Prison volunteer roles in South west
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!
Fine Cell Work (FCW) is a UK-based rehabilitation charity and social enterprise. We are supported by an incredible team of prison volunteers who are the link between the charity and the stitchers we work with in prison. Our volunteers run fortnightly stitching groups in the prisons we work with to facilitate our stitchers’ production of high-quality needlework.
Our prison volunteers work in small teams to teach our stitchers’ embroidery and needlepoint, organise their group sessions, and liaise with the prison and FCW office.
What you will do as a prison volunteer:
- Teach people in prison how to stitch and support the completion of our premade kits in our cell groups, which consist of around 10-15 stitchers.
- Communicate with staff at our hub in Battersea to receive kits and supplies for your group and send back completed work for your stitchers to be paid.
- Encourage and help stitchers to complete our Open College Network certifications in creative needlework.
- Develop stitchers’ skills and confidence by encouraging them to take responsibility as peer mentors.
- Act as an ambassador for the charity and sharing our vision and values throughout your volunteering.
Who we are looking for:
- Skills in embroidery and/or needlepoint or a willingness to learn to stitch is essential for this role.
- Ideally some teaching experience or experience working with socially-excluded groups.
- Someone with a non-judgemental attitude and commitment to rehabilitation.
- Someone who is an excellent team worker.
- Someone who is good at observing personal boundaries.
Commitment: our stitching groups run for 2 hours every fortnight, so with travel time and some admin work after groups we ask prison volunteers to set aside a morning or afternoon every 2 weeks.
You must be over 18 for this role with the ability to travel to the prison. Travel expenses will be reimbursed by the charity.
Please take some time to read the role description to find out more details about the role and what we offer to our prison volunteers.
At Fine Cell Work, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented amongst FCW’s prison volunteers. This includes applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, and male identifying applicants.
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!
Do you have experience in digital and social media? Can you help us improve our communications and raise the profile of the work we do?
We are seeking an expert, creative Volunteer Digital and Social Media Lead. You will help us promote our programmes supporting people in prison and young people at risk of entering the justice system, as well as our Community Bike Shop, which funds and strengthens this work.
What you’ll do:
• Design and schedule engaging posts, stories, and reels across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more to grow our audience.
• Develop strategies for viral campaigns and collaborations to boost awareness and donations and share your expertise with our team.
• Analyse metrics (engagement, reach, growth) and refine tactics based on what resonates.
• Create eye-catching visuals using tools like Canva.
• Update our website as required and make suggestions for improvements.
• Work with our expert Trustee to consider how we can use online retail platforms to sell our refurbished bikes.
What we’ll provide:
· Creative freedom within agreed priorities and tone of voice.
· Access to the right tools plus shared photos, stories and impact stats.
· A named contact, light-touch sign-off, and occasional check-ins to remove blockers.
Time commitment: we’ll agree a realistic scope with the right volunteer based on their availability.
Reasonable agreed expenses will be paid.
Thank you
Mark Flannagan
Chief Executive
About us
UpCycle, works with individuals in prisons and young people at risk in marginalised communities. We use bicycle maintenance workshops to help build life skills, enhance employability, prevent offending and reoffending, and foster social reintegration. We also offer lead rides, bike fit-it sessions and other ways to engage with vulnerable people.
In prisons
· We delivered 956 un-refurbished bikes and received back 768 refurbished bikes across eight prisons and one Young Offenders Institution, training over 238 individuals.
In the Community
· Over 1034 bikes were donated to our Community Bike Shop, of those we refurbished and distributed more than 612 to underserved communities locally and overseas.
· Workshops in Bradford engaged 361 participants in diverse cycling-related activities across the area.
· "Bike to the Future" and other initiatives reached 220 young people with more complex needs.
Registered Charity
6 - 10
We believe everyone deserves a better future. We prevent people from being pulled into crime and help those already in the system find paths out.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Applications close at 9.a.m. Monday 23rd February 2026
Location: Home-based but with regular travel, including to periodic board meetings in London or other locations within the UK
This is an opportunity to chair a charity transforming lives by helping more people experience the positive impact of learning. You can help shape the future of this remarkable charity and lead the Board of Shannon Trust to broaden, deepen and mature what we deliver.
Who we are
Picture this: a person in prison who struggles with literacy and numeracy reads their first sentence, they write their first letter home to their children or completes their first numeracy task. They begin to imagine a future beyond the prison walls.
