Volunteering Matters

Charity registered in Scotland SC039171

Our vision is of a society where everyone can participate in their local community through volunteering and social action.


Current opportunities

Give the gift of your time and become a volunteer mentor for young people. It could be life changing for you both! Would you like to support a young person on their journey to gaining new skills and experience, becoming more self-confident and achieving their goals? If the answer is yes, we would love to hear from you. Why mentoring? Mentoring is at the heart of what we do here at ProjectScotland and we offer every young person we support, the opportunity to be matched with a volunteer mentor. We are searching for people in Dundee who are able to offer one hour of their time once a week or fortnight for up to 12 months to help transform the life of someone else. The young people we work with all face different challenges in their lives such as; mental ill health, long term unemployment, low confidence and self esteem, care experienced, limited English communication skills due to being new to this country or disabilities. As a volunteer mentor, you could support your mentee with whatever is important to them. This could be: goal setting; identifying interests and strengths; confidence building; helping to establish a routine; support to explore job, training and further education opportunities; social connections; or just someone consistent to talk to and check in with to see how they are. The support you can offer is invaluable and can be life changing. How does it work? • Following recruitment, we provide training, support to join the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme, ongoing support, access to lots of resources and a wonderful community of mentors across the country to connect with, learn from and build friendships with. • you are matched to one young person and meet with them once a week or fortnight for around one hour • meetings can be face to face or virtual using email/telephone/video chat/WhatsApp. There is also an opportunity to do a mixture of the two which offers a flexible and accessible approach to this volunteering role in addition to the match itself. •matches can last from 3-12 months depending upon the relationship and the needs of the mentee What’s in it for you? • Help transform your mentee’s life • Develop communication and interpersonal skills e.g. coaching, motivating others, adaptability • Gain transferable skills and experience volunteering with disadvantaged people • Participate in regular support and training • Meet new people, connect and have fun! • Learn about yourself and gain a sense of achievement supporting others • Learn more about your community and the challenges that people can face If you are interested in this opportunity please email: alice.carbone@volunteeringmatters.org.uk We would love to hear from you! More info about ProjectScotland: ProjectScotland (now part of the Volunteering Matters Family of Brands) works with people (predominantly young people) across the country who are struggling to overcome challenges such as social isolation, mental health issues, low confidence and general uncertainty about their futures. By providing wrap around support and the chance to complete a voluntary placement with a local charity; not only can this enhance confidence and self-belief, but it gives that individual the opportunity to build on their skills and experience and potentially move on to a job, further education or training. Everyone we work with is also offered a volunteer mentor.

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) encourages and supports people aged 55+ to volunteer in their local communities. Across Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire we run 5 projects involving hundreds of volunteers. These include volunteering activities within local hospitals and primary schools, charitable knitting groups, a walking group for older people, and a community Handyperson Service. We are looking to recruit new volunteers at the Bellfield Centre in Stirling with several volunteering roles available. Our volunteers provide important support to the NHS, with the aim of making a visit to the hospital a better experience for patients and visitors. Volunteers contribute to the well-being of patients and visitors by being a listening ear, a helpful and friendly face or even helping with a cup of tea. Our volunteers feel valued, make new friends and keep active in retirement.

Grandmentors is an award winning inter-generational mentoring programme, matching volunteer mentors (normally but not exclusively those aged 50+) who have a range of life skills and experiences, with young people aged 16-26 who are care experienced or who have "adverse childhood experiences". Grandmentors has now launched in Perth and Kinross in 2022 for the first time! Our volunteer mentors help young people navigate the transition to independence into adulthood, by guiding them through life skills such as managing finances, accessing employment, education and training, and supporting their health and wellbeing. This opportunity is for volunteers (normally aged 50+) who have life experience and skills to offer. However, if you are younger than 50 and feel you could offer valuable support, please do apply or contact us to discuss further. It is important that you have good people skills, communication skills, patience, and can offer a regular commitment of a few hours per week (weekly or fortnightly). This role requires a PVG check which we will process for you after you apply to become a mentor. We provide our volunteers with comprehensive induction training, all on-going support, volunteer expenses and lots of other great benefits including the chance to make a difference to a young adult in need.

Give the gift of an hour a week, by becoming a Mentor to a Young Person aged 14-25 in West Lothian. It could be life changing for you both! Would you like to support a young person on their journey to gaining new skills and experience, becoming more self-confident and achieving their goals? If the answer is yes, we would love to hear from you. Why mentoring? Mentoring is at the heart of what we do here at ProjectScotland and we offer every young person we support, the opportunity to be matched with a volunteer mentor. We are searching for people in and around West Lothian who are able to offer one hour of their time once a week or fortnight for up to 12 months to help transform the life of someone else aged 14-25. The young people we work with all face different challenges in their lives such as poor school attendance, poor mental health, low confidence and self esteem, lack of employment opportunities, limited English skills or other life barriers and challenges. Some of the young people we support have been involved in negative behaviour. As a volunteer mentor, you could support your mentee with whatever is important to them. This could be: goal setting; identifying interests and strengths; confidence building; helping to establish a routine; support to explore job, training and further education opportunities; social connections; or just someone consistent to talk to and check in with to see how they are. The support you can offer is invaluable and can be life changing. How does it work? We will ask you to take part in our safe recruitment process, such as completing a PVG check, before we offer you some training which will prepare you and set you up to be a great mentor! After that, we offer lots of ongoing support, access to guides and resources, plus the chance to join our wonderful network of volunteer mentors across Edinburgh and the Lothians. You are "matched" to one young person and meet with them once a week or fortnight for around one hour . Matches can last anywhere from 3-12 months, or sometimes longer, depending upon the relationship and the needs of the mentee What’s in it for you? • Help transform your mentee’s life • Develop communication and interpersonal skills e.g. coaching, motivating others, adaptability • Gain transferable skills and experience volunteering with disadvantaged people • Participate in regular support and training • Meet new people, connect and have fun! • Learn about yourself and gain a sense of achievement supporting others • Learn more about your community and the challenges that people can face . We are looking for mentors from diverse experiences and backgrounds. We aren't looking for specific qualifications, skills or experience- just a passion to support a young person and an hour to spare. Our current mentors are; stay at home parents/carers, students, retired, professionals, entrepreneurs and everything in between. We'd love to here from you, express your interest today!