The Lawfield Walking Bus was established a year ago and enables children to walk to school in safe, supervised groups. The Bus concept is a safe, healthy and environmentally friendly approach to walking large groups of children to school. Each Bus has an adult 'Driver' at the front and an adult 'Conductor' at the rear. We sing songs, play instruments and tell stories on the way to school. The Bus can only be sustained if volunteers are available to be the Driver or Conductor, even on a rota basis. The children walk to school in a group along a set route picking up additional 'passengers' from home along the way. Everyone wears a reflective harness connected to a "Walkodile". The number of walking buses will depend on the number of children who are interested. We operate the buses every day for the journey to school.

>About Bud Bud is Poppyscotland’s brand new vehicle for exploration and learning, a truck that transforms into a mobile community space, comprising a mini poppy factory, micro-museum and with interactive learning opportunities. Bud is an interactive experience that encourages visitors to create their personal remembrance journey through exploring the exhibits. It is helping us keep remembrance relevant all year round. >About the opportunity: As a Bud Veteran Volunteer, you will support the delivery of the Bud project when Bud is in your area. This could see you supporting in one of the key tasks below: -Carrying out talks to groups (schools, girl guides, brownies, cubs, cadets etc.) members of the public and community organisations who are visiting Bud, or who you are visiting -Actively engage with small groups of visitors, answering questions about Bud and remembrance -Taking part in group discussions about the challenges – both positive and negative - faced by the Armed Forces community -To be flexible in the performance of the post and undertake duties requested by the Bud Team -Encourage people to complete the on-board evaluation at end of visit -Inform people of volunteering opportunities available through Bud project -Support the staff team in set up and take down at visits and events. Support staff in the delivery of activities with schools, groups and public visitors >Benefits for you: -Carrying out a range of interesting and rewarding duties -Having access to appropriate training for the role -You will have the opportunity to meet a wide range of new people -Building on your existing skills and developing new ones -Being part of a friendly, committed team -Attending local events A fantastic opportunity to help PoppyScotland and be part of the exciting Bud Project. All help makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. For more details please contact Sandra Comrie, Bud Volunteer Support Coordinator at E Mail: s.comrie@poppyscotland.org.uk or tel. 07808261076.

Peep is looking for caring and enthusiastic volunteers who would like to help at our baby and toddler groups throughout the city. We offer free groups that promote attachment based activities (i.e. singing, book sharing, different types of play) to parents and carers in Aberdeen. Our groups are very popular with most having a waitlist, but as a small team we can only offer so many sessions. We’re initially looking for volunteers to help us at the groups but there is a potential for volunteers to receive training to eventually deliver their own Peep groups. If singing and playing with small children isn’t for you, we’re also looking for volunteers to help us with our resource library. Our library has approximately 5000 items and it is a job in itself to keep it up to date. Our library needs someone who can help us clean, sort, repair, and develop new resources that can be used at groups. Although not essential, we appreciate volunteers who can and are willing to sew and be crafty! For further details please contact Natasha Martens, Peep Coordinator at E Mail: nmartens@aberdeencity.gov.uk or tel.: 01224 248389.

The Clackmannanshire Befriending Project recruit and train volunteers to befriend isolated, vulnerable and disadvantaged young people (aged 8-18) in the local area. Volunteers are matched one to one with a young person, meet them on a regular basis and participate in activities in the community. This could be after school, in the evening or at weekends, depending on volunteer availability. Befrienders are to be reliable, trusting and a positive role model. Activities are “timeout” for young people who often live in difficult circumstances. These young people often benefit from an adult befriender who they can talk to and trust, as well as providing them with a reason to get out of the house. The project helps young people with their social skills, self-esteem, school attendance/ performance, resilience, personal safety/ health and relationships. Young people are referred from local schools, social work or other partners. Befrienders are aged 18 years or over, have spare time on a regular basis and are committed to befriending for a minimum period of 12 months. If you are interested, contact us today for an informal chat.

The School Mock Court Case Project SCIO is seeking an interested volunteer for the role of Grant Officer. Our budget is currently very limited and we rely heavily on community donations and volunteers. We are looking for someone to help secure the funding that this worthwhile project needs. The candidate will monitor the year’s calendar ensuring that trusts are applied for before deadlines. They will also use their research skills to look for new trusts, assessing if they are compatible with our project's strategy and funding requirements. This role involves liaising with fundraising entities so we can consider if the project meets requirements of individual trusts. The Project was started in the 2009 with some 40 children and two schools taking part. In the 2018/19 academic year the project will work with 100 schools and around 3,000 students across all mainland Scotland.

