The Young People’s Befriending Project is expanding its horizons and hoping to support even more children and young people in Orkney this year. The service has lowered its referral age to 5 years old and is simultaneously developing a more intentional, mentoring approach to the older young people it supports. The Volunteering Team is looking to expand once again so that the Project can offer this support to more of Orkney’s young people. All you need are a few free hours every fortnight, an enthusiasm to work alongside a child or young person, a hobby or interest to share, and a friendly and kind personality – and we’ll take care of the rest.

Our Virtual Home Assessors play a vital role in delivery of our service by interviewing potential volunteer pet foster carers to assess their house, home situation and the fosterer. All of our home assessments are currently carried out either by telephone interview only (for cats,birds and small animals) or by video call (Zoom/WhatsApp) for dogs. You can choose to be involved in one or both of the methods available. You will be contacted by the Home Assessment Coordinator when a new applicant becomes available. Main tasks include; contacting the potential fosterer by telephone/email/text to arrange a suitable date and time for the home assessment to take place. Once confirmed to carry out the assessment by either telephone or video. A home assessment form will be provided to you for completion during the call which covers the criterias required by PFSS for the potential fosterer to be accepted. Once completed this form is then to be uploaded onto our database via our website volunteer team page.

We are looking for volunteers who would like to send regular letters to a CHAS referred child or sibling. You will send a letter to a child/young person either once or twice a month (this is dependant on whether you get a reply or not) for at least a year. What activities will I be involved in? Writing letters to children Quarterly catch up sessions for letter writing volunteers You will manage or access sensitive and confidential medical and personal information regarding the children and families accessing our services What skills and abilities will I need to have? Ability to write a letter to a child or young person using appropriate and child friendly language Good written communication skills An ability to represent CHAS enthusiastically and appropriately Adhere to rules around GDPR and a strong understanding of confidentiality Shared values with the organisation: respect, care, honesty, accountability How much time should I offer? 1 hour a month What ongoing learning/support/guidance will I receive? It’s important to us that you feel happy, safe and confident in your role. As a CHAS volunteer you will be invited to complete a short core learning package that is tailored to your role. We are always developing new opportunities for volunteers to learn and offer a range of options for volunteers. What are the benefits to me? Learning new skills Getting more involved and making a real difference to the families of children with a life-shortening condition. Adding to your CV Meeting new people Having fun! What are the benefits to the children and families supported by CHAS? Writing letters to siblings and children/young people who use CHAS will mean they will receive something in the post just for them. This is a great way to help spread joy. What else should I know? This role is for those aged 16+ and requires a basic disclosure certificate. We will pay your out of pocket expenses in line with the CHAS volunteer expenses policy. CHAS is committed to providing a quality volunteering experience to all volunteers free from discrimination and prejudice. This will ensure that CHAS is an equal, diverse, and inclusive organisation while improving the quality of care we provide to help us reach more families and children, and maximise a wide variety of knowledge, experience and expertise. We welcome volunteer applications from those who are refugees, asylum seekers, benefit claimants and those with a disability. We can provide more information on if you are allowed to volunteer and what adjustments we can put in place to ensure your volunteering experience is a positive one. What’s the next step? If you’re interested in the role you can apply online at https://www.chas.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/volunteer-application-form or if you have any questions please contact the Volunteering Team at volunteering@chas.org.uk or 01577 866065.

Cruse Scotland supports bereaved adults, children and young people across Scotland. We are currently looking for new volunteers to help staff our helpline and to offer practice placement places for students completing counselling diploma and degree courses. Gain valuable experience and training to enable you to make a real difference to people’s lives. Helpline supporters are the first point of contact for bereaved people seeking support by telephone and email. You don’t have to be a trained counsellor. We provide full training and supervision. Volunteers can work remotely. Practice Placement for students can provide valuable experience in the area of grief and be of huge benefit with interpersonal and communication skills