This is what happens when someone learns with Shannon Trust, and it happens thousands of times each year across prisons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Currently, 65% of people in prison can’t read, or struggle to. Even more struggle with numeracy.
These are not just statistics; they represent people who have been locked out of opportunity, who struggle with daily tasks, such as helping their children with homework or filling out a job application. At Shannon Trust, we believe everyone deserves the chance to learn, and that literacy and numeracy skills help build the foundations upon which people can rebuild their lives.
Where we are now
Shannon Trust has experienced remarkable growth over recent years. We have gone from a team of twelve people to one hundred staff today, supported by a volunteer base that brings us close to 250 people working to change lives through learning. The core of what we do is one-to-one peer mentoring in prisons. In 2025 alone, more than 11,000 learners used our reading and numeracy programmes, with 2,000 new volunteer peer-mentors trained to support them. We work in around one hundred prisons across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, delivering our Turning Pages reading programme and Count Me In numeracy programme. We are increasing our reach into the community, too. This growth is the result of sustained focus, strong relationships with funders who believe in our work, and the proven impact of our peer-led learning model.
What we are looking for
We are looking for a Chair who is strongly motivated by our cause, with a genuine empathy for the people we serve and a commitment to the person-centred language and inclusive thinking which are woven into everything we do. You will bring an engaged and engaging leadership style, have resilience and a personal gravitas.
You will be someone who is comfortable with complexity as we shape our organisation for the next chapter of our development. You will understand the importance of process, culture, and effective operations as the means of delivering a successful strategy and sustaining an organisation.
You will be someone who can help us be better advocates whether that is supporting our Chief Executive to build relationships with policymakers, helping us think through how we position ourselves in the education and criminal justice landscape, or using your own networks to create opportunities for Shannon Trust to influence and inform. We need a Chair who sees advocacy as part of the role.
Most importantly, our new Chair must be a strong partner for our CEO, a mentor, challenger and support.
Please click 'Redirect to recruiter’ to be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.
Applications for this role close at 9.a.m. Monday 23rd February 2026
Recruitment Agency
21 - 50
We’re an executive search firm working across third sector, education and membership sectors to transform leadership and inspire change.
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!
We're looking for a trustee with experience or knowledge of working within the criminal justice system. This is an important area of our work that isn't currently represented on our board.
Step Together Volunteering is a small but mighty charity. Through our unique, person-centred approach we support people to build the confidence and skills they need to look towards a positive future.
We work with young people, people in contact with the justice system, and the Armed Forces community, through 1-1 support, coaching and volunteering placements in the community. Our support doesn't have a time limit, we work with our clients until they have the confidence and skills they need to look forward to a more positive future.
We work nationally, our Head Office is Bristol, and our frontline staff are home-based in the regions they cover.
As a trustee, alongside your fellow board members you'll be responsible for the strategic leadership and administration of Step Together, and we're keen for you to contribute your perspectives and experiences to discussion. Alongside this, we'd specifically like you to:
- Provide expertise relating to the criminal justice system, and support to the rest of the Board and senior staff to ensure the charity operates a best practice model.
- Help identify opportunities for the charity to expand its work and impact within the criminal justice sector, including those funded by statutory and voluntary funders.
- Remain abreast of key developments within the criminal justice sector, ensuring these are brought to the attention of the rest of the Board and senior staff.
- Leverage support for the charity’s work (financial or otherwise) from your own networks and contacts where possible.
- Advise on implications of any current or planned projects within the criminal justice sector to aid good decision-making at board level.
What are we looking for?
Your experience will ideally have been gained through professional work in the Criminal Justice Sector. This could be through employment within the Prisons or Probation Service, other Ministry of Justice role, Youth Justice teams, Police, or with another charity or agency working in the sector.
Good networks within the justice system in the southwest would be advantageous. You will be knowledgeable about the criminal justice sector, the role the voluntary sector plays, and the challenges faced by the different organisations working in the sector.
Ability to work at a strategic level is essential.
We are looking for someone who is passionate about the work that we do, and someone who is happy to advocate for and represent the charity to key stakeholders to help further our work and impact.
What difference will you make?
Your knowledge and experience of the criminal justice system will help shape our strategic direction and decision-making in this important area of our work.
More broadly, as a trustee, you'll play an important role in ensuring Step Together is sustainable, well run and has a clear, strategic direction so that it continues it's brilliant work, supporting people who are otherwise left behind.
