The multi-million pound project to restore and refurbish Dean Castle in Kilmarnock has a strong community involvement. A Focus Group of up to 12 interested individuals is consulted on plans and ideas by project managers, and feedback is often incorporated back into the plans Get involved to: • Be more involved in the project • Make a difference • Share your ideas and experience What’s involved in being one of the Focus Group? • Meeting as a group 3-4 times a year to feedback on project plans and ideas • Occasional feedback via e-mail • Behind the scenes site visits during the project Up to 12 Focus group places available. We’ll help you get to know Dean Castle and how you can help

If you love castles and history, learning new skills and talking to the public, this could be the volunteer role for you. Lend a hand to tell the stories of Dean Castle, its inhabitants and its first class museum collection. • Share your passion for history and heritage • Meet new people from all walks of life • Learn new skills • Get experience working in heritage and customer service

The volunteer will be able to work within their own existing networks and groups, or meet new groups and communities. They will be able to use their natural skills for communication and be part of an important project for the town of Kilmarnock. They can share their own passion for history and culture. This can even be schoolchildren spreading the work in their own class or whole school. The Castle has suffered from being a bit of a ‘hidden gem’ and increased knowledge and participation will help us to attract new and regular visitors. We will also be helped in achieving our targets for community participation.

MacMillan's Move More project with East Ayrshire council is looking for volunteers to help with a Gardening Group in Dean Castle Country Park to help those affected by cancer get out and about doing enjoyable activities in nature. MacMillan will provide training on volunteering with them, supporting the participants and leading a group. Jess Wharf at Dean Castle Country Park will assist with organising the gardening activities.

The volunteer will be able to expand their horizons, meet new people, learn new skills and be able to feel part of the organisation. They will also be secure in the knowledge that they are helping save the lives of death row dogs – no matter how small their contribution. The Rescue will benefit because the management will be able to spend more time on furthering the cause of the Rescue. The dogs will benefit because they will be given the opportunity of more training/exercise. Overall the Rescue organisation will benefit because it will look neater/tidier and more professional.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Are you always on the phone? Are you calm, collected and chatty? We’re always looking for friendly, confident and helpful people to join our team and become the voice of your local store. You will be the first point of contact for our customers helping them with any enquiries and arranging collections for donations and deliveries. Come and be a part of your local team and learn customer service skills and gain experience. If you have good communication skills and able to follow administration processes accurately then come and be a part of our team and laugh and chat with other volunteers over a cup of tea and a biscuit. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

We run a youth club two evenings per week on a Monday and Wednesday between 6pm – 8pm. We are keen to recruit more volunteers to enable us to support this work, as the number of children attending is growing and we need to make sure we have an appropriate ratio of adults to children. The YKids Club at the YMCA Kilmarnock operates on Monday evenings between 6pm – 8pm. Volunteers are welcome to come along, by arrangement, for a taster session to see the club and the kids in action. That way volunteers will be able to decide whether they want to continue. There will be opportunities for volunteers to get involved in meetings with other YMCA partners which will may link in well with some college course work.

We need volunteers to run, maintain, produce, edit and dispatch weekly audio newspapers for the partially sighted and blind people of Ayrshire. Volunteer readers must have a good, clear speaking voice & enjoy reading; they must feel comfortable reading aloud and be able to put a bit of colour and personality into the stories they are recording to make the experience more interesting for the listener. Someone with a journalist or radio background would be a great advantage, although this is not a requirement. Computer digital recordings are saved on USB memory sticks & distributed to members each week by post to those on our membership list (post-free). Service users keep the memory sticks for a few days to give them time to listen to all of the stories. They then return them to us where the old recordings are wiped and the memory sticks re-used for the next batch of recordings.

