Volunteer roles

We are a Kingston-based social marketing enterprise using creative thinking to build community cohesion.

We aim to attract knowledgeable individuals encouraging different cultures to unite which enables us to share and celebrate essential lessons. 

Partnering with local organisations, we put on programmes of training, workshops and other events that promote unity and tolerance.

We conduct research to support our cause to challenge preconceptions around race and stereotyping. As well as delivering workshops on unconscious bias in the workplace. 

Join us in leading positive change!

Quilombo UK is looking for an experienced Research Assistant, who would love to join a growing organisation.

The Research Assistant role offers a great opportunity for the right person who is looking to: 

• Gain experience in the Third Sector. 

• Develop their skills and management experience; or just simply 'give something back to their community'.

The role provides you with flexibility and autonomy at work. Where necessary, specific training will also be provided to help you develop and grow your skill set.

Main Responsibilities

• Since its creation, Quilombo UK has collected a great amount of information, evidence and items through projects, fundraisers, events etc.

• We are looking for a team member to find published materials related to Quilombo UK key objectives and interests, especially cultural and racial diversity, and stereotypes in UK communities. The materials include all types of evidence, articles, journals, newspaper columns, local and global news stories. 

• The researcher will help to collect information that can be used as an evidence base to help inform future activities, and also in exhibitions, workshops, and community events. 

• We are looking for a self-starter who can source, collect, and share relevant materials independently. You will also be working closely with our Professional Development Programme participants in relevant areas such as Marketing and PR.

• Provide written reports as and when required. To undertake additional duties as required for the role.

General tasks

• Contribute to staff meetings and other internal meetings with views and suggestions etc.

Essential:

• You will need to have good written skills and be able to explain concepts and projects concisely and accurately. 

• You will be self-starting and willing to research the various projects that we have carried out and catalogue all the evidence collected.

• You will need to have good communication and team-working skills as you will be working closely with Marketing & PR and other members.

• Committed to working with the community with a passion for helping others less fortunate.

• Be computer literate - a good understanding of Microsoft Word is essential and Excel skills are beneficial although support from other members will be provided if necessary.

• To show professionalism at all levels and in all environments 

• Be a strong team player.

Desirable

• Committed to working with the community with a passion for helping others less fortunate.

• Proficiency in Microsoft and Excel

• Can work without much supervision.

The Professional Development Programme with Quilombo UK runs over a period of 16 weeks, is UNPAID and requires a minimum of 12 hours commitment per week across Monday, Wednesday and/or Friday.

Upon successful application, our HR team will contact you to arrange an interview. Following a successful interview, we'll initiate the onboarding process by sending you the necessary documents. Once your onboarding and identification documents are received and verified, you'll be invited to a 6-hour HR and System Induction. Subsequently, you'll meet with your Head of Department or Assistant Manager for your First Day.

QUILOMBO UK is dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace environment that values diversity and promotes equality for all employees. As part of our commitment to upholding these principles, we adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Equality Act 2010. We firmly believe in creating a workplace where all individuals are respected and treated fairly. Discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated.

By getting involved you could:

• Join an enthusiastic team and make new friends 
• Develop your hospitality skills and put them into practice
• Support the lunch rush be delivering food to people’s tables 
• Support on the counter to help serve soup or cakes
• Sign up to holiday, evening or 1 off events such as Theatre, Proms or other performances that may have an ice cream trike or BBQ on offer
• Be trained on the Food and Beverage Buggy to help deliver stock including freshly baked good to other outlets (being trained on the F&B buggy is an optional choice in addition to usual duties)
• Use your smile and customer service skills, so people feel at home
• Help us raise money so we continue our work looking after special places

What's involved?

• Undertake tasks ranging from clearing tables and serving food to washing dishes and supporting behind the counter. 
• Use your smile and customer service skills to engage with visitors, share knowledge of the property and generally enhance their visit
• Have a strong working knowledge of our menu, including allergen information, and sharing this with visitors, though any allergy questions should be asked to a team leader, with the support of our allergen book.
• Playing your part to continue our work looking after special places 
• Joining an enthusiastic team and making new friends
• Learning and developing a range of skills such as food safety, barista and exceptional service.
• There’s also potential to get involved with the Food & Beverage events calendar.
• You can also opt in to Food and Beverage Buggy training to help deliver freshly baked goods to other outlets on site.

