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 RSPB Wildlife Explorers need you! Fun, vibrant and important Wildlife Explorer groups across Scotland are looking for assistant leaders to help enthuse the local youth population about wildlife, adventure and exploration of nature. Its bags of fun and gives you the chance to contribute to RSPB Wildlife Explorers (the junior membership of the RSPB); tomorrow's conservationists. The RSPB has over 90 RSPB Wildlife Explorers groups across the UK and wishes to increase this number, so please come help and join in! Right now there are opportunities in the Dumfries area and they are calling out for your skills! The group meet one Sunday a month (usually the first Sunday of the month) at RSPB Scotland Mersehead reserve.

A Board of non-executive directors is sought for school. Position will require infrequent attendance at SMT Meetings and role will also require input and into school development and links with partners

CLASP Digital supports people to make the most of our exciting new digital world: anyone from older people who want to connect with family around the world, to job-seekers wanting to know how to upload a CV, to folk who’ve yet to take the cyber-plunge, and many others besides. We do this by helping people understand how to use digital technology - from smartphones and tablets, to laptops and desktop computers – and to help them get online and achieve their aims by showing them how to navigate the internet safely with the purpose of enhancing their lives. To do this we wish to recruit volunteer Digital Buddies who are able to share their knowledge and experience with others on a non-formal, learner-centred, one-to-one basis. By teaching the Basic Digital Skills you will help people build their confidence to use tablets, phones and computers for their own benefit. Sessions will normally last no more than an hour. Topics will cover email, social media, online shopping, web-searching, problem-solving, helping people keep in touch with friends and family and helping them connect better with service providers. Although you must be competent in the use of smartphones, tablets or computers - it is more important that you have lots of patience and good people skills. CLASP Digital-certificated induction training will be provided. This is an opportunity through which you can make a big difference to people’s lives. The satisfaction you will feel when you see your learner making obvious progress will show just how worthwhile your efforts were!

Volunteers are needed to support adult learners 16+ within our ESOL courses. Volunteers will support the tutor within a class situation or offer 1-1 support within the group. Opportunities are also available to support our conversational cafe. This is a chance for ESOL learners to come along and practice their speaking and listening skills in a relaxed and informal setting.

Lead Scotland volunteers support disabled people and carers to learn. Most learners receive 1-1 support to learn and develop all kinds of skills. Learners may want to brush up on their reading, writing and number skills e.g. learning how to write a shopping list or work on the household budget. Other learners may want to learn to use a computer e.g. to send emails, do online shopping or access Facebook. We take a person-centred approach, which means we listen to what the learner wants to learn, and we can offer tailored learning packages to support them to achieve their goals. The learning can be formal or informal - learners can be supported to achieve a qualification or just simply learn skills to make a difference to everyday life. Copy and paste the following link into your browser for some inspiring stories: http://www.lead.org.uk/learner-of-the-year/

To assist absolute beginners to IT in the basics of using a computer. To be a computer buddy for learners in our Beginners IT class on a Monday morning from 9.30 - 11.30 am each week

This role includes teaching bilingual children and adults. If you can speak fluent Russian you can develop your own subject as long as it sounds interesting and engaging. If you are a native English speaker you can help our Russian speaking parents brush up on their English.

-Volunteer Tutors will be trained to engage with adults who have particular needs in literacy & numeracy. -Volunteer tutors will work in 1:1 situations within a group setting or with small groups of learners with a Group Tutor/Development Worker present for support purposes. -Volunteer tutors should be comfortable with their own literacy skills and do not need to be experts. -Volunteers will assist learners in the implementation of learning programmes by using and adapting resources to promote effective learning. - Volunteer Tutors would be expected to support the learner in identifying progress in relation to goals and to provide ongoing support and encouragement as well as recognising learners progress and celebrating their success. -Volunteers should attend annual meetings with staff - including personal support meetings. -Top up training is available.

Do you want to work with young people, get experience in the classroom or simply want to make a difference? Then come volunteer with ASPIRENorth! Based in Aberdeen University, ASPIRENorth works with young people across the North of Scotland providing impartial information, advice and guidance about progression routes into higher education. Programmes are tailored to the needs of each pupil, taking into account individual skills, abilities and aspirations and include 1:1 support, campus visits and residential trips. We are looking for volunteers who are currently involved in or have recent experience in higher education (College & University): >What kind of support can I offer? Often many pupils don’t know anyone in their family who is in or has been in higher education before. Being a face in our programme helps demystify the process and encourage pupils to get interested. Our volunteers support pupils during workshops and help ASPIRENorth staff run residential trips. >Sounds good! How much time do I have to commit? The time you can commit is flexible to your schedule. We recognise higher education students have other commitments (e.g. exams) and so how much time you can commit is down to yourself. >What qualities do you look for in a volunteer? We are looking for friendly and enthusiastic volunteers who are also patient, understanding and happy to listen. >Do I need previous experience or a PVG? No! We offer all the training and support you’ll need to get started and will sponsor your PVG. We offer a comprehensive training programme through the year that gives you the chance to learn about designing lesson plans, public speaking, managing classes and more! We are also invested in your personal development and offer opportunities in gaining experience in school classrooms from 1:1 support to running full workshops (depending on your comfortability). Want to apply? Simply click this link to get an application form from our website here: https://www.aspirenorth.co.uk/ Got any questions? Give us an email at volunteer-aspirenorth@abdn.ac.uk