Volunteer supporters volunteer roles in larkfield, kent

Trustee

We are seeking passionate individuals from all walks of life to become trustees and help shape the future of charities making a real impact across the UK.

Position: Trustee (Voluntary Role)

Location: UK-wide (remote/flexible options available)

Time Commitment: Part-time, flexible hours (typically 4–10 days per year)

Remuneration: Voluntary (travel and reasonable expenses reimbursed)

Closing Date: 27th August 2025

About the Role

As a trustee, you’ll join the board of a not-for-profit or charitable organisation, helping to guide its strategy, ensure financial sustainability, and uphold its purpose. You will work collaboratively with fellow trustees and staff to ensure the charity is well-run, legally compliant, and delivering real results in line with its mission.

Key responsibilities include:

• Setting and monitoring the strategic direction of the charity
• Overseeing financial planning, risk management, and governance
• Supporting and constructively challenging senior staff or volunteers
• Upholding the organisation’s values and acting as an ambassador
• Ensuring compliance with charity law and other regulations

Trustees typically attend board meetings every few months (often virtually), with some additional involvement depending on your availability and the needs of the charity.

About You

We’re looking for people from all backgrounds, whether you're an experienced professional, early in your career, or someone with lived experience relevant to a charity’s mission. No previous trustee experience is necessary; training and support will be provided.

We are particularly interested in hearing from individuals with knowledge or skills in:

• Finance, legal or governance
• Digital, data, marketing or fundraising
• HR, people management, or organisational development
• Lived experience of the issues the charity works on
• Public, private or voluntary sector leadership

Your most important qualities? Commitment, integrity, good judgement, and a genuine desire to make a difference. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups on charity boards, including younger people, people from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority communities, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

About the Organisations

This is a general call for trustee roles across a wide range of UK charities working in areas such as health and social care, education, homelessness, the arts, environmental sustainability, international development, and more.

Whether large or small, every charity benefits from a diverse, passionate board to help them thrive and respond to the needs of the communities they serve.

Other roles you may have experience of could include:Finance Manager, Accountant, Solicitor, Lawyer, HR Business Partner, Digital Lead, Marketing Manager, Fundraising Officer, Project Manager, Operations Lead, Youth Worker, Social Worker, Data Analyst, Community Leader, CEO, COO, NHS Manager, Policy Advisor, Civil Servant, Creative Director, Engineer, Academic, Entrepreneur, Volunteer Manager, Board Member, DEI Specialist, or Retired Professional.

CKT funds music lessons for children in Surrey who would not otherwise be able to afford them. We are looking for someone to manage our give a gig fundraising programme with the objective of maximising  the amount of funds raised  and developing long term relationships with gig givers

Specific tasks 

• Liaising with and between gig givers, speakers and other volunteers in advance of gigs to ensure the smooth running and maximise fund raising at gigs Working with the roster administrator to ensure that sufficient speakers and volunteers are available at each gig
• Ensuring that CKT team at each gig have necessary flyers, banners, buckets and gift aid Ensuring appropriate follow up after gigs including notifying the treasurer and trustees of sums raised, thanking gig givers and volunteers and banking cash collected at gigs
• Maintaining and keeping up to date the master give a gig spreadsheet, the summary list of recent and upcoming gigs in agendas and minutes and the list of past and upcoming gigs on the CKT website
• Helping organise fund raising concerts and donor events run by CKT itself from time to time
• Attending and contributing to board meetings as a CKT manager
• Attending concerts from time to time as a CKT volunteer
• Performing such other tasks and activities for CKT as skills and time allow

You will be guided in your role by the trustee or trustees with fund raising responsibilities The role may or may not include monitoring the health of the give a gig funnel and identification of and approaches to new and past gig givers for new gigs

Gig givers include all choirs, orchestras, bands, festivals and venues who have agreed to raise funds for CKT

Skills and experience required

Love for music and belief in the importance of music education for all young people You will probably enjoy going to concerts and gigs yourself

Good organisational skills, attention to detail, ability to methodically follow, apply and improve standard processes

High standard of written communication (by email)

Good people skills

Basic familiarity with operation of (non-numeric aspects of) simple excel spreadsheets and shared drives used for data and record keeping purposes

About Children With Voices
Children With Voices is a dynamic charity focused on empowering children and young people through creative projects, advocacy, and education. Our mission is to give young voices the platform they deserve, supporting them in building confidence and fostering positive change in their communities. As we continue to grow and expand our impact, we are looking for an experienced Senior Human Resources Manager to join us in a volunteer capacity to lead and shape our HR strategies.

