent size and complexity to Oaklea Trust, ideally within a Group structure. 
• A track record of driving growth and innovation, with the ability to apply insight to support the achievement of Oaklea Trust’s strategic objectives. 
• Understanding of the challenges associated with leading and delivering regulated services and the management of the associated risks.
• Ability to constructively challenge and hold space for compassionate and constructive conversations.
• Financial and commercial acumen, including experience in financial planning, oversight, risk management, and the establishment and monitoring of systems of control and accountability. 
• Ability to scrutinise and manage financial risk, ensuring long-term financial sustainability and safeguarding against fraud. 
• Ability to open doors, build networks and maximise opportunities with a range of stakeholders, funders and partner organisations.
• Previous trustee and/or Chair/Vice Chair experience is desirable.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a rolling recruitment campaign and therefore any applications after the 12th of October 2026 will be put through to the next recruitment campaign in January 2027. 

As an MS Help Hub Volunteer, you'll be there for people affected by MS when they need someone to listen.

You'll provide emotional support and reliable information, helping people feel heard, understood and more confident about their next steps. Sometimes you'll answer practical questions; other times, simply offering a listening ear can make all the difference.

You'll support people primarily over the telephone, although we also respond to enquiries by letter, email and webchat. Every conversation is different, and every conversation matters.

You don't need to have all the answers. We'll provide comprehensive training and ongoing support to help you build your knowledge of MS, available support, and the wider challenges people may face. You'll always be part of an experienced team of staff, volunteers and specialists who are there whenever you need them.

Most importantly, you'll be helping ensure that nobody has to face MS alone.

Is this role right for you?

You'll need to be available to volunteer during our weekday opening hours and commit to a regular volunteering pattern of around three hours each week. These hours can be completed flexibly across the week and don't all need to be in one session. The MS Help Hub is open Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm. We’re keen to hear what availability you can offer and will discuss this with you as part of the recruitment process.

As the role is home-based, you can volunteer from anywhere in the UK with a suitable internet connection and a quiet, private space to take calls.

About The Pinnacle Centre

The Pinnacle Centre is a third space in Birmingham helping young adults grow holistically. We work across three domains: personal development, sports and wellbeing, and community and belonging.

Vision 2030 is where that work is heading. We're building a multi-purpose centre in Birmingham — sports facilities, co-working space, an auditorium and a café — designed as a home for young adults to train, work, learn and gather.

Role Summary

You own Pinnacle's operational backbone — venues, suppliers, equipment, budgets and the systems that make delivery repeatable — and you deliver it yourself on the ground. Programmes and Events decide what happens; you make sure it can happen, and then you make it happen.

Key tasks

1.  Operational ownership

○ Own the venue, supplier and equipment strategy across all Pinnacle activity.

○ Negotiate and manage contracts, hire agreements and service providers.

○ Hold the operations budget and report actual against forecast to the COO.

2.  Delivery

○ Execute the operational plan for scheduled activity: set-up, delivery and pack-down.

○ Act as the on-site operational point of contact during sessions and events.

○ Complete the operational checklist for every activity, every time.

3.  Equipment & inventory

○ Maintain the inventory: track, store, clean and repair equipment.

○ Flag replacement needs before something fails mid-session.

○ Manage transport and storage logistics.

4.  Risk & compliance

○ Own risk assessments, insurance, licensing and site health and safety.

○ Ensure safeguarding requirements are practically met wherever we operate.

○ Maintain contingency plans for venue loss, equipment failure and staffing gaps.

5.  Records & improvement

○ Keep accurate records of bookings, costs and attendance.

○ Document how we run things, so a new volunteer can follow the process unaided.

○ Remove recurring friction rather than firefighting the same problem each month.

What we're looking for

● Organised, hands-on and practical — you plan it and then you do it.

● Reliable; people are depending on you being there.

● Confident negotiating with suppliers and holding them to terms.

● Comfortable with budgets and record-keeping as well as physical set-up.

● Based in Birmingham with regular evening and weekend availability.