The museum collections at Dean Castle are internationally recognised for their importance and rarity. The Dean Castle Restoration Project gives you an opportunity to work as part of our Collection Care team, to help preserve, research and re-display these fabulous objects. Get involved to: • Share your passion for history and heritage • Meet new people • Learn new skills • Get experience working in museums collection care What’s involved in being a Collection Care Volunteer? • Caring for rare and important objects • Being part of the Collection Care team • Documenting, cataloguing, packing and handling of objects • Play your part in preserving and interpreting these collections • Following instructions carefully

Men's Shed: Do you have practical/DIY skills that you could share with others or skills you would like to learn or improve? If you are sitting at home with nothing to do and would like to come and join us at our North West Kilmarnock Men's Shed, we would be delighted to see you. If you have practical skills to offer or would like to get involved to help us with practical projects in the local community please come along for a chat and see what we do. We are here on Tuesdays between 1pm and 3pm. The organisation’s purpose is to provide recreational facilities by operating a community centre in the North West of Kilmarnock. Kilmarnock North West Community Partnership is looking for a Treasurer to support our board and assist with the financial management of the partnership. Benefits to Volunteers: Volunteers will be part of a busy and thriving community centre; have the opportunity to use transferable skills; give something back to the people of North West Kilmarnock; Meet new people & contribute ideas of what can happen at the Nwkleus centre.

The organisation’s purpose is to provide recreational facilities by operating a community centre in the North West of Kilmarnock. Kilmarnock North West Community Partnership is looking for a Treasurer to support our board and assist with the financial management of the partnership. Benefits to Volunteers: Volunteers will be part of a busy and thriving community centre; have the opportunity to use transferable skills; give something back to the people of North West Kilmarnock; Meet new people & contribute ideas of what can happen at the Nwkleus centre.

British Heart Foundation is looking for volunteers to join our shop teams, volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation as well as contributing to a worthwhile cause. Volunteering is something practical you can do to help fight heart disease the UK's biggest killer. You will make new friends, learn new skills and have opportunities to develop within the British Heart Foundation. The shop manager will support you in your training and for your contribution you will also receive a 25% discount.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Online Listings Volunteer: If you’re tech savvy and know your way around eBay; have a keen eye for unusual or sought after collectables then join our volunteering team. Come and be amazed at some of the items that are donated to your local store and strike gold with those rare finds. We’ve got dedicated eBay resources to help and assist you with this volunteering role. Research the interesting items; package the small items in our eBay boxes and send them off to be sold at our eBay HQ. Every week we’ll send updates about the most unusual and exciting finds we’ve managed to sell though our stores, will your find be the next eBay headliner? Get the thrill of researching the curious objects and revel in the satisfaction of sitting back and watching the bids role in. Become a mighty keyboard warrior and help raise funds for our lifesaving research into heart disease. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Electrical Department Volunteer: Are you a real people person and love to help out? We’re always looking for people who would enjoy giving great customer service and have an interest in electrical items, gadgets and appliances. You’ll get the chance to mingle with the local customers and volunteers, and integrate yourself into the BHF community. Becoming an electrical department volunteer means you will be chatting to the local customers helping them find the right product to suit their needs and making sure that all the stock has been tested and is displayed to our BHF guidelines. If you think you’re ready to take up this electrifying role pop into your local store and meet our friendly team. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Warehouse Volunteer: Do you find gym memberships too expensive? If you like to keep active and stay in shape volunteering in your local furniture and electrical warehouse could be the answer you’re looking for. We always need helpful and active people to check in and book donations that come through our doors and help to load and unload furniture form our donation vans. It’s not just a physical work out you can expect when volunteering here you can also get involved in putting together our flat packed furniture, maybe something to puzzle over! Come and join your local BHF community and feel part of the team with other like-minded volunteers. We will provide you will all the training you need from guides on manual handling techniques to health and safety modules. Are you always on the phone? Are you calm, collected and chatty? We’re always looking for friendly, confident and helpful people to join our team and become the voice of your local store. You will be the first point of contact for our customers helping them with any enquiries and arranging collections for donations and deliveries. Come and be a part of your local team and learn customer service skills and gain experience. If you have good communication skills and able to follow administration processes accurately then come and be a part of our team and laugh and chat with other volunteers over a cup of tea and a biscuit. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Store Merchandiser: Do you have a knack for presentation, an eye for detail and enjoy making things look their best? We’re looking for people like you to volunteer in our F&E stores to help make them look as appealing and inspiring as possible. You can expect to be helping out with visual merchandising, making sure everything is displayed to its full potential, you will also be involved in creating eye catching displays in our homeware department ensuring the items are clean and correctly labelled. So what are you waiting for? Join today and become a valued member of the team, chat with customers and other like-minded volunteers. Pop in store to find out more and meet our friendly and ambitious team. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. We need volunteers to help deliver British Heart Foundation leaflets to various local venues. Volunteers will accompany a BHF staff member who will take them to and from the area to be leafleted. If you enjoy being out and about walking, this could be the very opportunity for you

