Parkruns are free, weekly, 5km events, bringing communities together in public parks and open spaces to have some fun in a friendly, social and supportive environment. The event at Rozelle Park in Ayr is held every Saturday morning with heaps of different ways to volunteer, including setting up the event, marshalling, timekeeping, scanning, handing out finish tokens or tail walking, to name just a few. It’s really simple to get involved: - Register once for free on our website - you will get a unique parkrun ID - Send the event an email or message on Facebook about helping out. - Come along on Saturday morning and have a fun morning helping in the community and meeting new people. The minimum age to formally volunteer is 16, although families with children over 4 are welcome to lend a hand. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. No training is required, roles are fully supported on the day and you can take part as often or as little as you would like to at any parkrun event. If you want to meet new people, have fun, learn new skills, use your skills, build confidence and contribute in a positive way to your community, helping at parkrun is a great place to start! Do you love having fun, love meeting people, love making Ayr a healthier and happier place…then we’d love to hear from you.

Get connected to your local community in this role with Burghead and Cummingston Community Council and also gain some valuable admin skills too! The Community Council is looking for a volunteer to help with taking minutes at their meetings. This is a role open to anyone over 16 years of age. Meetings are held monthly on the first Thursday of the month, at 7pm, and are currently being held in Burghead Community Hall. This is an accessible venue. Other admin duties can be discussed with the community council. An honorarium payment can be awarded. For more information please contact the chairperson on cummingston@gmail.com

Craving for a reason to get outside? Enjoy nature and being outdoors? Want to learn more about growing your own veg, or maybe even do some tree planting? Friends of Forres Woods and Fields are looking for volunteers who'd like to to help these community spaces and welcome new people to get involved. In the summer months, the volunteer focus is with their beautiful Community & Children's garden - a 1-acre space to grow and harvest your own vegetables. Coming autumn and winter, volunteers look to the woodlands to manage invasive species, plant trees and make insect habitats. Tasks are suited to most abilities, and the team are always happy to find a task that is right for you and can fit your interests, but if you are unsure, don't hesitate to contact for more information. Volunteering take place mornings Wednesday and Saturday from 10:00 - 13:00. Want to have a go? Please get in touch via forresfriends@gmail.com!

Burghead Amenities Association has a wonderful community garden in Burghead which is enjoyed by people of all generations and abilities. They have various flower beds, a sensory garden, play area for toddlers, and hopefully soon they will have an outdoor gym for all ages and abilities. There is ample scope for people to help with all aspects of the garden, from simple weeding, to assisting them on maintenance, designing and caring vegetables. No Skills are required as there will be people around to learn from, to do whatever is needed. The garden is run totally by volunteers, most of whom have no horticultural training, but they all learn from each other and help each other. This is mostly physical work, so people that have difficulty or pain bending and kneeling may want to restrict their time allocation for helping. The local primary children come over with their teachers from the school. All ages are welcome, but children will need to be accompanied by an adult. Volunteers help one hour on a Monday evening and two hours on Saturday mornings. Get in touch if you would like to find out more! https://www.facebook.com/pg/burgheadstationyard/about

Wave Radio is a broadcasting service for the wellbeing of patients at Dr Gray’s Hospital -- and by broadcasting online, they aim to bring the community into the hospital and the hospital into the community. This volunteering opportunity is also a great one if you have a love in music. They are not just looking for people to present on air, but would also welcome people who have a bit of spare time to catalogue music or music production. For people interested in any of their presenter slots, please know these programmes can be pre-recorded for broadcast at a later time. Right now, volunteers can do their shows from home, through the studios at Dr. Grays. Volunteers who have an interest in specific musical genre (i.e./Classical, show tunes, soul etc. ) or have a wide musical taste can find out more about how to help with their breakfast, afternoon and early evening programmes. Wave Radio is run entirely by volunteers and donations. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about volunteering with them!

This wonderful railway is operated entirely by volunteers and maintenance work to keep this railway in top shape has not stopped during the pandemic. Throughout the year a vast programme of work is undertaken by volunteers, ranging from working on the track, running the trains to rolling stock maintenance and building maintenance… and the list goes on. In fact, many of our volunteers try their hand at most of these various jobs as and when required – and a significant number started volunteering without having specialist skills in these areas in the first place. If you would like to lend a hand at the Railway, spend some time doing something truly hands-on, let us know.

Moray Reach Out (MRO) helps adults with disabilities gain a real sense of purpose and pride. We provide a safe space for individuals to grow and achieve. Adults with disabilities gain a real sense of purpose and pride, participating in meaningful work placements; creating products and providing services supported by our devoted staff and volunteers. We currently have four training sites in Elgin and Buckie and a broad range of projects: MRO Yarns & Crafts, MRO Embroidery, MRO Recycling Buckie & Elgin, MRO Thrift Shop, MRO Art Yarn and MRO Upcycling. Each social enterprise consists of two aspects: training and trading. They all provide valuable opportunities to our trainees, while also offering high quality products and services that the trainees are proud to be involved in. If any of these projects are of interest to you and you have skills that can help our trainees, please contact us for more information. PVG is required, costs for this will be reimbursed by MRO.

Moray Firth Credit Union is getting ready to open its outreach service in Buckie and are looking for people who would like to be part of a team of volunteer tellers. They are also looking for a couple of people who may be to volunteer in Elgin, as the service is re-opening for one day per week, for a couple of hours. The Moray Firth Credit Union is looking for people who want to give something back to the community. (A credit union is like a community bank where we accept people's savings that then gets added to a pool of money from which members can apply for a low cost loan) The volunteer tellers are the face of the credit union, in that the teller the is responsible for the front desk, takes money, enters the transaction into the computer and gives the member a receipt for their transaction. The volunteer teller position is ideal for those who can handle money, who have a smattering of computer experience, who can exchange pleasantries and who can answer the telephone. There is enough in this volunteer position to not be boring and to not be too hard!

One of Scotland's Great Trails, The Dava Way, is maintained entirely by volunteers...Could you join the team for the occasional Saturday? The Dava Way links the 24 miles between Forres and Grantown mostly following the route of the dismantled Highland Railway Line and is used by thousands of walkers, cyclists and horse riders each year. It is maintained by members of the Forres-based Dava Way Association and funded by donations and occasional grants from local and national charities. The Association organises monthly maintenance days to clear drainage and cut back undergrowth and fallen trees so that the path remains usable. As well as maintenance tasks, the volunteers are progressively improving the track as and when funding permits. Key to the ongoing success of the Dava Way is the team of volunteers who give their time to maintain the trail. Please consider joining the team on a regular or even occasional basis.

Scotland Versus Arthritis is looking for individuals willing to lead short health walks in your area, lead on other physical activities, or facilitate virtual support groups. Full training and on-going support for volunteers will be available. We are also looking for expressions of interest from anyone keen to become an instructor of Tai Chi or Qi Gong for arthritis. The current Covid restrictions have meant that for many the wait for treatment may be a year or more away. Painkilling prescriptions are seldom more than a temporary relief. Support and exercise can however offer a better way to self manage the daily on-going pain and fatigue. In readiness for the eventual lifting of lockdown we are asking, can you spare an hour or two each month to help? Please contact your local Development Officer, Dr. P. Neville, p.neville@versusarthritis.org or phone 07501 501114 for details.