This role will suit you if you are:

• Are cheerful and like being around people – you’ll meet a lot at lunchtime! 
• Are looking for a varied role – you’ll be juggling tasks as well as trays of food
• Are keen to be part of a team
• Are good at keeping places looking tidy and welcoming
• Have a keen eye to detail to notice when a visitor needs help
• Love chatting about food, new recipes and where our ingredients come from

Description of the project

Milpa Community aims to be an open place to exchange ideas, to learn, inspire, and to build the community leadership we need for tomorrow’s world. Its mission is to empower young people from the surrounding area with the skills to be able to have a job, gain confidence and grow surrounded by a communitarian way of living.

We believe that by creating more community experiences, we empower people, youth especially, so they can build their own future and have a better life. In that way, we work toward local development and try to reach sustainability in its three dimensions: environmental, social and economic.

Highlights:

• Empower yourself and others working inside a community-based NGO in Buenos Aires.
• Learn and practice about agroecology. Enjoy working on gardening, landscaping, community development, international development & NGO management

What can you learn as a volunteer?

Volunteers will be able to learn about many topics and maximize what they learn before by helping us to maintain the garden and grounds. Volunteers with previous specific knowledge can prepare workshops or develop specific tasks. Volunteers will enhance their knowledge in practice, helping in the tasks of daily maintenance of the garden, in the organization of community space with the armed schedule, lists of participants’ management and administration tasks of space.

Why is this program important for the community?

The members of the community we work with are families that work hard every day to better their financial situation. 

Many of the young people from the surrounding neighborhoods have not been able to finish their basic studies and therefore can only dream of going to university. The Pacheco Community Center gives them the opportunity to learn a practical trade, work in a team and be prepare for labor market integration.

We focus on training. We help young people build new capacities. Not only can they learn about gardening, landscaping and begin an immersion in agroecology philosophy, but also the Pacheco Community Center has a greenhouse for the students to plant fruits and vegetables, which they will be able to sell and generate their own income.

Role of the Volunteer

The volunteers that come from different parts of the world to exchange knowledge and experience and to work alongside the community members create a mutual spirit of solidarity.

• Learn by helping in practical classes with youth to maintain the garden and grounds.
• Help watering during 20 minutes in the mornings outside the greenhouse if the weather is too dry.
• Help teachers to prepare didactic material for theoretical classes (like diagrams, pictures, boards)
• Help social coordinators to manage the organization of community space with the armed schedule, lists of participants’ management and administration tasks of space.
• Help preparing and attending breakfast or afternoon snack (according daily schedule) for youth.
• Help preparing special monthly workshops: Open day to the community when families and friends share and afternoon with talks, games and relaxing time.

Start Dates

Project is ongoing, and you can join on Spring or Summer (in Argentina)

Language Skills

You need to speak Spanish (intermediate level).

This Health Center has many medical specialties, but they also give a lot of importance to preventive medicine and the promotion of health in the neighborhood. The doctors and nurses organize campaigns and workshops for the community; visit their homes in order to understand the social and economical root of health issues, and to help more effectively.

Background information

The "Centro de Atención Primaria" (Basic Health Care Center) is located in J. L. Suárez, an hour and a half away from the city. This Health center was founded in 1983 right after democracy was established in the country again. Currently, the center has 23 professionals who work as a team to receive 3000 patient consultations per month. Patients come from neighborhoods that are near Río Reconquista, a vulnerable neighborhood. The director of the health center is Fernando who has been working there for over 30 years. Their main idea is to share their understanding and knowledge of preventive health with the community to avoid that the patients get sick. In this way, besides taking care of patients they also work a lot in educating them and giving them tools so they can learn to take care of their health.