•Training – learning new skills, and gaining up-to-date knowledge of issues affecting deaf and hard of hearing people; •Experience – meeting new people in different situations, building new friendships with other Action on Hearing Loss volunteers; •Fulfillment – knowing that the information you provide will make a real difference to those who receive it, and raising deaf awareness throughout society as a whole; •Expenses – all expenses incurred as a result of your volunteering will be reimbursed, according to the Action on Hearing Loss expenses policy; •Opportunity to try other volunteering roles within Action on Hearing Loss.

Admin Assistant Duties: Volunteer admin support needed to help manage, maintain and organise our administration & keeping our records up to date. Volunteers must be computer literate with knowledge of Microsoft Office and relevant software packages.

Volunteers will have the opportunity to help those who have had cancer, or are living with cancer, support to become more active. This will take the form of gentle walking groups and Gentle Movement exercise classes. These gentle physical activities will help the service users to build their strength and confidence. Volunteers will receive training and support throughout and there are also different qualifications on offer. All volunteers will undergo Core Training set out by Macmillan. They can then gain a qualification in Paths for All Walk Leader and Gentle Movement. It can be either or both. Volunteers will meet new people, learn new skills and build confidence in leading groups.

We are looking for friendly volunteers to help out in the café at our Dementia Resource Centre in Kilmarnock. Currently, the café is open Monday - Friday in the mornings & afternoons. Dementia cafés offer a 'dementia friendly' place for people with dementia, their partners, families and friends to meet up for a chat and a coffee. People can also get helpful information or advice about any issues relating to dementia from Dementia Advisors and other staff. If you are friendly, enthusiastic & enjoy working with people, this opportunity will be great for you. Dementia awareness training will be provided and Alzheimer Scotland will also provide PVG scheme memberships to successful applicants.

The purpose of this role is to recruit volunteers to help support a range of community groups which Alzheimer Scotland operate locally. These include: Befriending, Football Reminiscences Group, Musical Minds, Arts groups, Friendship groups, Allotment Helpers, & Doggie Befrienders. This list is not exhaustive and this role may offer support in a range of community groups. Volunteer befrienders will be required to befriend people with dementia in Kilmarnock and neighbouring towns where possible. We have activities and learning workshops across Ayrshire that people with dementia and their carers like to attend. Our staff need the help of volunteers in various ways, including setting up activity rooms, making teas & coffees, preparing lunches, meeting & greeting, distributing flyers, chatting to people living with dementia and their carers. If you are friendly, enthusiastic, enjoy working with people and trying new things, one of these opportunities will be great for you. Dementia awareness training will be provided and Alzheimer Scotland will also provide PVG scheme memberships to successful applicants.

To work in shops assisting customers with purchasing of goods, preparing items for sale, providing customer advice & taking payments for goods. Volunteers will learn new skills, gain experience to add to CV, meet like-minded people, take pride in helping others within their own community. We hope to increase hours & days our shops are open to increase profits for Ayrshire Cancer Support & to help meet customer demand for our services.

