Volunteer Centre Newsletter

Welcome to our Volunteer Centre newsletter.

We are thankful for the ongoing support of volunteers, constituting the backbone of our communities. Volunteering for all the fantastic organisations and community groups in the local areas.

We aim to support all volunteers in their activities. If you are looking for new volunteering opportunities, please look for new opportunities on our website here or get in touch by emailing volunteer@communities1st.org.uk.

Our latest priority volunteering roles are promoted below. If you’d like to share any good news and stories from your recent volunteering experience, we’d love to hear them! 
Please email communitystories@communities1st.org.uk.

Click here to be taken directly to our list of a variety of training sessions.

We have split volunteering roles into the following sections: 

Spotlight
Short Term Roles and Micro Volunteering
Longer Term Volunteering Roles 
Trustee Roles 
Driving Roles

Click here to go directly to our comprehensive list of Volunteering opportunities

Juli Riley

Head of Volunteer Centre and Skills 

Communities 1st 

COME AND SEE US!

SPOTLIGHT

Gardeners for Blessed Earth Blessed Earth are looking for gardeners to help with their allotments. All of the work will take place outside, therefore appropriate clothing should be worn. Some of the work will involve kneeling on the ground with a mat to carry out weeding, other tasks will involve digging, turning over the soil, pruning and shaping plants and shrubs, and you may be asked to assist some of our vulnerable staff. If you have prior gardening experience, you may be asked to help teach other volunteers and help assist the core team. Projects last either half a day or a full day. If the project lasts a full day, food and drink will be provided and regular breaks will be taken. This is totally down to every individual volunteer and they let you do as much or as little as you want to do.

Volunteer Coordinator for Youth Talk
Are you a people person? Do you enjoy meeting new people, supporting others and working as part of a small team to make a real difference? Youth Talk are looking for a volunteer coordinator to help them develop and lead their volunteering programme. You will help them to co-ordinate, recruit and manage different volunteer roles. You will also help look after their volunteers so that they feel valued and able to share their time meaningfully, develop or learn new skills and ultimately help Youth Talk to achieve more.

Community & Events Volunteers for MIND in Mid Herts Mind in Mid Herts are looking for enthusiastic, friendly and community minded volunteers to help support their growing Fundraising team both in communities that we support (St Albans, Hertford, Welwyn & Hatfield, Stevenage). This is an exciting time to join their team as you can be part of creating and shaping community Fundraising events, help them build local relationships and networks while raising awareness and vital funds for mental health services in Hertfordshire. You will be helping to build relationships with a range of local businesses, shops, supermarkets, schools and community groups. You will also Support Mind In Mid Herts in planning, organising and supporting of Fundraising events, managing the collection and distribution of collections tins and leafleting/ promoting their fundraising events within the community.

Befriender for Herts Vision loss Herts Vision Loss is a local charity providing a wide range of support and services to visually impaired people, their families and carers in Herts. There are over 26,000 visually impaired people in Hertfordshire, and in addition there are over 35,000 people with long term eye conditions that may result in them losing their sight further. Befrienders are needed to visit clients in the Bricket Wood area who have a visual impairment. These clients are isolated in their own homes and would like someone to chat, read or carry out small tasks with.

Tutor for iPad/iPhone beginners classes with Computer Friendly
Computer Friendly is looking for an enthusiastic volunteer to tutor short courses for iPad and iPhone beginners in St Albans. You will join our team of Tutors and Helpers based in St Albans and Harpenden in running 4-6 week courses, 2 hours per weekly session, for small classes of predominantly older students, who wish to learn how to use an iPad or iPhone. Each course subject is held around 6 times per year, during term times.

SHORT TERM ROLES & MICRO VOLUNTEERING

Family Activities Volunteer - School Holiday Availability Only

Noah’s Ark provides regular Family Activities including Family Days, Parent Groups, Siblings’ Groups and Noah’s Ark (referred) Children’s Groups. These activities are designed to provide fun and free days out, allowing children and families the opportunity to meet others in similar situations and to take part in new activities in accessible environments. They are looking for Volunteers to help assist with these groups by playing and reading with the toddlers and overall supporting throughout the activities. Experience of working with children, young people or families is desirable but not essential. They welcome volunteers from all backgrounds with all sorts of skills. Apply here.