 In this Basic Health Care Center, they see patients at the first level of sanitary assistance, they don't cover emergencies. Here doctors work a lot with health conscience, with trying to give a friendly service so they can reach the most vulnerable places in the area. Their idea is to work mainly in prevention that's why they work with contraception, fast HIV test detection and they do workshops in the schools, go and walk around the neighborhood. They face many difficulties, such as seeing patients with different illnesses due to the pollution, poor sanitary conditions, and the precarious sewage of the neighborhood. Despite all of this, at the moment they are developing a plan to improve their facilities and in this way make the health center better and more comfortable for the whole community.

Why is this project important for the community?

This health center has a comprehensive concept of "health" that goes beyond the biological fact of the illness. Health is understood as a process affected by various causes, including poverty. Therefore, doctors work in an interdisciplinary way, as a team, that integrates the different specialties for better care. Furthermore, they work to promote community participation in preventing and finding solutions.

Along these lines, the health center works integrally with the neighborhood without leaving aside the context of the population to which it serves.  This perspective seeks to break with the idea of ​​the doctor as the owner of the truth and tries to demonstrate that scientific knowledge along with popular knowledge can have a greater impact and better results.

Among the specialties that the center includes are: Pediatrics, general medicine, gynecology, obstetrics, odontology, psychology, social work, nutrition, psychopedagogy, and nursing. They also organize different workshops and activities for the community.

Volunteer's Role

Volunteer's tasks will depend on their commitment and interests, anyway, volunteers will start as spectators so they can learn how the health center and the professionals work. All areas, activities, and workshops are open to the volunteer who can participate both in the activities inside the center and those carried out in the field according to their interests. Moreover, volunteers learn a lot about the Argentine Health System, how to work in a team different from what you learn in universities, you can share your own knowledge as well as learn a lot from the people you share your experience with

For this reason, an intermediate level of Spanish is required, so that the volunteer can become more involved with those who work in the center and with the community. The volunteer must develop an outlook of communicating with people, taking into account that this is an institution that serves the community and that their concern is to understand the people living there and their health problems.

What can you learn as a volunteer?

It is an opportunity to put into practice previous knowledge about medicine, learn new modalities, and ways of running a health center. Volunteers will also learn about the culture and functioning of the public health system in Argentina from a health promotion and prevention approach. Therefore, volunteers will learn how a prevention approach on health works in a community and it's importance. The volunteers will get the chance to shadow doctors from different areas and, after the first week, the volunteers will get immersed in those of preference.

Long term volunteers can apply for a soft skills certificate from GLORE, a Project from the EU. You can choose up to 5 skills to certificate according to your experience and will.

Our Programming volunteers provide a warm welcome to everybody as part of the programming on property, making sure our visitors get the most from their experience with us. 

 This role will suit you if you are:

• Someone who loves meeting people and being part of a team
• Looking for new experiences
• Wanting to utilise your communication skills or develop them further
• Someone who enjoys a busy environment
• Flexible with what you can support with, there will be a rota you can pick and choose the events and activites you wish to get involved in
• Cheerful – even when last minute changes including the weather affect proceedings

By getting involved you could:

• Help support activities across the property
• Support ticketing, guiding, ushering and hosting events with external partners
• Enjoy some of our events 1st hand from a seat in the wings
• Become part of a friendly and dedicated team
• Enjoy new experiences and learn something new every day
• Build your confidence and experience
• See first-hand the rewarding results of helping visitors have a great time
• Share your enthusiasm and passion for what we do 

You’d also be joining Europe’s largest conservation charity and the wider National Trust team proudly looking after 780 miles of coastline, over 250,000 hectares of land, over 500 historic houses, castles, ancient monuments, gardens, parks and nature reserves (including lighthouses, villages, pubs and a gold mine!). We are a unique charity welcoming millions of people each year and with a vision to open up places for the benefit of everyone, for ever.All National Trust volunteers will be asked to

• Respect and uphold the National Trust values whilst volunteering with us.
• Complete training required of all NT volunteers and any role specific training
• Adhere to relevant policies and processes including safeguarding, health and safety, and equality and diversity. 