● Health and safety or facilities experience, and a full driving licence (desirable).

What we have to offer

● Real ownership of a function, not a task list — you will shape how it works, not just execute someone else's plan.

● A seat in a team building towards a 2030 horizon, with a clear line of sight to the leadership team.

● Access to our network of founders, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors through Pinnacle's events programme.

● Training, mentoring and the opportunity to build and lead a team of your own as the organisation grows.

● The reward of building something in your city that will outlast all of us.

Please note: this is currently a volunteer position. Reasonable expenses for travel, equipment and refreshments are reimbursed in line with our Expenses Policy. As Pinnacle grows and funding allows, we expect several senior roles to move to paid positions, and volunteers already in post will be considered first.

What will you be doing?

Governing bodies are responsible for the strategic management of a school and make decisions about a wide range of issues. 

The core responsibilities involved are: 

• Ensuring accountability 
• Acting as a critical friend to the head teacher 
• Monitoring and evaluating the school’s progress 
• Budgetary allocation and control 
• Shaping plans for school improvement and overseeing their implementation 
• Setting the school’s aims and values 
• Appointing senior members of staff, including the head teacher 

The governing body is usually split into a small number of committees, each responsible for one area such as finance or pupil achievement. These committees meet separately from the main governing body to discuss relevant issues in more detail. Discussion is then fed back at a full governing body meeting. 

A school governing body is made up of representatives from the school, the parents, the local authority, and the local community. 

What are we looking for?

You don’t need any specific skills or experience to be a school governor. You must be over 18, but you don’t need to be a parent or have experience working in education. Often, it’s the outside perspective you can bring that a school needs. 

Professional experience in areas such as HR, finance, law, or project management is useful to a school. Soft skills such as leadership, communication, and problem solving are also great additions.

What difference will you make?

Governors make decisions that affect schools for years to come. Our recent impact survey found that our volunteers bring £9.9 million worth of value to schools each year, and 9 in 10 volunteers would recommend being a governor to a friend. 

As a governor, you can visit the school to gain an understanding of the culture and ethos and to get the most out of the role. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet children, parents, and teachers, and see the impact of your work first-hand.

Before you apply

You will need to complete an application form and will have an interview with the school. DBS checks will be taken up.

Inclusive Boards is delighted to support University of Birmingham Guild of Students in their search for their next Chair of Trustees. 

The Guild of Students plays a key and pivotal role in the student experience at Birmingham, offering a range of services and activities which not only help to attract students to the University, but which also contribute to a vibrant student experience, as well as supporting the wider sense of community and belonging.

The breadth of the Guild’s service and activity portfolio is comparable with other large students’ unions in the Russell Group and as an organisation the Guild is well regarded within the sector. As leaders in the field, the Guild has paved the way in key areas such as representation, student groups and societies, social opportunities, events and activities.

About the Chair opportunity

This is a brilliant opportunity to join an award-winning, multifaceted, and complex charity as our next Chair of Trustees. The Trustee Board is collectively responsible for overseeing the affairs of the Guild and ensuring that the Guild works for and with its membership in all that it does.  The Chair’s role is to steward this at the highest level. They act as a role model for the Board, maintaining the highest standards of good governance, with a focus on strategy, risk, and long-term sustainability.

They must ensure a culture of inclusion, trust, and openness where all Trustees contribute their views and expertise, and champion student democracy. The Chair will work closely with the President and Chief Executive Officer, supporting them to achieve the aims and objectives of the Guild’s strategy and vision, and ensure the Guild meets the needs of its diverse student membership.

We are in the final year of the Guild’s 2022-27 strategy (aligned to the University’s priorities under its strategic framework, ‘Birmingham 2030’), making this a formative time as we look beyond 2027, in a challenging time for the Higher Education sector. We are seeking skilled leadership to continue to support us to deliver excellence and are, therefore, looking for an experienced non-executive, with demonstrable experience of supporting organisations at Board level.

