Cooking and Baking Volunteer - Female Only (Ealing)

Could you be a star baker, master chef or perhaps you simply enjoy baking or cooking! We are recruiting for a volunteer to support the women and children in our domestic abuse refuges to have some fun over the summer holidays by facilitating weekly cooking and baking sessions!

Across the UK, almost one million children are affected by domestic abuse every year. At Hestia, we know how important it is for children to feel safe, supported, and free to simply enjoy being children again. That’s why, every summer, our refuges create spaces filled with warmth, play, and joy – and we’re looking for wonderful volunteers to help us make that happen!

Each year during the school summer holidays, we run a six‑week Summer Play Scheme, offering fun activities and special outings for mothers and their children living in our refuges.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the Summer Play Scheme gives families a chance to reconnect, laugh, and build happy memories together during what can be an incredibly difficult time.

If you’re passionate about supporting women and children who have fled domestic abuse – and you love getting creative, playful, and involved – we’d love to hear from you! Our volunteers work alongside our Children and Family Workers to bring daily activities and outings to life, helping to make this summer feel brighter, safer, and full of joy for the families we support.

What you will be doing

• To use a range of skills and tools to make sessions interesting and fun for a range of ages.
• To develop positive relationships with the children and women, maintain professional boundaries and keep accurate records.
• To gather ideas and suggestions from service users to plan sessions
• Research and plan new recipes for cooking/baking sessions in collaboration with the group each week.
• Encourage the women and children to participate in the sessions and delegate cooking tasks.
• Support individuals each week in setting up for the sessions and tidying away afterwards
• Keep a record of attendees, provide feedback and report any concerns to the staff team

The skills you need

• Food Safety Certificate/knowledge or willingness to complete relevant training
• Understanding of Domestic abuse and its impact on children and women
• Good interpersonal and communication skills and ability to work with people from different backgrounds
• Able to maintain strict confidentiality
• Passion and knowledge of healthy eating and cooking

What's in it for you

• Supporting You - You will have a dedicated volunteer supervisor to support you in your role; Quarterly volunteer forums with the central Volunteering team and volunteers across Hestia; References for job applications
• Developing You - You will gain knowledge and insight into issues that impact Domestic Abuse, Modern Slavery and Mental Health; You will have access to our extensive Learning and Development Programme; 40% of our departed volunteers secured a paid role at Hestia last year!
• Valuing You - We hold annual Volunteer Awards and Celebration events; We reimburse travel expenses and up to £5 for lunch for your volunteering; We hold social events and outings for our volunteers to get together and have some fun