01 June 2023
In April 2023, the Hull and East Riding branch of Citizens Advice went to the media to appeal for more volunteers. Demand for their services, due to the cost-of-living crisis in particular, is rocketing. Rising demand for services is unfortunately being coupled with a decrease in formal volunteering. Charities at the frontline are facing a perfect storm.
The number of people volunteering their time, formally through clubs and organisations or otherwise, was hit by Covid. While informal volunteering was boosted a little during the early days of the Covid pandemic and during the lockdowns, overall levels of volunteering in the UK have not yet returned to pre-Covid levels.
See more stats on volunteering at NVCO statistics on volunteering in the UK in 2021
What form can volunteering take?
Volunteering can take the form of providing specialist skills for free to help a charity organisation out, for example, by providing financial or legal advice and support, or by donating specialist tradework such as plumbing or electrical work. It can also be through doing an activity which is different to what someone would do in their day job, providing a welcome break from the routine, such as by doing gardening and painting activities, or working in a charity shop or in a soup kitchen.
Volunteering is a good activity through which people can develop new skills and broaden their experience. For a company, allowing paid time off for employees to volunteer shows support for the wider community and can be a vital part of good corporate social responsibility.
What is employer supported volunteering?
Employer supported volunteering is paid time off for volunteering work and it enables more people to volunteer their time on a regular basis or on a micro basis, benefitting the charity organisation, those it helps and the employees taking part. Find out more about employer supported volunteering at CIPD and at employer supported volunteering report at NCVO
Source: www.CIPD.co.uk
If you’re thinking pf providing paid time off for volunteer work for your employees, or want to take advantage of paid volunteer leave, here are some charities and organisations in the Humber region that would love to hear from you.
PATT Foundation
What does your charity do?
PATT Foundation is a community-led charity focusing on reforestation and environmental education, as well as promoting the positive benefits of the environment and nature on our health and wellbeing.
We have launched several projects in the Humber region to support local communities including tree planting to create more green spaces and growing fresh produce at our nursery site in Preston, Hull to provide food banks in the area with a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables.
How can volunteers get involved?
There are a number of ways you can get involved with PATT Foundation: you can volunteer at our greenhouses in Preston, Hull all year round or take part in one of the many tree planting projects in the region from October to March. Anyone can join, whether you want to try your hand at learning new skills in the garden or take part in creating woodland spaces for wildlife and the local community.
Are you looking for volunteers for regular slots, one-off days, or corporate volunteering programmes?
You can attend the nursery each week or just join for a day on one of our tree planting projects. We also offer opportunities for corporate volunteering programmes so if you would like to arrange a day with us we'd be happy to discuss.
Where can we go for more information?
You can find more information on our website www.pattfoundation.org or email our admin team about volunteering opportunities at admin@pattfoundation.org
HEY Children's University
What does your charity do?
HEY Children’s University are a charity that works with children growing up in disadvantaged areas of Hull and East Yorkshire who may not have the same opportunities as others. We aim to light up every path that a child could take and help ignite dreams for their futures. We do this by providing experiences that broaden horizons and raise aspirations.
How can volunteers get involved?
Our volunteers play a vital role in the many learning experiences that we give local children. They come along to spend time and to supervise a group of children for the day, encouraging them to try new things, discover their unique talents and explore the surroundings. Our volunteers are from many different walks of life and the children love to hear about the jobs that they may do themselves!
Are you looking for volunteers for regular slots, one-off days, or corporate volunteering programmes?
We offer a wide variety of volunteering opportunities with flexible commitment, from one off days, overnight trips and more regular slots on our Learning Experiences. Most of these take place during the school term times and during the daytime.
We also offer ad-hoc fundraising volunteering in supporting our team at events in the community to help spread the word and raise vital donations to our work.
Where can someone go for more information?
To find out more and to get involved please visit our website Hull Children's University for more information and details to apply. We use a system called Better Impact and you can register directly through our website. The team will then be in touch to arrange for you to attend a short training session before getting started.
Hull Minster
What does your charity do?
We are a house of prayer. We are a place for visits and events. We are protectors of heritage and culture. We are here for you. All are welcome.
How can volunteers get involved?
Our Church cannot open its doors to visitors without volunteers. There are many roles volunteers can take part in, welcoming visitors, tour guides, working in our shop, our cafe, housekeeping and in education.
Are you looking for volunteers for regular slots, one-off days, or corporate volunteering programmes?
Any.
Where can we go for more information?
Our website Hullminster.org, call in to the Church and see Shirley, email volunteer@hullminster.org
Hull and East Yorkshire Mind
As official partners of Talent+ at Future Humber, we’re here to make sure that nobody in Hull and East Yorkshire has to face a mental health problem alone. As a charity and a housing association Hull and East Yorkshire Mind has an ambitious vision for the future in which we will not give up until everybody experiencing a mental health problem gets both support and respect.
Here at Hull and East Yorkshire Mind, we rely on our fantastic volunteers to help us deliver our services and support our day-to-day work. We are very proud of the work that our volunteers do and we couldn’t do our work without them.
Volunteering at Hull and East Yorkshire Mind can be a rewarding and useful experience – and there’s probably more ways of doing it than you might think. From helping facilitate our groups to supporting individuals, to helping at our events and fundraising stands, there are many ways that you can give your time, and we would love it if you were to join us!
We offer a variety of roles and in return for your time and effort, we offer a supportive working environment, valuable work experience, involvement in social activities, the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge, and access to training and supervisions.
By Volunteering at Hull and East Yorkshire Mind, you’re helping us to move closer to a world where nobody faces a mental health problem alone. If you are interested, or you’re a company wanting to utilise employer supported volunteering, get in touch. Visit www.heymind.org.uk/volunteering
Mires Beck Nursery
What does your charity do?
We provide Social Therapeutic Horticulture to adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism. We grow plants and trees for conservation projects and have an onsite plant nursery.
How can volunteers get involved?
They can contact Sadie@miresbeck.co.uk and she will we will discuss the diversity of operations onsite to find where the candidate would like to participate.
Are you looking for volunteers for regular slots, one-off days, or corporate volunteering programmes?
All
Where can we go for more information?
Www.miresbeck.co.uk/volunteering or www.miresbeck.co.uk/volunteering-for-business
Other links
For more information about volunteering in the Humber region, also take a look at....
Volunteers Week
#VolunteersWeek is the 1st to the 7th June. Find out more at https://volunteersweek.org/
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