Could you help a family improve their health and wellbeing in your local community?

We are looking for volunteer mentors to work with Community360 and the Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service to engage and inspire families who need support.
You would be working with families and children (aged 8-19) to take part in new activities, develop new skills and build their confidence.
As a Family Mentor volunteer you will:
• Learn new skills & meet new people
• Make a difference to young children & families
• Be part of a team and support the local community
The project will support each family for up to 10 weeks, meeting with them at least once a week.

Full training and support given.

Home-based

We are at the forefront of the research into the fight against cancer and other life-threatening diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and bacterial infections. Our Bio Detection Dogs are trained to find the odour of those diseases in samples such as urine, breath and sweat and our work has the potential to benefit millions.

We are looking for committed volunteers who can take a puppy into their home, and care for it as it trains to become a Medial Detection Dog. This role is hard work but incredibly rewarding.

The Wilderness Foundation provide opportunities for people to directly experience the wilderness, both as a positive force for social and environmental sustainability and as a forum for personal growth and change.

PR Volunteer:

We need someone to help us develop a marketing strategy to promote the charity’s events and projects by using different marketing tools,  e.g. via website and social media.

Gardening/ Groundskeeper:

Help is needed with a 400 acre site at Chatham Green, midway between Chelmsford and Braintree. You would be helping to look after a young tree project, maintenance and supervision of woodland area.

We need volunteers for our friendly, busy little charity shop located next to Chelmsford Library.

Duties include using the till and card reader; sorting, tidying and pricing donations; cleaning and tidying the shop and shelves, and greeting customers with a friendly smile and a chat. Help is needed on Wednesdays and/ or Thursdays.

Please note, our shop has a staircase leading to the sorting area and no lift.

We would like to recruit volunteer receptionists to provide confidential, first point of contact cover at our busy Counselling Centre in Chelmsford. The volunteers would need to be willing to provide their help on a regular basis for half or whole days.

Action for Children need kind and empathetic volunteers who can visit, advise, and befriend a young person who is in residential care or in a foster home, secure accommodation, or a young offenders’ institution.

The aim is to provide a non judgmental adult friend and mentor for a young person who has little or no contact with members of his/her own family.

Full training and constant support given.

Do you like to talk? Are you good at listening?

We are looking for people to join our friendly team of valued volunteers and become Welfare Callers for their community. Someone who can offer an isolated or lonely person that weekly friendly call and help brighten them up.

All callers are matched with someone of similar interests. Volunteering done from your own home.

Carers First need help making regular telephone calls to vulnerable carers and helping others access any additional help they might need.

Full training and support given. Volunteer in your own time, from your own home. No minimum time commitment.

City of Chelmsford Mencap is looking for new trustees to join its Board at a significant point in its development.

We are a warm and friendly group of committed individuals – please contact us to find out more!

City of Chelmsford Mencap is urgently seeking volunteers to assist students with a learning disability who are keen to develop their life, work and social skills.  Our lifelong learning service went virtual at the beginning of the pandemic and delivers a wide range of courses, from Art to Yoga.

As an online volunteer, you will assist tutors with the delivery of classes, and monitor and support students’ learning.  The Virtual Academy runs five days a week and classes are approximately 1.5 hours in duration.  We have vacancies in various classes, so you will be able to choose times – and classes – that suit you.

We also need help with our evening social club, that delivers a range of fun evening activities, including film, talent and games nights, quizzes and dance workshops.

City of Chelmsford Mencap is urgently seeking volunteer minibus drivers, to transport our lifelong learning students to and from Mencap Centre.

You will be part of a team of drivers who drive on days convenient to them.  On your chosen day, you will need to be available for a couple of hours either/both morning and mid-afternoon. Please enquire for more details!

A new Trustee is needed to participate in decision making on the board and to agree strategies for the charity going forward.  No knowledge of the mental health sector is required but it would be useful.  An understanding of the charity sector would also be helpful.