The Guild values applications from a wide range of backgrounds that are reflective of the full diversity of Birmingham’s community, in particular from Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnicities as we seek to continually enhance diversity within our governance structures.

We would encourage candidates with current or previous experience in charities or the public sector, with experience of chairing meetings and of non-executive leadership, to apply. A connection to the Guild or University and/or to the West Midlands area is also beneficial, but not essential. Full details are outlined in the role description and person specification.

Bid Writer Role Description

What will you be doing?

We are excited to announce an incredible opportunity for a talented Bid Writer to join our passionate team at the Africa Health Organisation (AHO)!  Since 1999, we've been dedicated to delivering health and social care to millions across Africa and the Diaspora, and now we're ready to elevate our impact further.

This year, we're embarking on a mission to broaden our funding strategy by incorporating bids and tenders.  Our goal is to engage with the governments in Africa and the UK, the public sector, and the public, providing essential practical and emotional support to those facing chronic conditions.  We need a visionary like you to help us achieve our goals.

We're seeking a dynamic and experienced Bid Writer to assist the Bid Manager and Head of Bids in developing and executing a winning strategy to secure the necessary financial backing.  There are numerous exciting possibilities ahead, including central government tenders, as well as local and statutory opportunities.  We're eager to explore them all.

In this pivotal role, you'll assist the Bid Manager in planning and executing our bids and tender writing, ensuring our bid proposals not only shine but also come to life in meaningful ways.  If you're a bid writer who thrives on creativity and collaboration, we want to hear from you!  Additionally, you'll have the opportunity to inspire and mentor volunteers within our bid and tender team, making a positive impact together.  Join us on this exciting journey!

What are we looking for?

Person Specification: What You'll Bring:

• Educated to a degree level
• At least one year of proven experience in bid and tender management, preferably within the healthcare (NHS & private), medical, social care and services, international development, economics, international relations, UN agencies, ege, UNICEF, WHO, etc, or technology sectors.
• End-to-end bid management experience: A minimum of 3 years' experience leading the whole bid process.
• Preferred qualifications include a degree in Business, Communication, Marketing, Creative Writing, English or equivalent.
• APMP Certification is also desirable, but not important.
• Sector versatility: Experience in working with both public and private sector bids in the medical, biotech, biomed, health and social sectors is preferred.
• Industry knowledge: Understanding of contact centres and/or customer experience is essential.
• Commercial acumen: Strong business sense, negotiation skills, and a hands-on approach.
• Resilience under pressure: Able to thrive in a fast-paced environment and meet tight deadlines.
• Detail orientation: High attention to detail to ensure quality and accuracy.
• Growth mindset: Self-motivated, proactive, and focused on continuous improvement.
• Strong communicator: Confident and articulate, with the ability to build trusted relationships across stakeholders.
• Time management: Skilled at prioritising tasks and managing competing deadlines.

What difference will you make?

In this exciting role, you will lead the strategic effort to win new business through competitive bids, tenders, and proposals, ultimately driving AHO's success. Your specialised knowledge will enhance our win rates and maximise revenue by bringing clarity, quality, and coordination to what can be a complex and high-stakes journey.

Your primary mission is to boost AHO's tender win rates and strengthen our strategic advantage.  By diligently overseeing each step of the bidding process—from initial evaluation to final submission—you will significantly improve the quality and persuasion of our proposals, directly increasing our chances of securing valuable contracts.

You'll provide key insights to help the Bid Manager target the most promising opportunities by implementing a thoughtful "bid/no-bid" process.  This approach will ensure we focus only on lucrative and winnable contracts that closely align with our strategic goals, ultimately saving time and resources and allowing us to prioritise high-potential projects.

In this role, you will orchestrate a well-coordinated process that drives operational efficiency. Acting as the central point of contact, you will gather input from diverse internal teams—sales, finance, legal, and technical experts—ensuring everyone collaborates smoothly to meet critical deadlines.