Web Support Volunteer for Rennie Grove

Are you a student with an interest in web design and looking for some valuable experience? Rennie Grove are developing an exciting new website and are looking for one or two people who could help them upload their documents into our new WordPress Content Management System. You would get a valuable insight into how a web site is developed and edited in a real-world scenario.
The new website will make sure that their “front window” into the charity is engaging, useful and easy to interact with. Rennie Groves comms team needs someone on a short-term basis over the summer to help them upload content from documents into their new WordPress Content Management System. This would suit a student or young person someone with an interest in marketing, web development and content creation, giving you valuable work experience in a real-life environment.
You would be:

Uploading content from documents into our new WordPress

Content Management System (CMS)
Learning how to build and edit web pages
Working alongside our Comms team to build our new website, following all data protection guidance.

Business Advisor

Young enterprises are looking for volunteer Business Advisors with Business skills and the ability to impart these skills and communicate well with teenagers. Most teams have their ‘’Board Meeting’’ once a week either in school time or after (about an hour). Training is given and all Business Advisors to ensure they are aware of what is required. Apply here.

LONGER TERM VOLUNTEERING ROLES

Local Champion for Leecliffe Big Local. As one of our Big Local Champions there are a whole range of things you can volunteer for. For example, you could support our Chatter Tables group, which tackles loneliness and isolation. You could help educate primary school students about healthy eating and the environment with our Veg Club project or raise teenagers’ aspirations at our Youth Cafe. Or you could help families in need by volunteering at WD6 Food Bank. Whatever your passion is, we have something that can help you can make a difference in Borehamwood!

Mentor Volunteers for Carers in Herts Carers in Hertfordshire run a Volunteer Mentor scheme across the county. Volunteer Mentors support unpaid family and friend carers. We have been offering this service to carers since 2012 and currently have over 50 mentors in the scheme and are recruiting more. The aim of the scheme is to support carers by helping them feel less isolated, have more social contact, increase their confidence and knowledge about available support. Mentors will be matched with mentees based on similar caring roles by Carers in Hertfordshire. Mentors meet their mentees for 1 hour over a cup of coffee in a public place or speak to them on the phone. Provide a listening ear and enable your mentee to discuss options and set themselves realistic goals.

Social Media / Web support for The Friends of Care Homes The Friends of Care Homes support seniors, the isolated, the lonely and all families and friends living with Alzheimer's and Dementia. This is done through their regular weekends of music based events, Inside and outside of care homes. Friends of Care Homes are looking for a social media coordinator to help maintain and regularly update the friends of care homes social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This role will also require you to create, edit and publish social media that is engaging and relevant to friends in care homes service needs such as recruitment or project publicity posts. They are also looking for someone to help develop their new website page as their current one is a bit outdated and are looking for a refresh. This role would require you to update content, build and edit web pages.

Children and Young people’s support volunteer for Rennie Grove.
Are you someone who has an ability to empathise and support children who are going through a difficult life experience? Our Children's Support volunteers work with the children and siblings of our patients who have a life limiting or terminal illness, to help them process what is happening to them, and to build a trusting, supportive relationship. Children’s support volunteers provide support for children and young people under the age of 18 either in their homes, at external venues The role involves empowering the parents or main carer to support children, and to provide one to one support for the child or young person at home or school. Our volunteers allow us to offer this service to more families who need it.

Online Platform Listing volunteer for Emmaus Hertfordshire Emmaus are looking for bright and enthusiastic people who have an interest in 2nd hand clothing and selling for the benefit of their charity. You will be familiar with buying or selling clothing yourself through Vinted, Depop or eBay and will be computer literate. They are happy to accommodate 2 friends volunteering at the same time if that suits and you will work closely with our shop manager. They are looking for someone who is able to give us a good 3 hours of time once a week or more, on an ongoing basis. Volunteering for Emmaus will give you the satisfaction of helping your local homelessness charity. It will give you confidence in the working world and enhance your CV and work experience. It will be an excellent use of time.

Audio Programme Producer for St Albans & District Talking Newspaper
St Albans & District Talking Newspaper creates an audio programme designed for those in the St Albans & District whose visual impairment puts them at risk of being excluded from what is happening around their local community. They are seeking an additional producer to provide backup or to job- share with existing producers. The task is to follow a programme template creatively, drawing on an established team of readers and guests to record, create and deliver an audio programme that is of value to their listeners. They are looking for someone who has either relevant experience or a creative instinct or a love of radio. They use Audacity software for recording and editing so knowledge of this software would be a plus.