 We want all our volunteers to feel welcome and to have an equally positive experience when volunteering with us. So, volunteers will:

• Be provided with the necessary induction, training, equipment and reasonable adjustments to do this role well and safely
• Be offered expenses to cover agreed travel costs between home and place of volunteering.
• Have remote access to support, news and rotas via our volunteer website

Tasks and responsibilities

• Providing a warm, welcoming and friendly approach to all of our visitors to our events and activities
• Supporting our visitors by providing them with information and guidance so they get the most from their time with us during the event
• Supporting visitors at several points throughout their experience
• Being ‘in the know’ at events and during activities to best help our supporters enjoy it in the way best suited to them
• Support accessibity needs during events to help ensure all visitors are feel included and welcome
• Responding to situations to ensure we always provide a great experience for people – and often spotting issues before they happen!
• There will be plenty of opportunities to do the little things that make a big difference to someone’s experience at Ickworth
• Helping things run as smoothly and safely as possible – this includes getting to know health and safety and evacuation procedures.
• Being part of a team that may need to adapt and change in response to local needs, National Trust priorities or changes to government guidelines

Skills acquired: Adaptability, Advice & Guidance, Communication Skills, Community Development, Crafts, Customer Service, Event Support, Fundraising, General Education, General Play and Recreation, Guiding, Interpersonal Skills, Music Arts, Public Relations, Teamwork, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, Youth Activities Management

Are you looking for a fresh challenge that makes a positive difference to the lives of Young People throughout the UK?

At Childline we are actively recruiting new Volunteers. 

What will I be doing?

• Your shift will consist of 3hrs30mns counselling, sandwiched between a 15mns brief before your shift and a 30mns debrief post shift. This is to ensure that you can start and finish your shift with any support you require from your Practitioners.
• On shift you will take contacts from Young People who rely on the service that Childline offers. Childline is not there to solve problems, we are a listening service for Young People and in each contact your role is to engage the Young Person, explore their situation and to support them in deciding their next steps.
• The contacts you would take from Young People can come in 3 ways. Traditional phone call contacts, live chats via instant response typed messaging or less commonly via 'PIBS' which are essentially emails sent by Young People in the knowledge the response will not be 'live' and instant.

What impact will this have?

• Childline is a unique service, valued greatly by the Young People who contact us.
• It provides a safe place for Young People to talk confidentially to our Volunteer Counsellors, an option that many of them do not have elsewhere.
• Young People rely on us being there for them 24/7. In an average month, Childline London takes approx. 1,500 live chats, 900 voice calls and 300 PIBs.
• However, the demand for the service often outstrips the supply as Young People who desperately need our service cannot always get through.
• That is why we are actively recruiting new Volunteers to be able to meet the need of all Young People who are in distress and need the support that Childline provides.

Training

• Childline offers a full 12 week online training programme to new Volunteers. This consists of one 4 hour session per week.
• During the training, you will meet other Volunteers in your cohort and have access to your 2 dedicated Childline Trainers.
• As part of the training, you will also go in person to the London Base for observation and mentored shifts which give you a face to face insight into how the Counselling Room works.
• You will also have access to a dedicated Volunteer Engagement Lead to give you a London Base tour (optional) and generally be on hand to answer any questions or queries you may have - big or small, if they matter to you they matter because you are giving your time to volunteer and Childline wants to offer you every level of support.
• Once you pass through training and become a qualified Childline Volunteer Counsellor, the development opportunities do not stop there. You will have access to a multitude of mandatory and optional training courses that are accredited and 100% free to all Volunteers.

Project

There is a huge variety of tasks available to communications volunteers depending on the volunteers’ interests, experience and the activities going on within Voluntario Global at the time. Some of these tasks include:

• Creating content and updating the social media sites: Voluntario Global keeps people up to date with its work and spreads its message through the use of social media such as Facebook and Instagram. It is important to keep these pages up to date with recent activities and new volunteers, and communications volunteers can take on this responsibility. Volunteers will visit various projects or events throughout the week and take photos of the activities and the volunteers to post on Voluntario Global’s social media. They can also document what volunteers get up to in their free time.
• Writing blogs for the Voluntario Global website: Living in the city of Buenos Aires and visiting all the different volunteer projects, there are so many interesting things to write about. Voluntario Global’s website has a blog section for volunteer experiences, culture or current issues and many other topics which you will keep up to date. You have the option to write a few short blogs per week which will be posted onto the webpage and the Facebook giving people more of an insight into living in Buenos Aires and the volunteer experience.
• Interviewing: To ensure that Voluntario Global has up to date information on the volunteers, the projects and the coordinators working at the projects, you can take on the role of interviewing people. These interviews may be with current volunteers in English or Spanish, or with people from in the projects in Spanish and may be used in video form, or be typed up and used for descriptions of projects or website information.
• Translation: The Voluntario Global website uses both English and Spanish so volunteers can help translating information for the website or for the project descriptions.

In order to accomplish tasks, it is important that the volunteer possesses initiative, collaborative skills and empathy to join the activities of the different projects. It is also advisable you bring your own laptop to work more comfortably.

Availability

This program is available all year round. For communications volunteers, there are no fixed hours per week. The hours are flexible and adaptable, they will often depend on the needs of the organization each week and the availability of the volunteer.

Location and first day at work

The Communications Team will coordinate and run their main tasks in the office located in San Telmo. Weekly tasks are organized in two meetings each week, one on Mondays and one on Fridays to discuss what volunteers will be doing during the week and to share ideas and proposals.

Spanish Level Required

The Spanish level required for this role is basic. However a good level of Spanish helps and allows better development of some tasks. The communications coordinators speak English.

Minimum stay

8 weeks

FareShare Merseyside redistributes quality surplus food to over 232 community-based organisations who are working with vulnerable people across the region and parts of North Wales. We are keen to expand our reach, actively looking to recruit charity members who want to help us in our Warehouse, Vans, and Kitchen.

Volunteering with FareShare Merseyside

Our volunteers are at the heart of our service, with an amazing team of almost 100 volunteers, who ensure quality surplus food reaches those most in need in all communities in our region.  As a thank you for their support, we hold regular wellbeing social events and offer pathways onto our employability program.

What is a Warehouse Assistant?

As a WA, you would sort the food that we receive from our food partners and pick daily orders for charities. It’s a great way to keep fit and all you need is a sturdy pair of hands! 

What will I be doing?

• Working as part of a team to manually sort and store large deliveries of surplus food 
• Helping to assemble the daily deliveries of food for local charities and community groups 
• Making sure the food is within use by dates and handled safely 
• You may also be asked to contact our charity members to talk through the food we have available to create their weekly food order

What we need you to be:

• Able to perform physical tasks including lifting and loading 
• Basic literacy and numeracy skills to record quantities and types of food 
• Work well as part of a team 
• Happy to complete tasks independently according to instruction 
• Adaptable – managing surplus can be unpredictable so day to day tasks can vary
•  Positive, friendly, and enthusiastic about tackling food waste and food poverty 

What will I get out of it?

•  A fun and friendly environment 
• Be part of a team of like-minded people
• Gain warehouse management skills such as a Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene certificate and forklift training / such as food safety, and manual handling. 
• Working reference available after 3 months in the role 
• The opportunity to support a great cause and give back to your community 
• Be at the forefront of stopping good food from going to waste 
• Reasonable travel expenses and a free lunch 

FareShare Merseyside redistributes quality surplus food to over 232 community-based organisations who are working with vulnerable people across the region and parts of North Wales. We are keen to expand our reach, actively looking to recruit charity members who want to help us in our Warehouse, Vans, and Kitchen.

Volunteering with FareShare Merseyside

Our volunteers are at the heart of our service, with an amazing team of almost 100 volunteers, who ensure quality surplus food reaches those most in need in all communities in our region.  As a thank you for their support, we hold regular wellbeing social events and offer pathways onto our employability program.

What will I be doing?