As a self-starter, you'll elevate the quality of our bid content.  By overseeing the creation of compelling, polished materials, you'll ensure that our final submissions are professional, cohesive, and error-free. You will utilise a centralised content library filled with valuable resources, such as case studies and CVs, to streamline our efforts and enhance our proposals.

You will keep projects on track by developing detailed project plans and timelines, ensuring that all tasks are completed punctually—especially critical in the fast-paced environment of tender submissions.  Your effective management will ease the workload for colleagues focused on their core responsibilities, allowing the entire team to shine.

To foster long-term business growth, you'll create a wealth of knowledge around our tenders and bids. By conducting insightful post-submission debriefs and analysing feedback, you will capture invaluable lessons from both successes and setbacks.  This ongoing improvement process will enhance our bidding capabilities for future opportunities.

You can also enhance AHO's brand reputation by submitting well-organised, accurate, and compliant bids.  By doing so, you'll showcase our professionalism and reliability to clients, building trust and solidifying our credible standing in the market.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone passionate about fundraising, social impact, and business development.  If you're eager to apply your skills to drive meaningful change, we'd love to hear from you!

As the Guild has grown in the past few years, our risk management, financial controls, and body of policies and procedures have also matured. Following the scheduled departure of two trustees earlier this year, the Guild’s Finance Subcommittee is seeking to welcome an independent member with relevant skills to attend meetings and advise on financial matters to help us make good decisions effectively.

This voluntary role supports trustees and staff by providing independent insight, constructive scrutiny, and professional expertise on financial planning, budgeting, risk, and long-term sustainability. As a guest to Finance Subcommittee meetings, you will review financial information, contribute to discussions, and help ensure resources are used effectively to maximise our charitable impact for students.

The Finance Subcommittee currently consists of two elected Officers, two external Trustees, and may include a student trustee in future. Papers and reports are ordinarily provided by the Guild Director, who is a non-voting guest to Subcommittee meetings. The Subcommittee normally meets four times per year for around two hours.

Students’ Union experience is not essential, but we are seeking a volunteer able to operate within our distinctive context. We are particularly interested in applicants with experience in finance, accounting, audit, charity governance, or business management.

About The Pinnacle Centre

The Pinnacle Centre is a third space in Birmingham helping young adults grow holistically. We work across three domains: personal development, sports and wellbeing, and community and belonging.

Vision 2030 is where that work is heading. We're building a multi-purpose centre in Birmingham — sports facilities, co-working space, an auditorium and a café — designed as a home for young adults to train, work, learn and gather.

Role Summary

You own Pinnacle's volunteer function end to end — how people join us, how they're inducted, how they're deployed, and why they stay. Almost everything Pinnacle delivers is delivered by volunteers, so this is not an admin role. When a session runs smoothly with the right people in the room, that's you. When someone gives us six months and leaves feeling it mattered, that's you too.

Key tasks

1. Recruitment and onboarding
   • Own the pipeline: how people find us, apply, and get placed in a role that suits them.
   • Run a consistent induction — what Pinnacle is, what we expect, who they report to, where the boundaries are.
   • Match people to roles honestly. A misplaced volunteer leaves within a month.
2. Deployment and rotas
   • Maintain the volunteer roster across programmes and events — Soul Work, sports, socials, founder and networking events.
   • Work with Programme and Events leads on what they need and by when, and hold them to giving you notice.
   • Make sure every session has named cover, not hopeful cover.
3. Retention, development and recognition
   • Build genuine relationships across the volunteer base and know who's thriving, who's drifting and who's overloaded.
   • Run check-ins, spot people ready for more responsibility, and feed them towards Lead roles.
   • Own how we thank people — recognition, references, socials, progression.
4. Compliance and records
   • Maintain accurate volunteer records: roles, hours, agreements, emergency contacts, GDPR compliance.
   • Own the volunteer agreement, code of conduct and safeguarding process, including DBS where roles require it.
   • Handle first-line concerns; escalate safeguarding and conduct issues to the COO immediately.
5. Performance
   • Track active volunteers, hours contributed, retention at 3 and 6 months, and shift fill rates.
   • Report monthly with insight rather than headcount.

