Voluntary Work

Doing voluntary work isn’t just a great way of helping other people. It has a lot to offer the volunteer too; particularly if you are doing something you have a real commitment to, or that you feel strongly about.

You can get:

•  valuable experience
•  training
•  the chance to learn new skills and make a real difference in people’s lives.

It can involve anything from helping out in a hospital to helping to protect the environment. Depending on your personal situation and what you hope to gain from of it, your volunteering can be regular or occasional, short-term or long-term, UK-based or abroad.

Some people still have quite a narrow view of volunteering; relating it only to helping the elderly or working in a charity shop. The reality is different! 

There is a huge range of volunteering opportunities. You can volunteer for a variety of projects including:

•  wildlife conservation
•  supporting victims of crime
•  running summer play schemes
•  helping developing countries to build water supply systems.

People become involved in voluntary work for different reasons.

• You may be temporarily not in work and looking to gain useful skills.
• You may want to help other people in your spare time.
• You may need to get relevant work experience before you apply for certain jobs or courses. Often the only way to get this experience is through voluntary work. If you want to go into "caring" jobs you often need to get relevant experience before you can apply.  This could be in day centres, residential homes or youth groups 
•  If you are a student taking a gap year out from your studies, voluntary work can have a lot to offer.

Voluntary organisations have to make sure that the people using their services are safe. If you are being offered a place as a volunteer working with children, young people or vulnerable adults – you usually have to provide references and go through a disclosure (criminal record) check. Information on disclosures can be found on the Disclosure Scotland web site at http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/.

The organisations listed below can help you to find voluntary work that suits your interests and circumstances.

If you are planning a year out between school and university, see the article on 'Taking a Gap Year'.

Volunteering organisations

British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV)

BTCV uses the environment to help people and communities to develop. In their words, they look to 'inspire people to improve places'.

  Projects include:

• organic gardening on allotments to encourage healthy eating
• 'green gyms' outdoors to encourage exercise through conservation and gardening - hedge planting, path clearing and building community gardens
• training courses in practical skills such as building dry stone walls and creating wildlife gardens and other broader skills including working with communities, leadership, first aid, and regeneration and sustainability.
• UK Conservation Holidays - minimum age-16 years or over (18 years for some locations)
• International Conservation Holidays- minimum age 18 years or over
• BTCV’s Community Registration and Association schemes - open to any club, school group or local organisation wishing to improve the environment.

You can find full details on the BTCV website.

For more information, contact:

British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
BTCV Scotland
Balallan House
24 Allan Park
Stirling  FK8 2QG
Tel: 01786 479697 
E-mail: Scotland@btcv.org.uk
Web: http://www.btcv.org.uk/

(For other volunteering opportunities in conservation and environmental work, see also the National Trust for Scotland, and Community Service Volunteers, below.)

Community Learning Service

The Community Learning Service (or equivalent) of each local authority, welcomes volunteers who are willing to help adults to improve their reading, writing, spelling and number skills. You don't need education qualifications - a willingness to help is the main requirement.  Volunteer tutors are normally 18 years or over.

You can find addresses of local councils in the 'phone book.

Community Service Volunteers (CSV)

CSV is the UK’s largest volunteer organisation with over 100,000 people participating per year. Volunteering opportunities are available for everyone, both full-time and part-time.

• Full-time volunteering with CSV’s National Network is available for those aged 16 and over.
• There are many hundreds of community projects throughout the UK involving a wide range of activities. You might work with homeless people, students with disabilities, young people leaving care or carers needing a break.
• You don't need specific qualifications or skills to volunteer with CSV, and a place is guaranteed to everyone aged 16 and over.
• All National Network projects are full-time, away from the volunteer’s home and last from 4 to 12 months.
•  Volunteers receive free accommodation, food and travel, weekly subsistence allowance of £31.00, support on the job and references when leaving.

In addition to these National Network projects, a wide range of other volunteering opportunities is available, including part-time opportunities and those for older people.