Commitments
We have two in person meetings per year (one in London, one in Bristol) and two online, plus an 'away day' in the autumn. We're ideally looking for trustees who based in Bristol or the surrounding areas.
Our board meetings and away day are fixed but there may be times we need to get in touch on an ad-hoc basis, or ask you to be involved in task-focussed committees.
Before you apply
Please get in touch if you've any questions, or to find out more, and we'll arrange a time for you to have a chat with the CEO or Chair.
If you'd like to apply, please get in touch - we'd love to hear from you! It would be helpful to hear a bit about you, what you'd like to bring to the board, and why you're interested in Step Together Volunteering.
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!
We're looking for a legal expert to join our friendly board, and help people excluded from society build bright futures.
Step Together Volunteering is a small but mighty charity. Through our unique, person-centred approach we support people to build the confidence and skills they need to look towards a positive future.
We work with young people, people in contact with the justice system, and the Armed Forces community, through 1-1 support, coaching and volunteering placements in the community. Our support doesn't have a time limit, we work with our clients until they have the confidence and skills they need to look forward to a more positive future.
We work nationally, our Head Office is Bristol, and our frontline staff are home-based in the regions they cover.
Our legal trustee has recently reached the end of her term, and we're now looking to find a new trustee who'd be happy to share their expertise with the board, and provide ad hoc advice to the CEO from time to time.
As a trustee, alongside your fellow board members you'll be responsible for the strategic leadership and administration of Step Together, and we're keen for you to contribute your perspectives and experiences to discussion. Specifically in relation to law, you may be asked to:
- Provide legal expertise and support to the rest of the Board and senior staff to ensure the charity complies with its duties and obligations.
- Ensure there are robust policies and procedures in place for legal and regulatory compliance.
- Liaise with senior staff on ad hoc legal matters to provide support and advice.
- Advise on legal implications of any plans or strategies to aid good decision making at Board level.
Trustees are appointed for an initial term of three years.
What are we looking for?
Your experience will ideally have been gained as a qualified lawyer (in any field, but those with knowledge and experience in employment law, company or charity law preferred).
Good networks within the Bristol area would be advantageous. You will be knowledgeable about the legal environment that charities operate in, including governance best practice, and be comfortable working at Board level, contributing to discussion and enhancing decision-making.
Ability to work at a strategic level is essential.
We are looking for someone passionate about the work we do, who is happy to advocate for and represent the charity to key stakeholders to help further our work and impact.
What difference will you make?
You'll be helping ensure Step Together is meeting its legal and regulatory duties as well as providing the board and senior team with the advice we need to operate well. More broadly, as a trustee, you'll play an important role in ensuring Step Together is sustainable, well run and has a clear, strategic direction so that it continues it's brilliant work, supporting people who are otherwise left behind.
Commitments
We have two in person meetings per year (one in London, one in Bristol) and two online, plus an 'away day' in the autumn. We're ideally looking for trustees who based in Bristol or the surrounding areas.
Our board meetings and away day are fixed but there may be times we need to get in touch on an ad-hoc basis, or ask you to be involved in task-focussed committees.
Before you apply
Please get in touch if you've any questions, or to find out more.
If you'd like to apply, please get in touch - we'd love to hear from you! It would be helpful to hear a bit about you, what you'd like to bring to the board, and why you're interested in Step Together Volunteering.
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!
Location: Shepherd’s Bush, West London
Time Commitment: Approx. 1–2 days per month (including quarterly board meetings and annual Away Day)
Type: Voluntary
Start Date: Early 2026
Join a unique West London charity creating lasting change in people’s lives
The Upper Room is seeking a Chair of Trustees (Designate) to join our Board in 2025/26 and, after a year of active trusteeship and shadowing, to step into the role of Chair when our current Chair reaches the end of their tenure in 2027.
This is an exceptional opportunity for a passionate, values-led individual to help shape the next phase of our work, from strategic resilience to community innovation.
About Us
From small beginnings more than 35 years ago The Upper Room has grown into a thriving charity with an annual budget of around £650K.
Food provision has always been at the heart of what we do. UR4Meals serves approximately 40,000 meals a year, operating five days a week.
UR4Driving works with ex-offenders and young people identified as at risk of offending. We help them pass their driving theory test, and then provide free driving lessons. Last year 37 students gained a full driving licence with us. This has a significant impact on their employability and self-esteem, and dramatically reduces re-offending.
