The Smile Brigade – Volunteering

With your help, last month we reached a huge milestone having successfully saved over 100 tonnes of surplus food from the landfill and offset 350 tonnes of greenhouse gasses in the process.  In just 32 weeks since we began our emergency food operation in response to the crisis we have provided 93,000 free meals and 18,000 bags of groceries to residents in need. We have also saved a whopping 102.3 tonnes of food waste by turning surplus food donated via our charity partners and local businesses into delicious and nutritious free meals for local residents.

Volunteering

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please register your interest using our volunteer Sign up link or visit our Website.To book a task please respond with your availability and contact our volunteer coordinator Trey – trey@thesmilebrigade.org

Grocery Packers

We need volunteers who can commit to one day per week to help pack fruit, veg and dry goods in the morning from 10am-2pm.

Days Needed: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Location: Clem Attlee Community Hall, Len Freeman Place, SW67TN

Walking Buddies

We’re looking for ‘walking buddies’ – to offer care and support to persons who are vulnerable as the lockdown eases and they are able to go back outside again.

Our walking buddies will support them to regain their confidence in getting out and about again.

Volunteers will support individuals who are socially isolated with very limited social contact with others due to the crisis.

If you are interested in becoming a walking buddy then please reply with your availability along with which locations you are happy to travel to throughout the borough. A car is not required for this role.

Alternatively please fill out our short google docs form to register your interest click here

/by

Become a Volunteer Responder – Your NHS Needs You!

The NHS Volunteer Responders scheme is recruiting in areas where demand is rising.

It supports people who are isolated or vulnerable because of coronavirus as well as working directly with NHS organisations, complementing other local voluntary groups.

Register to find out if volunteers are needed in your area

/by

Volunteers Needed to Join ‘Patient Information & Support Panel’

Do you want to help provide high quality information and support to cancer patients, relatives and carers? Are you someone that can objectively give opinions on what works well, what needs improvement and how we provide information and support? Read on

/by
,

Charity Shop Volunteer Matching Service Launched

The Charity Retail Association, in partnership with Wil-U, has launched a new service to match prospective charity shop volunteers with local retailers.

Members of the public who are potentially interested in volunteering can go to www.charity shop volunteer.org.uk and sign up in a very simple and short process. Charity retailers who have vacancies can interrogate the database and identify potential volunteers according to their location and specific charity interest (eg medical research, animal welfare etc).

/by
,

New Volunteering Drive to Help Reopen Charity Shops

Want to volunteer, gain experience, and help charities to earn income that supports vital services? Maybe you know someone who might? The Charity Retail Association (CRA) has launched a new initiative to match potential volunteers with charity shops when they reopen on or after 15 June.

Interested members of the public can sign up online to volunteer in a very simple and short process. CRA hope that young people in particular will put themselves forward, as many older volunteers could remain shielded for some time.

Charity retailers with vacancies will also be able to search a database and identify potential volunteers according to their location and specific charity interest. Find out more.

/by
,

ValueYou – Free Discount Cards for Long Serving Volunteers

ValueYou is a charity which provides free discount cards to long serving volunteers who have volunteered over 100 hours within the past 12 months. The card is free and is a way of saying ‘Thank you’ to volunteers for their hard work.

The ValueYou initiative started in London, where it currently runs in eighteen Boroughs with more than 650 independent high street businesses taking part. There are a wide range of independent businesses offering discounts, such as cafes, hair & beauty salons, book stores and much more, which offer a minimum of 10% discount to cardholders, and several businesses that offer discounts of up to 25% off on online purchases.

Volunteers can use our online application forms if they volunteer for a registered charity, a hospital, school, library, parks service and some non-registered charitable organisations: To apply, you will need to provide the email address for the person that manages your volunteering to use the online application form. If you don’t have this email us at coordinator@valueyou.org .

Our initiative partners with local independent businesses who want to give by offering a discount to our volunteer members. Membership is free of charge, and our work helps to encourage people to shop locally and support small businesses. We first launched the scheme in Ealing in February 2014, and we’ve steadily been adding new areas to where our services are being offered.

For more information or to apply, visit www.valueyou.org or contact us on coordinator@valueyou.org .

/by
,

Let Furloughed Charity Staff Volunteer for Their Own Organisations

Baroness Tyler and 14 cross-party members of the House of Lords have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer seeking urgent clarification of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to allow charity employees to volunteer for their organisation Find out more.

 

/by
, ,

Community Care – Fulham Volunteer Network

Please see the following message from Ross at Community Care:

“Community Care is borne out of St Eth’s and is a local-to-Fulham volunteer run network, with a mission to provide a safe door-door delivery service for those in self-isolation during COVID-19. Since mid-March, our team of over 300 volunteers have successfully delivered hundreds of shopping runs to those in isolation, but we want to do more.

Now we have officially extended our service to support all key workers, including NHS staff, teachers and more, with the support of our MP Greg Hands.

Please help share our message. If you are a key worker or self-isolated, or know someone who is, let’s make sure no one goes without during COVID-19.

For more information on how to get involved, donate, or to get help, please visit our website
www.communitycarelondon.com

It’s ok to ask for help. Our own members have utilised our service, and by doing so, have supported the governments ‘stay at home’ campaign.

For those who would prefer to shop for themselves, we have developed a list of all other local delivery services.”

 

/by
,

WAND UK Social Media Volunteer Role

Where: Kensington & Chelsea / Hammersmith and Fulham / Westminster

Role tiltle: Social media Volunteer

Commitment: 3- 4 hours a week

Women Association for Networking & Development is a small charity based in the Greenfield area and is actively working in a number of London boroughs, currently running regular activities and supporting over 400 vulnerable women, disadvantaged young girls and families in Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster. Our aims are to empower women to become agents for their own change, increase visibility for disadvantaged young girls, and raise awareness of their struggle for equality in our communities in London. Read more

/by
,

Could you Volunteer Some time to Help a Young Person?

As you can imagine, with schools closed, Spark! has cancelled all work experience and employability events until further notice for the safety of our students, work experience hosts and volunteers – we know thousands of young people will miss out! However, it’s not all sad news, the team are creating some virtual activities and we need your help to get it going.

We are currently looking at supporting young people’s careers education virtually. Would you or a colleague be willing to volunteer and help a young person achieve their ambitions? This may include conducting a virtual mock interview or mentoring a young person.

If so, please email us to volunteer <mailto:info@sparklondon.org?subject=Virtual%20volunteering>  and pass our details on to colleagues looking for volunteering opportunities, or if you’d like to have a chat please call to find out more on 07852470177.

/by