What we're looking for

• Genuinely good with people — able to read who needs encouragement, who needs clarity and who needs to be let go.
• Organised enough to run a rota that people can rely on.
• Comfortable holding a standard and having an awkward conversation without making it personal.
• Discreet, and sound judgement on when something needs escalating.
• Experience in volunteer coordination, HR, youth work, education or events staffing (desirable).

What we have to offer

● Real ownership of a function, not a task list — you will shape how it works, not just execute someone else's plan.

● A seat in a team building towards a 2030 horizon, with a clear line of sight to the leadership team.

● Access to our network of founders, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors through Pinnacle's events programme.

● Training, mentoring and the opportunity to build and lead a team of your own as the organisation grows.

● The reward of building something in your city that will outlast all of us.

Please note: this is currently a volunteer position. Reasonable expenses for travel, equipment and refreshments are reimbursed in line with our Expenses Policy. As Pinnacle grows and funding allows, we expect several senior roles to move to paid positions, and volunteers already in post will be considered first

Position Description 
This is an exciting time to join the Heart of the City trustee board. You will join a small but ambitious Charity with strong foundations and networks across the public and private sector. This is an opportunity to shape the next chapter for the Heart of the City, with a strong focus on developing a robust, sustainable three-year Strategy. The Strategy will be supported by work to further diversify funding streams, that provide greater financial resilience without compromising our mission to support SMEs to become responsible businesses and play a full role in responding to the Climate Emergency.

The incoming Chair will support the team to develop a three-year Strategy to support the growth of the Charity.

The plan will explore:

• The Mission of the Charity and how it should grow
• Diversifying and securing new sources of funding
• Broadening our programmatic offer to SMEs
• Defining the strategic relationship between Heart of the City and the City of London Corporation

Unlike most small charities, Heart of the City has an extensive network and governance structures with prestigious organisations. The Chair will help manage key relationships with the Bank of England and Corporation of London, as well as key Council Members. The Chair will be instrumental in managing an effective and focussed set of Trustees to help shape, scrutinise and deliver the Charity’s mission.

By the end of the three-year period as Chair, you will have supported the development and implementation of a Strategy, which meets the vision of the Charity, helped develop a sustainable and resilient funding model, ensured that the Charity is making an impact and reporting on its achievements and maintains effective relationships with key strategic partners.

Typically, the Chair will:

• Hold regular fortnightly meetings with the Managing Director.
• Attend quarterly Trustee Board meetings (usually lasting around two hours and held during the working day).
• Participate in a strategy half-day with Trustees and staff.
• Attend Council meetings (up to two per year).
• Support introductions to potential members, partners and stakeholders.
• Attend and occasionally speak at Heart of the City events on an ad hoc basis.

The Chair will contribute to ad-hoc requests including:

• Sharing their views on responsible business in interviews for our newsletter, social media or webinars
• Championing our work at other external events and meetings, on social media and on their own biographical profiles

About you
We do not expect one person to fulfil all specifications but would welcome applications from individuals who are able to demonstrate most of the following:

Experience & Knowledge

• Senior Executive experience in the Corporate, Charity or Public sector.
• Strong understanding of SMEs, their motivations and challenges.
• Strong commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices.
• Proven track record of setting strategic direction and leading senior teams.
• Well-connected senior network across businesses.

Skills & Attributes

• Excellent chairing, facilitation and sound judgement in complex situations.
• Strong strategic thinking with the ability to align resources to long-term mission and impact.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, able to engage audiences from SME leaders to senior stakeholders.
• Strong ambassadorial and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent listening, questioning and consensus-building abilities.

Commitment

Commitment to Heart of the City’s mission, values and responsible business agenda. Willingness to devote the time and energy required to fulfil the role effectively.

Closing application date
Midnight on 27 September 2026

Interviews
Trustees aim to meet with the candidates in the week commencing 12 October 2026.