Role Overview
We are seeking a proactive and experienced volunteer to take on the role of Senior Human Resources Manager. This is a remote, volunteer position with the option to attend our office, located in Hackney, London, for those who prefer occasional in-person meetings. In this role, you will be responsible for developing and overseeing the HR strategy, policies, and processes that support our staff and volunteers, ensuring that Children With Voices remains a supportive and inclusive workplace.

The ideal candidate will bring substantial HR experience, excellent leadership abilities, and a genuine passion for making a positive impact on the lives of children. You will work closely with the senior management team, providing strategic HR guidance and supporting the growth of the organisation.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic HR Leadership

   • Develop and implement HR strategies that align with Children With Voices’ mission and values.

   • Advise the CEO and senior management team on HR-related issues, ensuring the HR function supports the organisation’s objectives.

   • Cultivate a positive, inclusive, and supportive workplace culture in line with the organisation’s ethos.

2. Recruitment and Onboarding

   • Oversee and lead the recruitment process, ensuring the organisation attracts and retains talented individuals who are passionate about our cause.

   • Manage onboarding procedures for new staff and volunteers to ensure a smooth integration into the organisation.

3. Employee Relations and Compliance

   • Provide expert advice on employee relations matters, ensuring fairness and compliance with UK employment law.

   • Offer guidance on disciplinary and grievance procedures and ensure that these processes are conducted fairly and in accordance with best practice.

   • Develop, implement, and maintain HR policies and procedures to ensure consistency and fairness across the organisation.

4. Training and Development

   • Identify opportunities for training and development that will enhance the skills of both staff and volunteers.

   • Promote continuous professional development and support leadership initiatives.

   • Ensure that staff and volunteers have access to the necessary tools and resources to succeed in their roles.

5. Wellbeing and Staff Engagement

   • Lead initiatives to promote the wellbeing and mental health of all staff and volunteers.

   • Develop and implement staff engagement programmes to foster a motivated, satisfied, and high-performing workforce.

6. HR Operations and Administration

   • Oversee the day-to-day HR administration, including maintaining accurate records, supporting payroll processing (where relevant), and ensuring that employee benefits are effectively managed.

   • Develop HR reports and provide insights to support decision-making.

   • Ensure all HR activities are managed efficiently and with the highest level of confidentiality.

Key Requirements

• Experience:

  • Proven experience in HR management, with a strong understanding of employment law and best practices.

  • Experience in managing employee relations, performance management, recruitment, and organisational development.

  • Experience working with senior teams to implement HR strategies.

• Skills:

  • Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively and provide strategic guidance.

  • High organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a remote working environment.

  • Sound knowledge of HR software and systems for managing HR functions.

  • Ability to work independently and remotely, with occasional in-person meetings as required.

• Qualifications:

  • CIPD Level 7 or equivalent HR qualification is desirable, but not essential.

  • A commitment to continuous personal and professional development.

Why Volunteer With Us?
This is a rewarding opportunity to make a real difference to a charity that is transforming the lives of children and young people. As Head of HR, you will play a key role in shaping the organisation’s culture and helping us build a strong, sustainable team. We offer flexibility with remote working and provide the chance to engage in impactful work that aligns with your professional HR experience while contributing to a meaningful cause.

By volunteering with Children With Voices, you will gain valuable experience and have the opportunity to network with like-minded professionals while making a tangible difference.

Fundraisers wanted to support East London Waterworks Park in developing and implementing our fundraising strategy.

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

We are looking for fundraisers to contribute to our community-led fundraising strategy, to develop relationships with funders and to write funding applications. 

You would join our fundraising circle, which coordinates our fundraising efforts. It is currently exploring grant opportunities and developing relationships with businesses and other funders. We meet online on Google Meet and volunteers complete agreed tasks remotely. 

If you have experience in writing grants and funding applications, corporate fundraising, philanthropy, or any other aspect of fundraising, it would be great to hear from you. 

We are keen fundraisers but we are lacking professional expertise and experience and we would love your help and input. We would welcome one-off advice on the phone or in person, as well as longer term volunteers. 

We would also love to hear from potential volunteers without experience but with transferable skills.

East London Waterworks Park is an exciting and ambitious project. Without funding we won’t be able to make it happen, so you will be directly contributing to the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds.