The key requirements for a shop volunteer are to be honest, friendly and helpful with the ability to work as part of a team. Ideally able to work either morning or afternoon for a minimum of 3hrs on a weekly basis. You will be working as part of a team and will be responsible to and supported by a shop manager, training will be provided and will be ongoing. The following tasks are a requirement of the role; -Customer Service -Sorting Donated Goods -Ironing and hanging clothes. -Sizing and tagging items and clothing for pricing. -Cleaning Bric-A-Brac. -Ensuring clothes rails are sorted daily with sizes in order. -Keeping the shop and back premises clean and tidy. -Assist in the making sure the shop window is presentable and changed on a regular basis. Additional Tasks may be required after a suitable trial period, and training would be provided. -Cash handling and operating the till This is an interesting role and will allow you to make new friends, learn new skills and help a dedicated team of like minded volunteers to raise much needed funds for ACS.

We are looking for market research volunteers to assist with Dean Castle’s modernisation and renovation project. It is a great chance to work with an established Market Research company, improve your research skills and be part of this multi-million pound project. Get involved to: • Improve your research skills • Gain some valuable work experience • Gain experience of working in a busy tourist attraction What’s involved in being a Market Research Volunteer? • Managing the distribution and completion of surveys • Conducting qualitative or quantitative surveys, which may involve field, interview or focus group assessments • Work with a market research company to see how statistical software is used to manage and organise information; analyse and interpret data to identify patterns and solutions and present results.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Are you a chatterbox? Can you talk about anything and everything? If this sounds like you we have a fantastic opportunity to let your chitchatting dreams run wild! In our stores we’re always looking for outgoing and enthusiastic volunteers to meet and greet our customers. We talk to our customers, make them feel welcome, help them find the things they’re looking for and inform them of the BHF’s life saving heart research. We keep the sales floor looking fresh and inspiring and thank everyone who brings in their donations and custom. Come and be a part of your local team and learn about customer service skills and gain experience. Don’t worry if you’re not a confident speaker, with this role all you need is a welcoming and helpful attitude. We’ll provide you with all the support and help you need. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Cash Desk Volunteer: Are you a social butterfly? Love getting in to conversations? Always have a welcoming smile on your face? Get to know the people from your community with this versatile volunteering role. Gain valuable experience in customer service adding value to your CV. You’ll be at the heart of the BHF’s fight against heart disease. You will be serving customers, helping to promote our stock and awareness campaigns and encouraging every donor to become part of our Gift Aid scheme. If you want to get to know the community around you this is a perfect way to integrate yourself into your local area and maybe spread the volunteering bug to new recruits. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Most families are affected by heart disease. We need volunteers to help A key part of our shop operation is behind the scenes in the warehouse. This is where we check the furniture and electrical items etc for quality before it goes on the shop floor. We assist the van crews to load and unload the goods, clean, ticket and price them. This is a very interesting and varied opportunity and you will enjoy working as part of the warehouse team. British Heart Foundation is looking for volunteers to join our shop teams, volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation as well as contributing to a worthwhile cause. Volunteering is something practical you can do to help fight heart disease the UK's biggest killer. You will make new friends, learn new skills and have opportunities to develop within the British Heart Foundation, the shop manager will support you in your training. Charity shops contribute large amounts of money to the fight against heart disease. We need your help so that we can continue to fund the vital research work that is needed to combat heart disease.

The purpose of this role is to support the staff to provide transport for individuals attending meetings/outings/daycare. We have activities in several places in the local area and occasional events that people with dementia and their carers like to attend. If you are friendly, reliable, enjoy working with people on a one to one basis and have a full clean driving licence and a car, a voluntary driver opportunity could be a great opportunity for you. If you do not have a driving licence but would like to assist people to and from activities on foot or by public transport, we also have opportunities for this. Dementia awareness training will be provided and Alzheimer Scotland will also provide PVG scheme memberships to successful applicants. We are now accepting applications for this opportunity.

