Why should I volunteer?

  • To expand your skills
  • Gain useful work experience
  • Connect with your community
  • Excellent exprience to put on your CV
  • Do something useful with your time
  • Meet new people, make new friends
  • Improve your English
  • Gain a wider view of British culture

It is very common for British students to undertake some voluntary work. Although you will not get paid*, it is an excellent way of gaining useful work experience. You can find oppportunties which will help you enhance your skills in the career areas that interest you, for example, you may be able to work on a marketing or research project, gain some experience in accounts, sales or administration or do some care or support work.

*you should get your expenses paid (travel costs, lunch etc.)

These websites provide information about a range of voluntary opportunities:

We recommend:

Team London: 

Team London match volunteers with charities. They work at providing young people the opportunity to build employability skills through social action projects, supporting them on their route to work: https://volunteerteam.london.gov.uk/#s

Take look at the film clip below to find out more about ‘speed volunteering’with Team London. 

 

Other links to find volunteering opportunities:

 

Large database of volunteering opportunities (recommended): https://www.do-it.org.uk/

Database of volunteering opportunities in Londonhttps://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/volunteering

London community based volunteering: https://handsonlondon.org.uk/

Website will show you where your nearest volunteer centre is: https://volunteering.org.uk

Countrywide volunteering opportunities for 14 – 25 year olds: https://vinspired.com/

There are thousands of of registered charities in the UK, some are small and local, some are national or international.

Oxfam

The Red Cross

Amnesty International

UNICEF

Water Aid

Action Aid

Greenpeace

World Wildlife Fund

National Trust

Save the Children

British Heart Foundation

Salvation Army

Cancer Research

Care International

The sites above are for large, national charities. Although they do offer some excellent opportunties, they can be very competitive. There are many smaller, local charities which also provide voluntary work, look at: www.charitychoice.co.uk to find out more.

 

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