In Scotland all seven of CSV’s core programmes are managed by CSV Scotland. For more information, contact:

CSV Scotland
Wellgate House
200 Cowgate
Edinburgh EH1 1NQ
Tel: 0131 622 7766
E-mail: scotinfo@csv.org.uk
Web: http://www.csv.org.uk/

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a programme of activities for young people between the ages of 14 and 25. The award aims to provide a challenging and rewarding programme of personal and social development.  In the service and residential sections of the award, you can do activities which benefit the community or the environment. The award is a series of activities for you to do in your spare time, at three levels: bronze silver and gold. You  choose one activity from each group:

• service
• skills
• physical recreation
• expedition
• residential project (for gold participants only).

For more information on the award, contact:

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (Scotland)
69 Dublin Street
Edinburgh EH3 6NS
Tel: 0131 556 9097
Fax: 0131 557 8044
E-mail: scotland@theaward.org
Web: http://www.theaward.org/
and:  www.theaward.org/scotland

European Voluntary Service (EVS)

European Voluntary Service is part of the European Union Youth in Action programme.

In the UK, Connect Youth, a department of the British Council, runs the scheme. For further information, contact:

Connect Youth - ETG
The British Council
10 Spring Gardens
London  SW1A 2BN
Tel: 020 7389 4030
Fax: 020 7389 4033
E-mail: connectyouth.enquiries@britishcouncil.org
Web: www.britishcouncil.org/home/learning/connectyouth

National Trust for Scotland

The National Trust for Scotland offers opportunities for volunteers in the field of conservation.

In the countryside, groups of Conservation Volunteers are involved in practical conservation projects at Trust properties. These usually last for single days or over a weekend. Membership of these groups is open to everyone over the age of 18. There are also week-long voluntary work camps known as Thistle Camps, which tackle projects such as footpath maintenance and dyking (minimum age 18). Thistle Trailblazer Camps are available for those aged 16-17. Both Thistle Camps count towards the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

National Trust for Scotland
Wemyss House
28 Charlotte Square
Edinburgh  EH2 4ET
Tel: 0131 243 9300
E-mail: conservation@nts.org.uk
Web: http://www.nts.org.uk/  and http://www.thistlecamps.org.uk/

Project Trust

Project Trust is an organisation which sends secondary school leavers for a year’s voluntary work in any of 25 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Volunteers teach, work in social care projects, work as outward bound instructors and get involved in development, conservation and environmental work.

For further information contact:

Project Trust
The Hebridean Centre
Isle of Coll
Argyll PA78 6TE
Tel: 01879 230444
Fax: 01879 230357
E-mail: info@projecttrust.org.uk
Web: http://www.projecttrust.org.uk/

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and CVS Scotland

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is the umbrella body for voluntary organisations in Scotland. You can find information about the work of SCVO on its website.

SCVO also provides the web portal ‘workwithus.org’ which is a one-stop gateway to charities and the voluntary sector in Scotland.

You can contact SCVO, ‘workwithus.org’ and CVS Scotland at the SCVO Edinburgh office:

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Mansfield Traquair Centre
15 Mansfield Place
Edinburgh EH3 6BB
Tel: 0131 556 3882
Textphone: 0131 557 6483
Fax: 0131 556 0279
Web: http://www.scvo.org.uk/
and: http://www.workwithus.org/

The workwithus.org help-desk can also be contacted by e-mail at: portal@scvo.org.uk

SCVO also has offices in Glasgow and Inverness:

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
3rd Floor
Centrum Building
38 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3DX
Tel: 0141 221 0030
Fax: 0141 248 8066

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations 
Fairways House
Fairways Business Park 
Inverness IV2 6AA
Tel: 01463 258800
Fax: 01463 716003

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)

VSO is a charity which sends aid, in the form of expert volunteers, to developing countries throughout the world. You might work in agriculture, fisheries, forestry, business, community and social development, crafts, education, engineering or health.

