Volunteering
What is Volunteering?
Volunteering is when you give your time to help an organisation, or an individual to whom you are not related. For example, if you have ever helped out at a sports event, or a school fair, or taken part in a sponsored walk, you’ve been a volunteer.
Volunteering should never be something you are made to do, and is not done for financial gain. The rewards are about the satisfaction of putting something back into society, about gaining useful experience and skills, meeting new people, and hopefully having fun!
What should I expect as a volunteer?
- A clear outline of what is expected of you. This is usually in the form of a written ‘task profile’.
- Training and guidance on your role.
- Support or supervision from a paid member of staff, or in smaller organisations and groups from an experienced volunteer.
- To be safe and covered by insurance to carry out the tasks you’ve been given.
- To be made aware of the organisation’s policies and procedures, including who you should talk to if you are unhappy.
- To feel valued by the organisation and able to contribute to its development.
If these expectations are not met, or you have problems that you cannot sort out with the organisation where you volunteer, contact us so we can advise and support you.
Why Volunteer?
There are so many reasons to volunteer! You can:
- make a real difference to people’s lives
- learn new skills that could lead to a new job
- transform your CV
- work for a cause you care about
- meet new people
- have fun!
Volunteering has benefits for everyone:
It benefits local communities and it also benefits you as the volunteer. You’ll have the satisfaction of making a difference to people’s lives. And, we also know that volunteering can help you to gain:
- a greater sense of well-being
- new experiences and skills
- more confidence
- opportunity to have a wider circle of friends
Can volunteering help me get a job?
Volunteering does not guarantee you a job, but it can greatly improve your chances.
94% of employers believe that volunteering can add to skills
73% of employers would employ a candidate with volunteering experience over one without
58% believe voluntary work experience can be more valuable than experience gained in paid employment
Through volunteering you can try out different kinds of work. If you are already working, volunteering can help you change direction.
Are you interested in signing up as a volunteer in Doncaster?
Sign up to become a community volunteer here.
Sign up to become a COVID-19 response volunteer here.
Browse our current volunteering opportunities here.
If you have any questions, please contact the Voluntary Action Doncaster team:
E-mail: volunteering@voluntaryactiondoncaster.org.uk
Phone: 01302 965459
Thank you to Voluntary Action Sheffield for sharing their volunteering information with us to help create this page and our volunteering guide!
Resources
Online version of VAD Membership Form – April 2020 (this is a Google Form)
Word document version of VAD Membership Form – April 2020