Sports & Activity Volunteering Roles

Sports clubs and physical activity programmes across the county are opening up, with increasing opportunities for you to get involved. Below is a list of opportunities available right now which will enable you to stay active and support a local sports club.

To express an interest please email Jeremy at volunteer@communities1st.org.uk

Fencing Hertfordshire
Promotions and advertising, session support, events organisers, fundraisers
Potters Bar Town Football Club
Ground maintenance team; Minibus drivers & assistant coaching volunteers
Colney Heath Ladies FC
Social media/press assistance & fundraising support
St Albans Bowling Club
Refreshments volunteers for match days
Special Olympics St Albans
Support volunteers for athletes with learning disabilities
Old Albanian Cricket Club
Volunteer scorers & umpires, a safeguarding lead, membership administrative support
St Albans Cricket Club
Under 11s assistant coach, occasional bar work
Oxhey Jets FC
Grounds keeping and general maintenance
Abbotts Langley Cricket Club
Social media and website admin, membership secretary, junior cricket coaches, junior cricket umpire, assistant groundskeeper
Bushey Cricket Club
Groundskeeper, umpires & scorers
Rickmansworth and Watford Sea Cadets
Administration and general assistant
North Watford Bowls Club
Grounds and lawn maintenance, participate in friendly bowls matches
LGDA Football Club
Youth football coaches for female teams
Watford Netball League & Kath Worrell Junior League
League & fixtures secretaries
Watford Amateur Boxing Club
Coaching assistants for young boxers
Para Dance UK
Trustees
West Herts Warriors Basketball
Coaches

Volunteer Ride Leaders in Herts
British Cycling need volunteers who are enthusiastic about leading entry level or family friendly bike rides. Benefits include FREE Ride Leader training, free Ride Leader kit and access to a supportive network. Head to their website to find out more about their programmes.

To apply, please email volunteer@communities1st.org.uk

Gardening Volunteer

We need volunteers in the Broxbourne area to help people tidy their gardens. If you’re willing to mow a few lawns and pull a few weeds, to allow an isolated person to enjoy their garden, please get in touch with us. Anyone offering their time will be recorded on our system so they can be offered gardening work when it comes up. Apply here.

Community Champions for Communities 1st
Communities 1st are looking for volunteers to become Community Champions in their local area. This will enable us to reach further into local communities and raise awareness of wider health information and signposting for services. What will I be doing? Engaging with people at the vaccination centres and pop-up vaccination centres and listening to any issues they may have with regards to health concerns and giving information on local services that may be able to help. The Community Champion should also be able to have a meaningful conversation expelling any myths and misinformation that has been given about getting vaccinated. As well as any local information with regards to facilities and services. This might include crime, litter, or vandalism. The volunteer would not be expected to cover all these topics but to focus on areas of interest and what means a lot to you. We are looking for people with the following skills and experience; Committed to working with the community with a passion for helping others, the ability to be able to speak confidently with a variety of different people from various backgrounds. Communities 1st will provide you with the tools and information needed to be able to deliver this message effectively. No formal qualifications are needed for this role, we welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and abilities. Volunteers must be 16 or over to apply.

To apply, please email volunteer@communities1st.org.uk

Hospital Ward Companion Communities 1st are looking for Hospital Ward Companions who will be able to commit to consistent regular availability. There will be daytime shifts Monday to Friday when the ward staff team are most active. Some out of hours evening and weekend shifts may be available when required. his role would not be well suited to ad-hoc availability but if a long-term commitment could be made this would be considered. Shifts will generally be approximately 3 hours long but there may occasionally be some variation. You will be asked to help with:

Answering phones and taking message;
Answering call bells and taking messages or reassuring patients that staff are coming;
Talking to confused patients, they often need a little more time and attention so that they stay settled and less anxious;
Help to dish out meals and drinks;
Helping patients use i-Pads to video call their families;
Restocking PPE and other supplies;
Putting away stock;
Working as part of the extended hospital team. Apply here

International NHS Buddy
NHS Trusts across Hertfordshire and West Essex are recruiting a number of NHS professionals internationally each month to fill staffing shortages. Communities' 1st is looking for volunteers that can provide wrap-around social support to these professionals. We are looking for volunteers who are sociable, outgoing and have a warm and welcome personality. If you enjoy meeting new people and exploring different places around Hertfordshire, have an open mind, are positive about diversity and are committed to building relationships with people from different backgrounds, this maybe something you will enjoy doing. The role will entail taking the nurses on a tour around the town/area, introducing places of interest, parks, gyms, bus stations, helping with shopping and familiarising with local customs etc. Apply here.