For the standard volunteer programme, you must be:

• aged 20-75 (opportunities are more limited for those over 60, and that there is a specific youth programmes for those aged 18-25).
• willing to work overseas for a modest living allowance
• in good health
• qualified and experienced
• able to spend up to two years overseas (some shorter placements are available)
• willing to work where you are most needed
• able to work creatively and adapt to unfamiliar situations, often with few resources.

In return, you will get:

• a living allowance, accommodation, insurance and flights
• individually tailored support, training and advice before you leave  
• networking opportunities with other volunteers
• support grants and advice to help you settle in when you return to your home country.

You must have formal qualifications and some work experience. Jobs include: small business advisers, teachers, social workers, health professionals, management consultants, marine biologists, accountants and farmers. 

If you are under 25 you can apply for the Youth for Development programme (YfD).

YfD offers you:

• a chance to use your skills 
• the opportunity to help fight poverty
• valuable experience if you are interested in longer term development work. 

For more information on these programmes contact:

Voluntary Service Overseas
317 Putney Bridge Road
London  SW15 2PN
Tel: 020 8780 7200
Fax: 020 8780 7300
E-mail: infoservices@vso.org.uk
Web: http://www.vso.org.uk/

Volunteer Scotland Centres

In Scotland there is a national network of Volunteer Centres which:

• put potential volunteers in touch with the groups which need help
• work with others to improve the quality of volunteering
• keep volunteering in the public eye
• represent the interests of volunteering.

If you are interested in voluntary work, the local Volunteer Centre can:

•  tell you about local volunteering opportunities 
•  help you to choose the opportunity which best suits your interests and personal situation.

You can get a list of Volunteer Centres from Volunteer Development Scotland (see below). General information on volunteering opportunities is also available from the Volunteer Scotland portal site at http://www.volunteerscotland.org.uk/

Volunteer Development Scotland

Volunteer Development Scotland  represents volunteering in Scotland. 
Its key aims are to:

• develop and strengthen the Volunteer Centre network in Scotland
• provide an advocacy, media and promotional service
• develop partnerships and innovative projects
• provide a Scottish Research Centre for Volunteering
• provide a training, information and knowledge exchange service.

Volunteer Development Scotland oversees a wide range of projects including the Scottish Volunteer Centre Network and can give you contact details for volunteer centres throughout the country.

For more information contact:

Volunteer Development Scotland
Stirling Enterprise Park
Stirling
FK7 7RP
Tel: 01786 479593
Fax: 01786 449285
E-mail: information@vds.org.uk
Web: http://www.vds.org.uk/

Reading list

You may find these publications helpful: 

"Directory of National Voluntary Organisations in Scotland" (Published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.)

"International Directory of Voluntary Work" (Published by Vacation Work Publications.)

"Green Volunteers" (Published by Vacation Work Publications.)

Other useful websites

The following websites provide further useful information.

BUNAC
Web: http://www.bunac.org.uk/
Information on and contacts for volunteering opportunities in the USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Ghana, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and teaching in Russia and China.

Camp America
Web: http://www.campamerica.co.uk/
Information about working in American summer camps.

Energize
Web: http://www.energizeinc.com/
An American website, but it contains useful information on volunteering.

Student Volunteering Scotland
Web: http://www.studentvolscotland.org.uk/
A site for students interested in volunteering.

Volunteering England
Web: http://www.volunteering.org.uk/
Provides information on the services offered by the National Centre for Volunteering, together with details of opportunities for those wishing to volunteer.

Volunteering Overseas
Web: http://www.do-it.org.uk/
Provides information on volunteering overseas including a database of volunteering opportunities.

Volunteer Centre Network Scotland
Web: http://www.volunteerscotland.info/
Provides information on volunteering including a database of volunteering opportunities.

Working Abroad
Web: http://www.workingabroad.com/
Working Abroad - formerly known as Voluntary Work Information Service (VWIS) – is an international networking service for volunteers, workers and travellers in over 150 countries worldwide. Voluntary work opportunities are available in the humanitarian, educational, agricultural and environmental fields.

Worldwide Volunteering
Web: http://www.worldwidevolunteering.org.uk/
Database of over 250,000 volunteering projects within the UK and across the world.