Yoga Stops Traffick is an international campaign to raise awareness of and funds for survivors of human trafficking in India. We are seeking 2 volunteers to help us improve and evolve this campaign.

What will you be doing?

Yoga Stops Traffick is an international campaign run by UK registered charity Adventure Ashram to raise awareness of and funds for survivors of human trafficking in India. Every year thousands of yoga practitioners from all corners of the globe roll out their mats, from the UK to Iceland to Costa Rica, to stand in solidarity with young survivors. The funds raised from Yoga Stops Traffick help rescue and rehabilitate survivors of human trafficking, sexual and domestic violence, modern-day slavery, and child marriage.

We are seeking  2 volunteers to improve the Yoga Stops Traffick campaign. We've been running this campaign for many years now but sadly despite the campaign's great potential, it has been less and less successful each year. We need some creative marketing and social media experts to help lift this campaign back to its full potential.

Main responsibilities of the role:

• Bring your creative social media and marketing ideas to the team to help us think of new ways to increase awareness of Yoga Stops Traffick to yoga studios and teachers in the UK and worldwide, and help us develop plans to turn these ideas into well-executed action.

• Use your corporate partnerships experience to advise us on the best ways to develop new corporate partnerships - help us identify the best potential partners for the campaign and develop plans for approaching them and developing those relationships.

• Help us plan our social media activity to increase our reach, improve our engagement levels and ultimately drive the success of this campaign.

• If you are experienced using Wordpress and skilled at improving SEO that would be an added bonus - our website has terrible SEO and ranks badly and we no longer have the skills in-house to know the best way to improve our website. However, if this is not part of your skill-set but you can improve our general marketing and social media plans - we would still be grateful for your help!

• Provide other administrative support as needed (this could include website updates, creating marketing materials, sending campaign emails, responding to campaign-related enquiries)

What we offer in return:

• A supportive team to work alongside

• The knowledge you are making a real difference to a small charity that is struggling in the current climate 

• Invitation to Adventure Ashram / Yoga Stops Traffick events

Requirements of role:

• Ideally a commitment of approx. 6-12 hours per week

• Equipment you need: Laptop/PC, Internet Access

What are we looking for?

 We are looking for creative social media and marketing experts whose ideas and experience will take this campaign to the next level. 

Experience in running social media campaigns and creating engaging content is essential for this role.

Excellent written communications is essential for this role.

Experience using WordPress and knowledge of SEO would be very useful - though not vital.

Experience building and developing corporate partnerships for fundraising purposes would be very helpful.

More than anything, we are looking for people who are passionate about making a difference! We would like you to commit to the role until the end of April 2026, with the possibility to extend beyond this.

Respond is seeking a qualified accountant to join the Board of Trustees as honorary Treasurer.

About the Respond Treasurer role

This is an exciting opportunity to volunteer in a vital governance role at Respond: the Treasurer maintains an overview of the charity’s financial affairs, ensuring effective and appropriate financial measures, controls and procedures are in place.

As a member of the Board of Trustees, the Treasurer also supports good governance, helping set the strategic direction of the charity for the years to come.

The role would suit a qualified accountant with some knowledge of charity accounting and the ability to communicate financial information to the wider board in a clear and accessible way. 

With a passionate Board of Trustees and a committed staff team, you’ll join an organisation focused on making a real difference to the lives of people with learning disabilities and autistic people who have experienced abuse, violence or trauma.

Please note this is a voluntary role. Any expenses incurred while carrying out the duties of the role will be reimbursed.

About Respond

Respond is a national charity supporting people with learning disabilities and autistic people who have experienced abuse, violence or trauma. Respond offers psychotherapy and advocacy support and provides specialist trauma informed training for services.

Through specialist advocacy and therapeutic support, we support people to navigate complex systems such as criminal justice, social services and housing, and to cope with the impact of trauma, build healthy relationships and move forward with their lives.

If you are a qualified accountant that shared our passion for supporting survivors, we would love to hear from you.

We are seeking a new Chair to provide strategic leadership at a time when demand for our advice services is at an all-time high. Help shape our vision, champion our mission, and make a tangible difference in the lives of those facing challenges.

About Citizens Advice East Berkshire
Citizens Advice East Berkshire offers crucial help and advice when people need it most. No one but Citizens Advice sees so many people with so many different kinds of problems, and that gives us a unique insight into the challenges people are facing today. 

