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.
Are you looking to make a positive difference in a young person's life? Could you spend regular time with a young person (8-18 years old) sharing a hobby or activity on a fortnightly basis?
We are looking to recruit volunteers from Summer 2023.
With social isolation, inequality and child poverty on the rise, the need for befrienders to support young people to increase their confidence, achieve personal goals and make links in their local community, is more important than ever.
If you are passionate about the wellbeing of children and young people- join the North Lanarkshire Befriending Project today! We support children and young people who are isolated and face a range of life challenges and barriers including children who are Young Carers.
Once trained and matched to a young person with similar interests, the befriender and young person meet every fortnight to take part in a fun activity or group.
For example, you could meet for a hot chocolate, nature walks, a gym class, bowling or the cinema. There may be particular activities that the young person would like to take part in but we also encourage volunteer befrienders to introduce ideas for new activities when appropriate.
Befrienders will give a young person a positive role model in their life by passing on their skills and experience, enabling them to try new experiences and simply providing them with a few hours of fun. By committing to just a couple of hours every fortnight, you could make a real difference where it is needed the most.
Volunteering Matters are a national volunteering charity. We are looking "Family Support/Mentor" Volunteers in the City of Edinburgh, who can offer practical, social and emotional support to a local family in need.
Our Family Supporters programme recruits, trains and supports volunteers, matching them 1:1 with parents and families facing a range of life challenges and barriers. Volunteers help families, spending 1:1 time together on a personalised set of goals chosen by the family, for the family.
These goals may including achieving improved living standards, building confidence and soft skills, budgeting, healthier eating, better school life, improving health and wellbeing or introducing parents to community resources, and lots more.
If you have an understanding of the challenges that families are facing and would like to use your life experiences and skills to support others, this could be the role for you!
As a volunteer, you will build a strong relationship based on trust and mutual respect, acting as a friendly face who listens and cares about the family.
Volunteering Matters is a national volunteering charity. We bring people together, through the power of volunteering, to overcome some of society’s most complex issues. One of our most successful projects across the UK is RSVP - the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme. People who have time on their hands, particularly those who are aged 50+, develop, organise and run a range of activities in their local communities.
In Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire, RSVP runs a Handyperson Project which is led by volunteers. Our team help older people, or people with disabilities, with small and minor maintenance tasks. The tasks we complete for people are varied, normally taking less than 2 hours. Examples include unblocking sinks, putting up shelves, building flatpack furniture, changing lightbulbs, rewiring plugs, replacing smoke alarm batteries, and hanging mirrors, curtains, or blinds.
It can be challenging to find a tradesperson willing to do such minor tasks which can be difficult or even dangerous for some people to do these tasks themselves – particularly if they are older, frail, or have a disability. Our service is free although the service user pays for any supplies e.g. washers or lightbulbs etc. Donations are welcomed from those who access it.
Tasks included in the role
Contact clients to arrange a suitable time for the task
Carry out task
Record task completion using an on-line report form
Accept donations if offered, record and hand in so they can be banked.
Volunteers receive full support from the Handyperson team as well as travel expenses and health & safety equipment.
The days of the week and hours available are completely flexible and we will work around the volunteer and what spare time they have. If you are interested in volunteering, or you know someone who could do with some help around the house, then please contact us.