• Travelling with designated van drivers to deliver and collect food 
• Representing FareShare in a courteous and professional manner at all times
• Supporting drivers to carry out routine checks on the vans, taking responsibility for the vans throughout the day and reporting accidents or damage to the van or other vehicles 
• Supporting drivers to complete all relevant paperwork
• Planning routes, sorting food, picking orders, loading and unloading vans 
• Assisting with maintenance of the vans including cleaning 

What we need you to be:

• Minimum of 18 years old
• Good at map reading and/or able to use a Sat Nav system 
• Positive, friendly and enthusiastic about tackling food waste and/or food poverty 
• Able to perform physical tasks including lifting and loading 
• Good with numbers, identifying different foods, writing clearly 
• Able to work effectively and use your initiative in a fast-paced environment 
• Able to work well in a team and on your own
• Able to follow FareShare’s policies & procedures 
• Flexible – there may be times when we ask you to help on other projects/tasks 

What will I get out of it?

• Support and supervision from the Regional Volunteer Manager
• An induction and training for the role
• Reasonable travel expenses and a free lunch 
• A fun and friendly place to work 
• The opportunity to take on new challenges
• A work reference for those who have satisfactorily committed to at least 3 months 
• The opportunity to support a great cause and give something back to your community 

FareShare Merseyside redistributes quality surplus food to over 232 community-based organisations who are working with vulnerable people across the region and parts of North Wales. We are keen to expand our reach, actively looking to recruit charity members who want to help us in our Warehouse, Vans, and Kitchen.

Volunteering with FareShare Merseyside

Our volunteers are at the heart of our service, with an amazing team of almost 100 volunteers, who ensure quality surplus food reaches those most in need in all communities in our region.  As a thank you for their support, we hold regular wellbeing social events and offer pathways onto our employability program.

Why we need you:

This role is vital to the work of FareShare, ensuring that food is safely delivered to our Community Food Members or collected from our food suppliers.  A standard driving licence is all you need to deliver our food once or twice a week to children’s clubs, homeless hostels and refuges in your area.

What will I be doing?

• Safely driving vans to deliver and collect food 
• Representing FareShare in a courteous and professional manner at all times  
• Completing all relevant paperwork  
• Planning routes, sorting food, picking orders, loading and unloading.  
• Carrying out routine checks on the vans, taking responsibility for the vans throughout the day and reporting accidents or damage to the van or other vehicles 
• Assist in the maintenance of the vans including cleaning

What we need you to be:

• Minimum of 18 years old and hold a full, clean driving licence
• Confident to drive a medium-sized van (experience is preferable) 
• Good at map reading and/or able to use a Sat Nav system 
• Positive, friendly and personable, able to interact well with different people
• Enthusiastic about tackling food waste and/or food poverty 
• Able to perform physical tasks including lifting and loading 
• Good with numbers, identifying different foods, writing clearly 
• Able to work effectively and use your initiative in a fast-paced environment
• Able to work well in a team and on your own  
• Able to follow FareShare’s policies & procedures 
• Flexible – there may be times when we ask you to help on other projects/tasks 

What will I get out of it?

• An active and sociable role
• Development of skills such as route planning, organising and communication skills
• Support and supervision from the Regional Volunteer Manager  
• An induction and training for the role  
• Reasonable travel expenses and a free lunch 
• A fun and friendly place to work 
• The opportunity to take on new challenges  
• A work reference for those who have satisfactorily committed to at least 3 months 
• The opportunity to support a great cause and give something back to your community 

Why we need you:

This role is vital to the work of FareShare Merseyside. You will be preparing and cooking meals for our volunteers and staff, cleaning down the kitchen, and adhering to allergen, HACCP, and other compliance checks.

For the role of the Volunteer Kitchen Assistant, a background in food is desirable but not essential. If you have experience working in a kitchen, a passion for food and sustainability, and a willingness to learn new skills whilst working in a small team, you would be a great fit for this role!

What will I be doing?

• Helping to plan, create, and cook meals from surplus food for volunteer and staff lunches.
• Carrying out routine kitchen cleaning, health and safety checks, and completing all relevant paperwork.
• Assisting with one- off corporate or fundraising events.
• Representing FareShare in a courteous and professional manner at all times.

What we need you to be:

• Minimum of 18 years old
• Passionate about food and saving surplus food from going to waste
• Positive, friendly and personable, able to interact well with different people 
• Good with numbers, identifying different foods, writing clearly  
• Able to work well in a team and on your own   
• Able to follow FareShare’s policies & procedures  

What will I get out of it?