What will you be doing?
We are at an important stage in our development and we are seeking a new Chair to replace our current Chair who will be standing down as her term finishes. We have ambitious plans for our future and we are looking for a Chair who can help drive our mission forward.

Building on our successes to date, we want a new Chair to lead us through the next exciting phase of our journey. You will have a strong background and track record of providing leadership at board and/or senior executive level and will have a passion for supporting people facing tough life challenges. You should have the judgement and vision to operate effectively at strategic level and you should demonstrate the skills and expertise to help drive our mission forward. We are looking for someone with 3 years+ professional experience in one of the fields of Fundraising strategy, Governance, Operations management or Advice / Advocacy. 

We are looking for someone who has:

• Experience of operating at a senior strategic leadership level within an organisation
• Successful track record of achievement through their career
• Experience of charity governance and working with or as part of a Board of Trustees
• Passion for supporting people facing tough life challenges
• Ideally has served as a Chair or Vice Chair and is familiar with leading a Board

What are we looking for?

You’ll need to:

• Understand the type of work undertaken by a local Citizens Advice and the Citizens Advice network
• Understand and accept the responsibilities and liabilities of a trustee
• Be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
• Have a good basis of leadership skills (and preferably you have served within a Board, ideally as Chair or Vice Chair or led a Committee)
• Have the ability to facilitate and lead meetings
• Have good interpersonal skills
• Have good listening, verbal and written communication skills
• Be able to exercise good independent judgment
• Have good numeracy skills to understand accounts with the support of the treasurer
• Be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection
• Be willing to undertake mandatory training in your role
• Line manage and support the Chief Executive Officer

What difference will you make?
Citizens Advice East Berkshire makes transformational differences to people who need support when facing life crises. As Chair you will play a significant part in ensuring we are able to expand and grown our services to make a significant difference to many more individuals and families. 

Single Parents Support and Advice Services, we are a Charitable Incorporated

Company with over 35000 members UK wide

Our charity founder and director Nicola Booth in 2012 took the initiative to set up

SPSAS with the purpose to reduce isolation, loneliness, and to promote equal and

fair treatment among Single Parents and their Children. We also aim to help, advise

and support Single / Lone Parents by giving them access to support and services

that normally they would not have access for varied reasons. We also aim to

eliminate the stigma attached with being a single parent in society and across all

ethnicities across the UK. 

Our charity runs solely on donations and all members of our charity including the

director are currently working on a non-paid voluntary basis. Despite these hurdles

We feel we have made a positive impact with our services.

We are seeking Legal advisors to work remotely to conduct research and provide

advice on various areas on law via email to members seeking advice.

Legal Advisor Responsibilities:

 Conducting legal analysis and researching legal matters.

 Providing advice on legal matters.

 Drafting legal opinions, memoranda, and briefing documents.

 Reviewing legal material.

To be considered we require the individual to meet the criteria below

Legal Advisor Requirements:

 Bachelors degree in Law/ currently studying/completed LPC/BPTC

 Strong analytical and research skills.

 Effective interpersonal and communication skills.

 Ability to work well within a team and individually.

 Ability to work long hours when needed.

 Commit to one day a week for a minimum 3-month period

We hope we have caught your interest and very much appreciate you volunteering

for SPSAS

Who are we looking for?

At present we are working towards being fully operational, over the next year Living Reasons will be looking to expand its reach and part of that journey is to develop an online food bank, allowing people access to a food bank that may not get help through their local council/Job Centre and may only want to use the service online.

People may want to use the online service of a food bank for many reasons, whether due to disability or not. 

The role of Project Co-ordinator role will oversee this project with guidance and input from the trustees, lived experience board members and with the support of other co-ordinators that are relevant to the outreach, funding and running of the service.

You do not necessarily need experience of this kind of role but good attention to detail and task management potential will be key, we can work the rest out together. If you like the idea of this, please get in touch with us and we can arrange an informal chat.

What is the plan?

The person who is starting the charity up is autistic, has ADHD, CPTSD and also multiple physical conditions that effect daily life and is part of the LGBTQ+ community and has faced a lot of issues in life because of these things.