"My mentor tells me that I am good enough. She makes me believe in myself as well. I haven’t had a lot of times where someone tells me that I’m good enough or ‘you can do it'." Shannon, Mentored young person. MCR Pathways is Scottish charity that is looking for volunteers to mentor local disadvantaged pupils like Shannon. Mentors are matched with a young person and provide a caring, listening ear for just one hour a week at school. Mentoring takes place at St Machar Academy, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen for one hour a week during the school day. Our vision is that every care-experienced and disadvantaged young person in Scotland gets the same education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as every other young person. All help makes a real difference and excellent support is provided to all volunteers. Mentors don’t need any special skills or experience, but should be good listeners, caring, non-judgmental and committed. Mentors receive full introductory and ongoing training and are supported by a full-time MCR Pathways Coordinator. For further details please contact Roxanne Card, MCR Pathways Coordinator at E Mail: roxanne.card@mcrpathways.org, Tel No: 01224 492855 or register via our website at www.mcrpathways.org/get-involved/

*Are you passionate about cycling and walking? *Could you inspire young people to cycle or walk more? Volunteer with I Bike!* I Bike is a really fun and rewarding project to volunteer with that offers plenty of opportunities to get outdoors for cycling-related activities, boost the CV, gain experience of work with children and young people, meet new people and learn new skills. Good training and support is provided to all volunteers including induction, Safeguarding Training, Essential Cycling Skills and Bike Repairs. I Bike aims to help children and young people become more active through taking part in cycling and walking activities. You would be volunteering alongside a dedicated I Bike Officer in an Aberdeen school(s), supporting activities for children such as learn to cycle, playground cycle skills, led bike rides, led walks, bike maintenance and much more! What could be better than helping children to ride their bike without stabilisers for the first time! We find that our volunteers value their improved skills and knowledge and often feel their own prospects improve as a result of volunteering. It’s a great way to do something for others and research shows that volunteering benefits people of all ages through increasing feelings of self-esteem, respect, motivation and wellbeing. For more details please contact Helen McCafferty, I Bike Volunteer Officer at E Mail: helen.mccafferty@sustrans.org.uk or tel.: 07768 034729.

>About Bud Bud is Poppyscotland’s brand new vehicle for exploration and learning, a truck that transforms into a mobile community space, comprising a mini poppy factory, micro-museum and with interactive learning opportunities. Bud is an interactive experience that encourages visitors to create their personal remembrance journey through exploring the exhibits. It is helping us keep remembrance relevant all year round. >About the opportunity: As a Bud Heritage Volunteer, you will support the delivery of the Bud project when Bud is in your area. This could see you supporting in one of the key tasks below: -Welcome members of the public and groups (schools, girl guides, brownies, cubs, cadets etc.) visiting Bud on their arrival -To deliver activities both indoor and outdoor as planned by the Bud team -To assist with evaluation of Bud by encouraging feedback and collecting data -To be flexible in the performance of the post and undertake duties requested by the Bud team -Support the staff team in set up and take down at visits and events. Support staff in the delivery of activities with schools, groups and public visitors >Benefits for you: -Having access to appropriate training for the role -You will have the opportunity to meet a wide range of new people -Building on your existing skills and developing new ones -Being part of a friendly, committed team -Attending local events A fantastic opportunity to help PoppyScotland and be part of the exciting Bud Project. All help makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. For more details please contact Sandra Comrie, Bud Volunteer Support Coordinator at E Mail: s.comrie@poppyscotland.org.uk or tel. 07808261076.

The Friends of Blairs Loch is a group of volunteers who are working to create a special place for recreation and education. Formed in 2017 they have been working to reopen the water at Loch of Blairs for trout fishing, extending the footpath network around the loch and refurbishing and redeveloping the Boat House and adjacent buildings as a field study facility for local schools and groups. Currently, we are renovating the boat shed at Blairs Loch. Volunteers are doing general outdoor labouring. No specific skill sets are a prerequisite but if someone has a particular skill that they can bring that would be great!

Our shops help raise lots of money for children living in the UK and in 120 countries worldwide. It’s always lovely chatting to our customers about the fabulous items we sell and telling them about the fantastic work that Save the Children does. You’ll get the chance to meet new people and make friends plus you’ll be part of an amazing team of volunteers. There’s so much for you to get stuck in to when you’re volunteering in our shops. We get lots of donations and it's always exciting when one of our volunteers spots a real gem. You'll be taking in, sorting, steaming and pricing donations, rolling up your sleeves in the backroom as well as being on the shop floor. Serving customers with a smile is so important. You’ll be using the till (don't worry, we'll show you how) and handling money. And when people come in to donate items you'll also be completing the Gift Aid forms that let their donations help us even more. It’s really important that our window and shop displays look appealing so people keep visiting our shops. So you'll be wielding a duster and vacuum as well as your imagination to make the shop look its best. It would be ideal if you could volunteer one shift a week, which is about four hours but we're also happy to have more flexible times. No special skills are needed as we’ll show you what to do and we provide all the training you’ll need. But if you have any experience or particular interest tell us, it may come in useful. It’s really easy to get your volunteering started. If you're over 18 years old, just click on ‘Apply’ and get filling in your details!