· An active and sociable role 

· Development of skills such as food preparation, batch cooking, and menu planning.

· Support and supervision from the Regional Volunteer Manager, and our Culinary Lead. 

• An induction and training for the role
• The opportunity to take on new challenges and support people in your community
• Reasonable travel expenses and a free lunch  
• A fun and friendly place to work  
• The opportunity to take on new challenges   
• A work reference for those who have satisfactorily committed to at least 3 months  
• The opportunity to support a great cause and give something back to your community  

Why we need you:

This role is vital to the work of FareShare Merseyside. You will be preparing and cooking meals for our volunteers and staff, cleaning down the kitchen, and adhering to allergen, HACCP, and other compliance checks.

For the role of the Volunteer Kitchen Lead/ Chef, a background in food is essential. If you have experience leading a small team, and adhering to food hygiene, you would be a great fit for this role.

What will I be doing?

• Learning how to use our internal Warehouse systems to ‘book out’ food, ensuring a good level of stock is available at all time.
• Planning, creating, and cooking meals from surplus food for volunteer and staff lunches.
• Carrying out routine kitchen cleaning, health and safety checks, and completing all relevant paperwork.
• Assisting with one-off corporate or fundraising events.
• Representing FareShare in a courteous and professional manner at all times.

What we need you to be:

• Minimum of 18 years old
• Experience cooking for large numbers of people
• Passionate about food and saving surplus food from going to waste
• Inventive in the kitchen and able to cook for all dietary requirements
• Positive, friendly and personable, able to interact well with different people 
• Good with numbers, identifying different foods, writing clearly  
• Able to work effectively and use your initiative in a fast-paced environment 
• Able to work well in a team and on your own   
• Able to follow FareShare’s policies & procedures  

What will I get out of it?

· An active and sociable role 

· Development of skills such as menu planning, batch cooking, team leading

· Support and supervision from the Regional Volunteer Manager, and our Culinary Lead. 

• An induction and training for the role
• The opportunity to take on new challenges and support people in your community
• Reasonable travel expenses and a free lunch  
• A fun and friendly place to work  
• The opportunity to take on new challenges   
• A work reference for those who have satisfactorily committed to at least 3 months  
• The opportunity to support a great cause and give something back to your community  

Background Information

This kindergarten is part of a Community Center that helps the population of the area with various activities such as a kindergarten, a playground for the younger kids, afterschool support workshops, a vegetable garden to be tended by the children when they are old enough, and the soup kitchen that cooks for the kindergarten and the people from the neighborhood. Thus, this organization is based on working with families and children from first to seventh grade, supporting them in their growing and development process, with a team of professionals and social workers. The Community Center was founded in 1994 as a soup kitchen, and the kindergarten was started by the mothers from the area a few years later.

Why is this project important for the community?

The main goal of this Center is to offer the children's families a place of education and integral support, where they can find social and psychological benefits. It ultimately represents a way to compensate for the schools' weaknesses and the lack of investment from the Government to improve them. Those who belong to the organization understand that the work with children is not efficient if it doesn't start from the beginning, with the youngest children, and this is the kindergarten's task. It is also a place where the unemployed women from the area can have training sessions that take place periodically with professionals.

Role of the Volunteer

From 8:00 am to 3:30 pm, the kindergarten welcomes and educates the children from the area. The volunteer can do a multitude of things such as assist the teachers with organizing activities, play with the children, help to feed them during lunch time, help in the cleaning process and much more! The Kindergarten is a place of exchange between teachers, social workers, parents and volunteers from the area, as well as from Voluntario Global. They all work together for the safe upbringing of the children and this gives the international volunteers a unique opportunity for learning about this perspective and exchanging valuable experiences.

What can you learn as a volunteer?

The help of the volunteer is invaluable for the teachers and for the population of the area because it represents both a practical support and cultural exchange. In this area where a variety of cultural communities live together, the volunteer learns about social diversity. Moreover, they can exchange with the local inhabitants about teaching methods and share their own experience and ideas to improve the organization of the kindergarten. These different viewpoints represent a wealth for this place and all initiatives are well received. This project is perfect to benefit from the company of children, who always have energy and whose smiles make us happy every day.