Community Friends offers a weekly drop-in service every Monday, Wednesday & Friday afternoon offering support for people experiencing homelessness issues. We offer food, friendship advice and social activities. The service is manned by volunteers with professional advice being offered by statutory agencies (Housing Options; Community Health & Addiction Services). The aim is that those who attend will gain confidence, receive assistance to set goals for the future & will have regular opportunities to engage with relevant support services in a neutral environment.

Working behind the scenes is as important as being on stage! As a Stock Room Volunteer in a Donation Centre, your key role will be to make sure that quality stock is made ready to go on sale in the store. Our donation centres process hundreds of bags of donated stock every week in order to distribute it out to our stores across the country. Our volunteers come from a diverse range of backgrounds and bring a wide variety of skills to the organisation. They come together to generate vital funds for Barnardo's work with children, young people and their families. Tasks involved: * Carrying incoming stock from the front of the store to the sorting floor * Looking through our donations to select and sort the quality stock for the shop floor. * Sorting and organising stock in the stockroom so that the area is kept in order. * Working behind the scenes to help to hang, size and price stock. * Bagging up sorted donations to deliver to other stores or to store for seasonal deliveries.

Running a successful Barnardo's store requires a great team of enthusiastic volunteers and you could be a part of it. Our retail assistants are trained to undertake a wide range of activities such as serving customers, taking receipt of stock donations from the public and merchandising stock to make our rails visually appealling and tidy. Volunteering with us in retail will provide a great opportunity to build upon your communication, team working and customer service skills. If you also have a particular skill or interest, our teams would be delighted to discuss how we could help you utilise your interests in store. Whatever your talents, please do share with us and pop into your local store to enquire about volunteering. To see all opportunities to volunteer within Barnardo's, you can visit our website at www.barnardos.org.uk/volunteering.

Auchinleck Community Development Initiative (ACDI) offer a range of activities, events and trips aimed at children. These mainly take place during school holidays and occasionally at weekends. Events & Activities Assistant Volunteers will also assist with the delivery of the programme. Facilitate and participate in games, events and activities with children, including set-up and clean-up as required; Taking a register of children attending and collecting payment; Supervise children taking part in our events and activities & accompany children and their parents on trips.

This is your chance to join our Hear to Help team at Action on Hearing Loss Scotland and support service users on how to get the most from their hearing aids. You will act a useful link between service users and the local health services as well as carrying out basic hearing aid maintenance and support. You will receive training from local audiology services in addition to a full induction process. We also ensure that you receive ongoing support from your project manager throughout your time with us. Having this service available reduces the need for people to travel to hospitals for basic hearing aid support and has significantly benefited local NHS audiology departments by enabling audiologists to focus on more demanding tasks. We're very ambitious about shaping a better future for the 945,000 people who are deaf or have a hearing loss across Scotland. You can help us make a real difference to people affected in your community by sharing your skills, experience, energy, enthusiasm and commitment. We couldn’t help the people we do without the support of our wonderful volunteers. In our recent volunteer satisfaction survey, 91% of volunteers said they would recommend us as a good place to volunteer, and 94% agreed that they found their volunteer role motivating and interesting. What skills would be useful to have? · Willing to learn, or have existing knowledge about issues affecting deaf and hard of hearing people, particularly older people; · Friendly, reliable and approachable manner; · Good communication skills for questions and to answer appropriately; · Happy to work with a wide range of people especially the elderly.

COGS needs volunteers to help with grass cutting for local people in Shortlees. Some gardening experience would also be helpful, but is not essential. Be part of something great, meet people and gain confidence. You will get satisfaction from helping others and making a real difference to the lives of the local community in Shortlees.

We are looking to recruit volunteers to provide a meet and greet service at our Kilmarnock drop-in. Volunteers will meet and greet visitors to our drop-in, put visitors at their ease, offer a listening ear and an understanding manner; help direct visitors to the services they may be interested in. Support volunteers are directly involved with people attending/visiting the drop-in, offering support in a safe environment where there is continuous support provided by paid staff and other volunteers. Volunteers will help contribute to an invaluable service.