We are Citizens of Cyber, our mission is to bring together cyber-specialists and connect individuals and professional bodies, to support and assist in cyber-education and the development of safer online practices, aimed at people of all ages and knowledge levels. We wish to use our professional network to keep up to date with the activities of hackers and online scammers and produce resources for use by schools, groups, and individuals, whether online, offline, or through face-to-face sessions. We want cyber-users to know how to protect themselves and others online, whilst being confident and making the best of their online interactions, and still remain within the confines of the law while doing so. In addition, we aim to ensure that support is available for anyone affected by negative interactions online and to help anyone who finds themselves in cyber-related difficulties. Our volunteers are at the heart of what we do and it is important for us to ensure we provide the best working environment possible. Volunteers work remotely during hours they set, our team focuses on ensuring clear deliverables are identified and agreed to allow volunteers to manage their own time. Meetings with the whole team will be held regularly to make sure everyone knows each other and work together. Role includes but is not limited too: Provide advice and guidance on equality and diversity issues; Actively promote equality and diversity within Citizens of Cyber and the wider community; Raise awareness of diversity issues both within schools/at events and within Citizens of Cyber; Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of anti-discriminatory legislation; Develop systems for reporting any incidents of discrimination and where required, respond to complaints and provide further information on options for complainants; Present reports and recommendations for how best to comply with equality legislation; Responsible for ensuring the practices of Citizens of Cyber follow legal requirements by translating equality legislation in to practice; Assist web teams in ensuring website is fully accessible; and Report back to the CEO and Board on a regular basis.

We are Citizens of Cyber, our mission is to bring together cyber-specialists and connect individuals and professional bodies, to support and assist in cyber-education and the development of safer online practices, aimed at people of all ages and knowledge levels. We wish to use our professional network to keep up to date with the activities of hackers and online scammers and produce resources for use by schools, groups, and individuals, whether online, offline, or through face-to-face sessions. We want cyber-users to know how to protect themselves and others online, whilst being confident and making the best of their online interactions, and still remain within the confines of the law while doing so. In addition, we aim to ensure that support is available for anyone affected by negative interactions online and to help anyone who finds themselves in cyber-related difficulties. Our volunteers are at the heart of what we do and it is important for us to ensure we provide the best working environment possible. Volunteers work remotely during hours they set, our team focuses on ensuring clear deliverables are identified and agreed to allow volunteers to manage their own time. Meetings with the whole team will be held regularly to make sure everyone knows each other and work together. Role includes but is not limited too: Identify areas/resources from Citizens of Cyber which require further research/development; Identify potential sources of funding and prepare funding applications; Identify new audiences which would benefit from the resources offered by Citizens of Cyber; Assist in the production of materials to aid in reaching out to new audiences for Citizens of Cyber; Validate information/materials produced by Citizens of Cyber for accuracy and reliability through the use of multiple trustworthy sources; Research and advise Citizens of Cyber volunteers on trustworthy sources of information; Advise Citizens of Cyber volunteers on how to identify trustworthy information and how to best validate information used in their roles; You will be speaking/teaching/ working with young children and vulnerable adults as a volunteer of Citizens of Cyber.

We are a small voluntary group that promotes the use of Fairtrade goods in Orkney, and publicises the work of the Fair Trade movement. We need help with setting up and making the most of social media for publicity and promotion. We have a Facebook page and maintain this but need to keep it lively and appealing with links to other relevant pages. We are open to new ideas. This can all be done very flexibly and from home of course, and to suit the volunteer’s availability. It needs a commitment for at least six months initially to get processes well established and members trained up to use them. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who wants to use their social media and website skills to make a difference.

Could you help SSAFA reach more supporters and raise greater awareness of our services through the magic of social media and digital marketing? You don’t need a military background, just some basic digital skills, the ability to get on with a wide range of people and good written English. If you have I.T or digital marketing experience, that would be great but not essential. We’d love you to get in touch to find out more.

This is a chance to support Greener Orkney who run the community fridges as well as run beach cleans. They are looking for volunteers to help them make a success of their week at the Blue Door. An opportunity for them to raise funds for their projects. You can help them out by signing up for a shift to man the shop but also donate goods and even bake cakes and biscuits to sell.

Our role is to keep the Centre running as a non-profit to provide meeting spaces for outreach work by local organisations. At present, the small Committee is made up of the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and members from Cathedral Session and congregational/non-congregational members. The Secretary keeps the Committee updated by email on agendas, forthcoming meetings, takes notes at meetings and distributes them afterwards. The role also involves being the lead for a team which compiles a rota of volunteers to staff the Centre from April to September each year. This is done by group email to our existing volunteers and hard copy to those not on email asking them to record their availability for the upcoming season. A simple spreadsheet is used to record this work. The team then use the information to compile the rota. Once a year, at the end of the visitor season, the Secretary writes to all volunteers to invite them to a thank-you tea/coffee and light refreshments afternoon. A volunteer Secretary will be able to use and develop their skills in using email, word processing and maintaining a database of volunteers. In addition, the Secretary plays a key role in supporting the Chair and being part of a small and committed team. It is a role which is greatly appreciated.