How does your work impact on the community?

The support from social organizations and volunteers is fundamental in this neighborhood, mainly because its precarious situation affects families that need to face a lack of infrastructures and serious problems of public sanitation. Indeed, many families live in houses where they have problems with light and where they don't have running water or a drainage system, in an area which has huge weaknesses in terms of sewer systems and road pavements. Also, it is located near a river which is highly contaminated by the chemicals released by nearby factories, and this generates respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases that mainly affect the children. Although faced with this situation, people don't receive help from the government to improve their standards of living that are now disadvantage and harmful to their health. There are some housing construction projects in the works but they are slow-coming and displacing the inhabitants that are the most affected by the contamination of the river. In addition to this precariousness, today, ambulances refuse to come into the area. Therefore, having volunteers coming to help them and wanting to learn from them and share time with them is crucially important for making them visible and appreciated in today’s society.

Background Information

Villa 21 is a large unstable housing settlement South of Buenos Aires. It mostly lacks paved roads and sewerage; many houses are made of perishable materials and have no running water or drainage. The neighborhood faces serious health problems, as it is located on the creek that divides the capital city of the province, and is highly contaminated, causing respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases that primarily affect children. The soup kitchen is visited by approximately 50 people from the neighborhood for lunch every day. The space is also available to support teenagers when there are volunteer teachers willing to help them.

The support from social organizations is fundamental in this very poor neighborhood, mainly because its precarious situation affects families that need to face a lack of infrastructures and serious problems of public sanitation. Indeed, many families live in houses where they have problems with light and where they don't have running water nor a drainage system, in an area which has huge weaknesses in terms of sewer systems and road pavements. Moreover, it is located near a river which is highly contaminated by the chemicals released by nearby factories, and this generates respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases that mainly affect the children. Although faced with this situation, people don't receive any help from the government to improve their standards of living that are now miserable and harmful to their health. There are some housing construction projects in the works but they are slow-coming and displacing the inhabitants that are the most affected by the contamination of the river. In addition to this precariousness, today, ambulances refuse to come into the area.

Why is this project important for the community?

The soup kitchen cooks for the kindergarten and the people from the town. Thus, this organization is based on working with families and children from first to seventh grade, supporting them in their growing and development process, with a team of professionals and social workers. This Community Center was founded in 1994 and began as a soup kitchen until it expanded into a kindergarten with the help of the mothers from the area.

The main goal of the Community Center is to offer the children's families a place of education and integral support. Moreover, the kitchen and center help to compensate these families’ economic situation. It is a place of exchange between teachers, social workers, parents and volunteers from the area and from Voluntario Global that work together for the safe upbringing of the children. It is also a place where the unemployed women from the area are able to have training sessions that take place periodically with professionals.

Role of the Volunteer

From 7:00 am to 2:00 pm, the kitchen prepares breakfast and lunch for the kids in the kindergarten and it also prepares food for the community members. The volunteer will be able to help in many tasks such as assist the women in the kitchen by washing and cutting vegetables, preparing the dessert for the children and help in the cleaning process after everything is served.

What do you learn as a volunteer?

When helping at the Soup Kitchen, you learn to appreciate the value of the small things, how to truly connect with people and the power that these relationships can have on your life and the lives of others, on the communities and the future. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, what language you speak, what kind of house you live in or what kind of job you have. In the end, we are all human and we get so mixed up in focussing on other unimportant aspects that we forget that deep down we’re all the same. You will realise that even the smallest thing you do, can make someone else's day.

How does your work impact on the community?

Your help is invaluable for the workers and for the community members because this center is an integral part of their everyday life. Furthermore, the ladies and workers would not be able to participate in this cultural exchange if there aren’t any volunteers willing to help. The women also love helping the volunteers learn a bit of Spanish because they are like family to them. Here, the volunteer can learn so much about the Argentinian culture and see how many traditional dishes are prepared. It’s a place where you can completely feel the support of a community and you never leave the kitchen without a smile on your face.