Volunteer drivers needed to transport patients from their homes to various hospitals for cancer treatments. Volunteering provides many benefits from meeting new people & gaining confidence to the satisfaction of knowing you are helping cancer patients in your own community. Service users benefit from having one less thing to worry about during treatment.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Stock Generation Volunteer: Do you walk down the street and say hello to everyone you meet? Are you a familiar and friendly face around town? Or are you looking to integrate yourself into the local community? We’re always looking for confident, chatty and driven volunteers to generate great quality stock. You will help to build and maintain friendly relationships with existing and new business contacts, arranging local collections for your local store and talking to local business’ about surplus stock. Become a part of our stock campaigns and get the local community involved in our stock events. All the stock which people like you generate helps us provide funding for over half of the UK’s independent research into heart and circulatory disease! Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Restorer / Repairer: Are you a DIY fan? Love a bit of tinkering and putting things right? Unleash your creative flare by volunteering with the British Heart Foundation restoring donated items that are in need of a little TLC. If you have an interest in restoring furniture and want to help a lifesaving cause come and visit your local Furniture & Electrical store and join the team. We will give you all the training you need to be able to safely and confidently carry out this role. Come and join your local BHF community and feel part of the team with other like-minded volunteers and help us to raise funds for our lifesaving research into heart disease. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Volunteers are required to assist in the day to day running of the PDSA store to maximise sales and profitability. This may be on the shop floor or in the stick room processing donated goods.

Everyone has the right to live life to the full. After a diagnosis of a chest or heart condition or a stroke, many people experience fear and isolation and struggle with the impact on their lives. Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland won’t stand for that. The care and support we deliver every day ensures everyone can live the life they want to. About Retail: We currently have around 50 shops/ community hubs across Scotland. Our shops and hubs help us raise funds so we can provide our services to the people who need us. Every one of our stores relies on a team of volunteers to help run it and support our staff. Quite simply, we cannot provide our services or raise funds without the amazing support of our volunteers. The time, support and the work they do is vital to us and the people we help. By helping out in one of our stores, you can make a difference to people and their families in Scotland who are isolated, scared or anxious about their condition. About Your Role: This is an opportunity to undertake a satisfying and rewarding role. As part of our team of volunteers, you will provide customer support, whilst working in a friendly atmosphere, providing an extremely useful and appreciated service to the Charity. The role includes: • Welcoming and assisting customers • Customer service and sales service • Stock control • Sorting donations • Hanging and ticketing stock • Helping to keep store clean and tidy

To work in shops assisting customers with purchasing of goods, preparing items for sale, providing customer advice & taking payments for goods. Volunteers will learn new skills, gain experience to add to CV, meet like-minded people & be able to take pride in helping others within their own community. Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) offer advice, support and practical help to people to get their lives back on track after a stroke or diagnosis of a chest or heart condition. Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Retail team currently operates 34 shops across Scotland. Volunteers play a huge part in the running of our stores and our retail chain could not function without the support they provide. Our shops are open to increase profits for Chest, Heart & Stroke & to help meet customer demand for our support services.