Farleigh Hospice have a huge variety of tasks in and around the gardens and have something to suit everyone.  There are a team of dedicated garden volunteers who between them keep our wonderful grounds looking pristine all year round – from planting to weeding and everything in-between there is always something to do!

Come as a group, with a friend or solo – we would love your help!

Action for Family Carers makes a positive difference to the lives of all Carers by providing valued, high quality support services in times of need.

We are seeking volunteers within our Adult Day Care Respite Centre in South Woodham Ferrers, assisting staff and other volunteers in supporting the clients that attend.

The role involves encouraging clients to participate in conversation, entertainment and activities as well as assisting at meal times.

The Day Centre runs from 10 am – 3 pm each Friday.

As a Victim Support volunteer you will listen to victims to identify their individual needs, help them explore how their experience of crime has affected their lives and identify ways to enable them to move on. You will do this by providing confidential listening, practical support and advocacy either by phone or face to face, enabling victims to overcome the emotional, psychological and practical effects of crime.

You will get a rewarding sense of having made a positive difference to people’s lives, all you need is the willingness to help and a little time.

Training Provided: Extensive online learning course, followed by a workshop. Training will include the different type of crimes and the way in which people are affected, the criminal justice system, communication skills, EDI, GDPR & safeguarding.

Mid=-Essex Family Centre have an exciting opportunity to work with children from 0-12 years in our 2 hour creche sessions.

No Qualifications required. Experience and an enthusiasm with working with children would be a bonus

18+

10am-12.00, weekdays.

Essex Befriends are in urgent need of warm, empathetic people who enjoy a bit of a chat!

COVID19 has highlighted just how many people there are in our community who are lonely and isolated. Throughout lockdown, Essex Befriends was able to connect with more and more people who were struggling with loneliness, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed.

Though lockdown is now easing, these people and their concerns are still very much here, and we do not want anyone to slip through the cracks or fall back into unhappiness and isolation.

Sometimes, all that’s needed to prevent this is a simple conversation with someone kind and cheerful. Telephone Befrienders provide company, reassurance, and light-hearted conversation to people who are alone and worried.

You can volunteer from your home, making calls as and when it suits your schedule. Full training is providing, along with constant support and guidance.

Please contact us for more details!

Are you a good listener? Can you give calm, thoughtful advice and assist people accessing information?

This role is assisting clients by phone to help resolve their practical issues/problems.
By using questioning and listening skills to gain as much detail as possible, you will help worried clients decide what the next best steps are.
This could be by researching and providing them with information; signposting to other organisations; referring clients to other services and charities, or arranging for the client to receive full advice from one of our experienced advisers.

You will receive full training, constant support and advice. You are not expected to know all the answers! Just to be able to listen, ask questions, and use the resources we give you. This role can be done remotely from the comfort of your own home.

Do you enjoy healthy activities and exercise? Would you like to volunteer for an exciting new project taking part in activities with family groups?

We are looking for volunteers to work with families by taking part in weekly activity sessions with them. Activities may be sports based but we’re looking at a whole range of things families can do together to promote stronger relationships, increase positive family time, strengthen ties and build resilience. Anything from walking, playing sports based games, eating and cooking together, Yoga, mindfulness, household activities and so on.

Kids Inspire work to help children who have suffered trauma, or whose families are going through traumatic times. We need empathetic, reliable and encouraging volunteers to be mentors for young people all accross Essex.

A volunteer mentor is a “professional friend” who guides a young person by building trust and modelling positive behaviours in a fun an caring environment.

Trustees of this important charity meet once a month (Thursday mornings) to discuss the current situation and decide the way forward.

We welcome interest in this role from people of all ages, sectors and communities.

We offer a free support and aftercare group to anyone who has suffered a bereavement.

Volunteers are needed to help set-up and put away chairs and tables, make teas & coffee, and chat to members.

Thursdays 10am – 1pm.