UR4Jobs helps people become work-ready, and supports their wellbeing.
We are still based in our original home at St Saviour’s Church near Shepherd’s Bush in west London.
About the Role
As Chair, you’ll lead a committed and skilled Board of Trustees, working closely with our CEO and senior team to guide strategy, ensure good governance and champion our impact.
You’ll also play a key role externally, acting as an ambassador to funders, partners and supporters.
We’re looking for someone who can
- Provide strategic leadership through a period of growth and innovation
- Foster a culture of inclusion and respect, both on the Board and across the organisation - Support and challenge the CEO, acting as a critical friend and sounding board
- Ensure excellent governance, compliance and risk management
- Represent the charity publicly, building relationships and influence
About You
We welcome candidates with prior Board experience as a Trustee, Chair or Non-Executive Director, and a strong commitment to social justice.
We especially encourage applications from those with lived experience of disadvantage, as well as those from under-represented backgrounds, including individuals from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
We’re interested in candidates with
- A clear understanding of charity governance and the role of a Chair
- Strong leadership and interpersonal skills
- Strategic thinking and sound judgement
- A collaborative, values-driven approach
- The time, energy and commitment to make a lasting difference
Additional experience in fundraising, partnerships, organisational development or public sector engagement would be welcome, though not essential.
Time Commitment
- As a Trustee in 2025/ 26 (approx. 1–2 days per month)
- Transition to Chair in 2027, subject to mutual agreement and Board approval
- Quarterly evening Board meetings (in person in London)
- Annual summer Away Day with staff and trustees
- Optional involvement in sub-committees or events depending on interest and availability
- Representing the charity at local events
Why Now
By inviting a prospective Chair to join our Board as a Trustee in 2025/26, we can ensure a smooth, informed transition, with the support and handover of our current Chair, and plenty of time for deep onboarding and relationship-building.
The new Chair will help consolidate our growth, and lead our Board through the next chapter, ensuring our mission continues to serve those who need us most in the years ahead.
How to Apply
Please send your CV and a brief covering letter explaining your interest and suitability to the Upper Room.
If you would like to have an informal conversation before applying, feel free to reach out via email to arrange a call.
Because we are planning for the long term we are not placing a deadline on this process. However, we aim to appoint in the first quarter of 2026.
Interviews will be held in two stages, including an in-person meeting with key Board and staff members.
Registered Charity
11 - 20
Making sure nobody, socially or financially excluded in West London goes without help, supporting those in need, enabling those with potential
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!
Julian House is seeking a new trustee to join their board focusing on their retail offering
Time Commitment: Approximately 8 hours per month.
· Board Meetings: 4 per year, in person (Bath or Bristol), starting at 4pm and lasting 3.5 hours.
· Committee Involvement: Trustees must join one subcommittee, which meets 4 times a year online at 5:30pm for 2.5 hours.
· Annual Strategy Day: One full-day session for all board members.
Remuneration: Voluntary. Reasonable expenses are reimbursed
Julian House support people who are experiencing or recovering from homelessness, with a variety of needs; recovering from addiction; adults and children escaping domestic abuse; refugees building a new life; prison leavers seeking to re-start their lives; and members of the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, and Boater communities who are living insecurely.
They take a person-centred approach, offering each one of their clients tailored support in line with their needs and goals. Their teams are passionate about their work and committed to getting the very best outcomes for the people they serve.
The Julian House Board of Trustees is responsible for supporting and holding to account the Chief Executive and Senior Leadership Team.
They are looking for someone who can bring the following specialism to the board:
· Deep understanding of charity retail, most likely resulting from having held senior leadership retail positions in charities.
A trustee must:
· Fulfil the legal duties of the trustee role.
· Prepare for and attend all board meetings and relevant sub-committees.
· Ensure that everything they do helps to achieve the charity’s objects.
· Comply with the charity’s governing document and the law.
· Act in the charity’s best interests.
· Ensure the charity is compliant with statutory accounting and reporting requirements.
Previous Trustee board experience is not a requirement, the selected candidate will be assigned a ‘buddy’ on the Board, and we have an induction programme to welcome new trustees.
This role closes on Midnight Sunday 8th February.
Please send a copy of your CV and expression of interest to Leighann Beck quoting MC2616