Peer-to-Peer Group Meeting Facilitator Do you have experience running meetings? We would love to hear from you. We’re planning to set up peer-to-peer groups to help people with long term illness, and we would like to have someone to help these support groups flow. We’d like to have three people for each group. These groups are set up for the 1st and 3rd Tuesday (Potters Bar), Wednesday (Watford), and Thursday (St. Albans) of the month. If you are interested, please get in touch and let us know. Apply here.

TRUSTEE ROLES

Trustee for Viewpoint
Viewpoint are a charity that supports people who have a background in mental health as well as addiction challenges. By encouraging and inviting them to have their say, their feedback can go towards greatly improving mental health and addiction services. They are seeking a Trustee with the skills to support the governance of the charity and ensure that it remains guided by its constitution, members and service level agreements.

Viewpoint needs Trustees with the following skills:
Managing finances / accounting
Business and strategic planning
Marketing and communications
Project and risk management
Partnership working
Fundraising experience

Treasurer for Hertfordshire Asian Womens Association
Hertfordshire Asians Women's Association is looking for a Treasurer to join their team to help with their finances. This role will involve Liaising with committee members to ensure the financial viability of the organisation. Make fellow committee members aware of their financial obligations and take a lead in interpreting financial data to them. Regularly report the financial position at committee meetings (balance sheet, cash flow, fundraising performance etc). As a small community group with a big vision, this role is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who enjoys helping a small organisation grow and improve.

To apply email: volunteer@communities1st.org.uk

Trustee for Mind in Mid Herts
Mind In Mid Herts is a well-established local charity supporting the recovery of those experiencing mental health issues. They are immensely proud of what they have achieved over the recent years. They also recognise that there are lots more for them to do to strengthen their base and build for the future. They are therefore seeking new Board members to shape and deliver their strategy over the next period. The average tenure of their trustees is 3-5 years. They particularly recognise the need for locally based trustees and ideally, they would look for a commitment of circa 10-15 hours a month.

The areas where they would welcome skills and expertise are:

Community & Corporate fundraising knowledge
Property development and management experience and knowledge
Major donor relationship building
People and organisation development

DRIVING ROLES

Van Driver/ Crew Member for Emmaus Hertfordshire
Emmaus Hertfordshire source furniture via house clearances and one-off item donations. Driving a van or being part of their van team, moving donations into our warehouse and then into their shops is an essential part of their operations. In their house clearance service, you would be involved in packing goods and loading them to and from the van. You could be involved in both van driving and house clearance packing or just one of these roles.

Volunteer Drivers for Minibuses or own vehicles
Drivers required to drive either their own cars or our MPV’s and Minibuses Volunteers are needed to help people in Borehamwood, Shenley and Potters Bar who are unable to use public transport, attend health appointments, and reduce social isolation. What are they looking for? Driving skills, clean license, roadworthy car, honest and reliable, good timekeeping.We’re always in need of people willing to help us deliver our transport service. Our new scheme supports the NHS locally to fulfil GP and vaccination appointments, as well as hospital visits. If you're willing to drive a larger vehicle, we also run a much-needed shopper bus service, other projects and trips. Expenses can be claimed at 45p/mile. Note, you may be required to travel further afield than your immediate local area. Apply here.

Volunteer Drivers for Hertsmere Mencap
Hertsmere Mencap support 250 children and adults with learning disabilities and their families and carers. They run a minibus service taking members to regular social clubs in Borehamwood, St Albans and Hatfield on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Friday evenings. You will only be expected to volunteer once every few weeks as part of a rota, an average of 3 hours per month. You will be assisting the driver collecting members, accompanying them to the local clubs, and helping with picking up from the club, taking them to their front door when necessary. Apply here.