Living Reasons is being created to fix what we think is a challenging situation that is getting harder to achieve every week, month and year in the current economic, political, environmental and societal landscape. It is not easily defined but we hope the charity objects below will help put context to what we want to achieve, what we can say is that below are the issues we are trying to address, how we do this will change as quickly as society does, but the issues we want to tackle are these:

1) Outdated and damaging employment practices

2) Accessibility to services

3) Limited employment, training and education opportunities

4) Lack of support during times of crisis or need

5) Lack of equity and agency for many people in society

6) Institutional discrimination that is not challenged

7) Abuse of the legal system at all levels

8) Abuse of power in government bodies

9) Poor access to healthcare

10)  Unequal treatment of many people in society by large corporations

11)  Assumptions made by wider society based on incorrect, outdated or discriminatory rhetoric that is used in daily life

12)  Outdated company engagement with the public

13)  Lack of support that is not talked about and not being addressed

Our Living Values -

Creativity

1) Imaginative Development (Individual)

2) Instilled Collaboration (Internal)

3) Changing The Status Quo (External)

Prospectivity

1) What Can You Do (Individual)

2) What Can We Do (Internal)

3) What Can They Do (External)

Revolutionary 

1) Inspire With Confidence (Individual)

2) Boundaryless Innovation (Internal)

3) Challenge Traditions (External)

Attentivity

1) Analyse and Redesign (Individual)

2) Rebel and Reform (Internal)

3) Enquire and Reimagine (External)

The Vision Friends project has been running successfully for the past five years, providing free, Welsh Government-funded training to health and social care professionals across Wales. The training is designed to help professionals better understand and support people living with sight loss.

This year, we are launching a new strand of the project: Vision Friends: First Responders. The aim is to adapt our existing training to specifically support first responder services to enhance their ability to support individuals with sight loss in emergency and urgent care situations.

We are seeking a committed and empathetic volunteer to help us shape a more inclusive future by gathering valuable feedback from blind and partially sighted individuals, as well as first responders via online forums. This is a fantastic opportunity to make a real impact on how services are developed and delivered across communities in Wales and beyond.

What you will be doing:

Facilitate engaging and accessible online forums with blind and partially sighted people to gather feedback for an RNIB led project;

Run structured feedback sessions with first responders to understand the service experiences and identify areas for improvement;

Ensure participants feel comfortable, heard and respected throughout all discussions;

Capture key insights and report findings clearly and accurately to the health and social care training team;

Support RNIB in creating a positive and inclusive environment for all forum participants.

What you will gain:

Valuable experience in community engagement and facilitation;

The opportunity to influence real change;

Full access to training and ongoing support from the health and social care training team;

A supportive, inclusive volunteering environment.

Please note, this volunteering opportunity takes place on Fridays only and is expected to last until Autumn 2025.

Experience of Welsh language skills and/or Microsoft Teams or Zoom would be helpful but not essential. Previous experience of facilitation isn't essential as long as you have excellent communication skills including active listening skills and are confident in facilitating groups discussions and handling sensitive topics with empathy and discretion.

You will also need to have strong organisational skills, be reliable and and are committed to RNIB’s values of inclusivity and respect

Volunteering will take place remotely over Microsoft Teams or Zoom but there is also the option to attend Vision Friends training sessions and meet the team in person in Cardiff.

Title: Economics Advisor – Missing People 

Summary 

Missing People is recruiting volunteers with expertise in economics to support the early planning of a project exploring the economic impact of missing episodes and the harms experienced by individuals while missing. This work will inform the development of a robust, evidence-based estimate of the cost of a missing episode and the socio-economic return on investment (ROI) of prevention efforts. 

As an Advisory Volunteer, you will provide expert guidance to help shape the scope and direction of this project. Your insights will help the charity identify key considerations, methodologies, and data needs - an area where we have limited in-house expertise. 

Description

Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK. Missing People is the only UK charity dedicated to reconnecting missing people and their loved ones. Our services include: 

• A free and confidential helpline, available 7 days a week, for missing people and their loved ones, 

• A specialist family support and counselling service, 

• Case publicity to support loved ones with sharing appeals,

• Specialist services for children and young people, and their loved ones, experiencing exploitation,

• Commissioned intensive support services for young people at particular risk, 

• Research, consultancy and training for professionals working around the issue of missing.

Our vision is that every missing person is found safe.

By supporting us to develop a compelling economic case for prevention, you’ll play a vital role in shaping how missing incidents are understood and addressed across the UK. We will use the information to influence nationally: sharing the figures with key decision-makers in government, policing, health and social care. This work will strengthen our case for funding essential services that prevent repeat missing episodes and support the development of more effective early intervention strategies.