Are you interested in gaining more experience as a treasurer? Have you a lot of time on your hands? Can you commit long-term? If so, then we want you. Be part of something great, meet people and gain confidence. You will get satisfaction from making a real difference to the lives of our members and the local community. •As a member of the COGS Committee you will be responsible for keeping all financial records and look after all monies within the group and bank as required. •Maintain accurate records/receipts of all income and expenditure regularly. •Counting and banking all monies as soon as possible. •Preparing yearly accounts for OSCR working with an Independent Examiner. •Give monthly update to committee and give yearly report at AGM with balance sheet. •Assisting with funding applications.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Volunteer Recruiter: Time to meet and greet your local community. Become an important member of the British Heart Foundation team and help to support not only your local store but BHF research into heart and circulatory disease. We need volunteers who are chatty, friendly and willing to follow our volunteering guidelines to help us recruit more like minded people. Get involved with your community, face to face and web based, placing adverts online and making contacts within the local colleges and job centers. Join your local team and help to introduce people to the wonderful world of volunteering and our lifesaving research into heart disease. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer but we are leading the fight against it. Volunteering Changes Lives. Electrical Function Tester: If you like playing with different gadgets, figuring out how they work and making sure they are safe to use this is the perfect volunteering role for you. We’re looking for people like you to test the electrical equipment that is donated to us making sure it is suitable and safe for sale before moving on to the final stage of appliance testing. We will give you all the training you need to be able to safely and confidently carry out this role. So if you have an interest in electrical items, can work in a safe and organised manner and would like to broaden your skill set pop down to your local Furniture & Electrical store for more information and join the BHF team. Perfect for enhancing your CV and skills set.

The East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative (CEI) is seeking volunteers to help deliver its Nature Network Legacy project, which aims to restore peatland habitats in the Coalfield area between April 2018 and March 2020. As a volunteer you will play a vital role in helping to monitor habitat health, carry out practical management and record wildlife. Our activities will help you gain skills in nature conversation and species identification, and together we'll explore local wildlife hot-spots. Volunteers of all ages are welcome, but under-16's must be accompanied by an adult. No experience is necessary but activities will require walking across boggy, uneven ground.

A volunteer will be a befriender to an older person within the community in East Ayrshire, building up a relationship over time to make a positive difference to an older person’s life. Volunteers will provide support and encouragement to an older person to participate in local activities. In general, a good foundation to befriending is: Build a good relationship; establish and maintain appropriate boundaries within the befriending relationship; support befriender to become involved in community and leisure activities; to be accepting, understanding and non-judgemental; to help the befriendee feel secure and relaxed; to acknowledge positive skills and qualities that the befriendee may have; to attend meetings and training sessions as required.

Summary of organisation: * Action on Hearing Loss is the Royal national charity helping people confronting deafness, tinnitus and hearing loss to live the life they choose. We enable individuals to take control of their lives and remove the barriers in their way, giving people support and care, developing technology and treatments, and campaigning for equality. We’ve got 100 years of experience providing care and support to deaf people with additional needs. * We give invaluable advice and practical assistance to people with hearing loss, making sure that their quality of life is not limited. We develop new technology, like listening devices and real-time text systems, to make communication easier for millions of people. We fight to raise awareness of the issues and injustices faced by people who have a hearing loss, and to highlight the dangers of loud music and other excessive noise. Full Description of Opportunity: This is your chance to join our Community Hearing Support Service at Action on Hearing Loss Scotland and support service users on how to get the most from their hearing aids. You will act a useful link between service users and the local health services as well as carrying out basic hearing aid maintenance and support. You will receive training from local audiology services in addition to a full induction process. We also ensure that you receive ongoing support from your project manager throughout your time with us. Having this service available reduces the need for people to travel to hospitals for basic hearing aid support and has significantly benefited local NHS audiology departments by enabling audiologists to focus on more demanding tasks. We're very ambitious about shaping a better future for the 945,000 people who are deaf or have a hearing loss across Scotland. You can help us make a real difference to people affected in your community by sharing your skills, experience, energy, enthusiasm and commitment. We couldn’t help the people we do without the support of our wonderful volunteers. In our recent volunteer satisfaction survey, 91% of volunteers said they would recommend us as a good place to volunteer, and 94% agreed that they found their volunteer role motivating and interesting. What skills would be useful to have? * Willing to learn, or have existing knowledge about issues affecting deaf and hard of hearing people, particularly older people; * Friendly, reliable and approachable manner; * Good communication skills for questions and to answer appropriately; * Happy to work with a wide range of people especially the elderly.