Volunteering

Volunteering is a great way to gain experience, confidence and new skills.

There are loads of volunteering opportunities in Sheffield through the vinvolved (pronounced ‘vee involved’) project run in the city. Check it out to give you an idea of the sorts of things you could do.

You don’t need to give up loads of your time; even if you’ve only got an hour or two to spare, your help could make a big difference.

vinvolved website

Latest voluntary opportunities

View the latest voluntary opportunities in our vacancies section.

Why should I volunteer?

As a volunteer you will be giving your time to help charities and community groups improve lives, but volunteering can provide you with many benefits including:

• the chance to have fun doing something you’ve never tried before

• increased confidence

• a sense of satisfaction and achievement

• the opportunity to make new friends and contacts with diverse backgrounds and experiences

• increased job and career prospects and new skills – over 70 per cent of employers would hire a candidate with volunteering experience over someone who has never volunteered

Types of voluntary roles

There are many ways to volunteer depending on how much time you can spare. Full-time, part-time, evening and night volunteering are offered by various organisations.

Examples of just some of the ways you can volunteer are:

• caring for animals and wildlife

• setting up a volunteer scheme at your workplace

• spending time mentoring and befriending a young person or refugee

• working outdoors to improve the environment

• working on local community projects

• becoming a school or college governor

Things to consider

Once you have found an organisation it is useful to go and meet them for an informal chat and find out more about what you would like to do. This is a chance for you to ask questions about the volunteer opportunity, see the place you would be working and meet some of the people you might be working with.

Some of the points you might want to ask about are:

• what the position involves

• whether you will receive any expenses to help pay for your travel and food costs

• what training is offered to help you do the job

• if there are any qualifications you can gain while volunteering

• whether you will have a supervisor or mentor you can talk if you have questions or concerns