We’ve already begun exploring this work but need additional external expertise to guide our planning and approach. As such we are recruiting new volunteer Economics Advisors. Advisors will be asked to:

• Attend and participate in monthly project planning meeting (1-2 hours via video call, scheduled flexibly on weekdays or evenings) for a period of 6 months.

• Review relevant documents and provide ad hoc advice between meetings (no more than 1-2 hours)

• Get further involved in the project with a weekly commitment, if desired – this is entirely optional.

What impact will you have? 

Your input will support Missing People to build a stronger case for prevention and change for missing people and their loved ones.

About the volunteer 

We are looking for volunteers with: 

• A strong understanding of data and working with complex statistics 

• Experience in economic analysis of social issues and public policy, cost-benefit analysis, or social return on investment (SROI) 

• Willingness to support and advise Missing People’s Head of Policy and Head of Research in understanding an area outside of our usual expertise 

• The ability to ask key questions, offer constructive challenge, and act as a critical friend to staff 

• Commitment to attend monthly meetings for a 6-month project period 

This is an exciting opportunity to join a charity at the very start and to make a difference in shaping how we move forward.

Who are we looking for?

At present we are working towards being fully operational, over the next year Living Reasons will be looking to expand its reach and part of that journey is to work with the trustees and the team to create campaigns that are relevant to the charity values, aims, goals and purpose in an engaging way.

The role of Campaigns Co-ordinator will focus on creating campaigns to raise awareness, income and engagement with our supporters, donors and people who engage with the charity.

This role will be key in ensuring that the message of the charity operations is translated to a wide audience, while also aligning with the ethos and charity objectives.

In this role you will work with all other teams in the charity, including funding, research, live experience and social media and communications, to establish, develop and create on brand campaigns.

Living Reasons feels that experience is not as important as passion, drive and creativity, we like to do things differently, so if you feel you could create engaging, far reaching campaigns that speak to wide audiences, please get in touch with us about this role, regardless of experience, we want our volunteers to grow and develop alongside the organisation.

What is the plan?

The person who is starting the charity up is autistic, has ADHD, CPTSD and also multiple physical conditions that effect daily life and is part of the LGBTQ+ community and has faced a lot of issues in life because of these things.

Living Reasons is being created to fix what we think is a challenging situation that is getting harder to achieve every week, month and year in the current economic, political, environmental and societal landscape. It is not easily defined but we hope the charity objects below will help put context to what we want to achieve, what we can say is that below are the issues we are trying to address, how we do this will change as quickly as society does, but the issues we want to tackle are these:

1) Outdated and damaging employment practices

2) Accessibility to services

3) Limited employment, training and education opportunities

4) Lack of support during times of crisis or need

5) Lack of equity and agency for many people in society

6) Institutional discrimination that is not challenged

7) Abuse of the legal system at all levels

8) Abuse of power in government bodies

9) Poor access to healthcare

10)  Unequal treatment of many people in society by large corporations

11)  Assumptions made by wider society based on incorrect, outdated or discriminatory rhetoric that is used in daily life

12)  Outdated company engagement with the public

13)  Lack of support that is not talked about and not being addressed

Our Living Values -

Creativity

1) Imaginative Development (Individual)

2) Instilled Collaboration (Internal)

3) Changing The Status Quo (External)

Prospectivity

1) What Can You Do (Individual)

2) What Can We Do (Internal)

3) What Can They Do (External)

Revolutionary 

1) Inspire With Confidence (Individual)

2) Boundaryless Innovation (Internal)

3) Challenge Traditions (External)

Attentivity

1) Analyse and Redesign (Individual)

2) Rebel and Reform (Internal)

3) Enquire and Reimagine (External)

Home-Start Suffolk is seeking an experienced and committed individual to join our Board of Trustees as Treasurer. This is a rewarding opportunity to play a vital leadership role in a well-established and growing charity that supports families across Suffolk. As Treasurer, you will work closely with the Chair, CEO, Finance Sub Committee and wider Board to ensure strong financial oversight and governance.

You’ll help guide our financial strategy, support budget-setting and risk management, and ensure that financial information is clear and accessible to the Board. We are specifically looking for someone with experience in charity finance, ideally with a background in accountancy or financial management. You will bring a solid understanding of financial governance and charity reporting requirements and be confident in offering strategic insight as well as practical advice.

This Treasurer role is part of our wider trustee recruitment, and we welcome applicants who also bring any of the following:

• Experience or knowledge of the local charity or voluntary sector
• Understanding of family support or volunteer management
• Strong networks and connections within local businesses
• Previous involvement with Home-Start Suffolk as a volunteer or someone who has received support
• A passion for making a difference in your community

About Us

My Black Dog is a charity that offers anonymous, peer to peer mental health support through our web-chat service. We are committed to making a positive impact on mental health in the UK as we tackle an epidemic that millions of people face.

We were founded on the motto "talk to someone who gets it". We want to connect people who share lived experiences to provide an empathetic, non-judgmental space where everybody understands how it feels to experience mental health struggles.

Position Overview

Our web-chat service is run by our Volunteer Pack, each of whom have their own lived experience of mental health challenges. In addition, each shift has a 'Leader' and a 'Mentor'. These are Volunteers who carry out specific roles during the shift and, together, ensure its success:

• Leaders - Managers of the shift. There to ensure the shift runs as it should. They support and guide Volunteers through chats and follow safeguarding processes when an alert is raised. They escalate safeguarding alerts to the shift's Designated Safeguarding Lead (a trained professional). They also complete a 'Shift Handover' document once the shift is completed.
• Mentors - There to support and guide Volunteers through chats. Will take over from the Leader if there are safeguarding issues that need the Leader's attention and/or if the Leader needs a break.

As My Black Dog looks to expand our opening hours, we are looking to recruit additional Leaders and Mentors who can run shifts and cover additional shifts as necessary. We are looking to fill the following positions and shifts:

• Leader, Mondays (5pm - 7pm)
• Mentor, Mondays (5pm - 7pm)
• Leader, Thursdays (5pm - 7pm)
• Mentor, Thursdays (5pm - 7pm)
• Mentor, Fridays (7pm - 10pm)
• Leader, Saturdays (TBC*)
• Mentor, Saturdays (TBC*)
• Leader, Sundays (5pm - 7pm)

*We are currently finalising future opening hours on Saturday. Please apply for this particular shift if general availabilty on Saturdays is good.

Leaders and Mentors will be assigned a shift based on your availability and preference. The expectation is that Leaders and Mentors will form a ‘pair’ and, together, will do one shift at the same time each week. This is to provide stability, predictability and to encourage community-building between Volunteers. Shifts are 2-3 hours long. We may ask you to cover another shift when we are short, but you will never do more than 6 hours per week.

Training will be provided and you will be supported on shift by a Designated Safeguarding Lead, who will manage all safeguarding issues.

The work you will do as Leaders and Mentors will ensure we provide the best possible service to our Guests. You will also be helping our Volunteer Pack to do what we do best: helping those in need by speaking to someone who 'gets it'.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for people who have experienced their own journey with mental health and are in a strong position to support others. We ask that our Leaders and Mentors:

• Are strongly committed to helping others
• Have experienced mental health issues in order to relate to those seeking help
• Are collaborative and enjoy working with others
• Are encouraging and supportive
• Are organised and can monitor several things at once
• Can remain calm and focused during busy times and when safeguarding alerts are raised
• Are 18 years and over 
• Can commit the time to a regular weekly shift

Role Responsibilities

1. Supervise and support Volunteers whilst on shift with general enquiries, positive feedback and signposting.
2. Assist with general volunteering enquiries whilst on shift. Provide time for guidance, instruction and de-briefing for Volunteers if required.
3. Follow Leaders & Mentors processes including unexpected absence reporting, Volunteer check-in and check-out, and completing Shift Handovers.
4. Monitor web-chat conversations and ensure all chats are tagged.
5. Maintain ability to listen, remain calm and provide intervention if necessary.
6. Be able to have difficult and often complex conversations about mental health, including Guests experiencing crisis and first-stage intervention support.
7. If a Leader, work alongside the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) when safeguarding risks are identified and, if a Mentor, take over responsibility for shifts when Leader and DSL have to address a safeguarding crisis.
8. Exercise discretion in handling confidential situations and information, conveying sensitive information in a timely manner to necessary individuals.
9. Provide written follow up of shifts via handover, ensuring all necessary information is handed over at the end of the shift.
10. Adhere to all standards, policies and procedures of My Black Dog.

Please note: An Enhanced DBS Certificate is required for this role. If you do not have one, My Black Dog will arrange the DBS Check for you.