Are you a dedicated and organised person, passionate about helping others? Join our night-time party and 1,000 other volunteers at The MoonWalk Scotland on Saturday 11th June 2022 from Holyrood Park, Edinburgh! Bring your energy and be a superhero helping the thousands of woman and men, walking an overnight marathon in decorated bras, raising lots of money for breast cancer! We recruit hundreds of volunteers to make The MoonWalk a safe and enjoyable event; looking after our walkers at busy crossings, keeping them hydrated and above all giving the encouragement they need to complete their epic challenge. You could spend your Saturday evening in MoonWalk City, Holyrood Park by joining one of 20 different teams, from around 6pm through to midnight – from litter picking to registering baggage or handing out volunteer uniforms! The night time is where the challenge really gets going for our amazing walkers. If you like the nightlife, marshalling or giving out water whilst surrounded by Edinburgh’s famous landmarks could be for you! Start times vary between 9pm and 1am, depending on your role, and last on average 8 hours. We can also offer site based roles at MoonWalk City throughout the night. Early finishes can be requested. Finally, the early morning team take the helm on Sunday 12th June, starting between 5 - 6am until midday. Watching the sun rise against Arthur’s Seat is quite a sight to see! This truly is the most testing time for our walkers…whether you join the route or MoonWalk City teams…your kind and motivating words could be all that is needed to get someone across that finish line! On the night you will be provided with training, a t-shirt, cap and free light refreshments. All roles will develop teamwork and confidence, no matter what you do on the night…so why not bring your friends and family along to share this unique experience! Roles include: Baggage, Clean & Recycle, Cyclist, Directional, Driver, Entrance Gate/Start Line, Finish Line, Kitchen, Route Marshal, Water Stations, Volunteer Tent Support. To volunteer you need to officially register through our website by visiting www.walkthewalk.org/volunteerscotland We will ask you to fill in a form to tell us a bit about yourself and confirm your availability for the event. Please note if you are under the age of 18 at the time of the event, you will need to register with a guardian over 18 who will also be volunteering. Walk the Walk is the UK’s largest grant-making breast cancer charity that is dedicated to not only raising money and awareness for vital breast cancer causes, but to also encourage women and men to become more aware of their own potential for fitness and wellbeing. We organise the famous MoonWalk overnight power walking challenges and are immensely proud to have raised over £133m, which has been granted to research into breast cancer and to improve the lives of people living with cancer now.

Four Pillars is a Grampian only based LGBT+ Charity that looks after the community in relation to their mental, emotional, physical and sexual health. As a volunteer you will be at the heart of this unique service that looks to work with individuals on reducing risky sexual behaviour and STI/HIV transmissions whilst protecting the whole person. There are many different roles within Four Pillars and what kind of role you play is entirely up to you and your skills. For more information please contact Deejay Bullock at E Mail: deejay@fourpillarsuk.org or tel.: 01224 211963.

STAND International work with people aged mainly 16 to 30 from Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire who are from areas of disadvantage or are experiencing hardship. The world of work is changing rapidly and, particularly after a challenging 2 years, people are left lacking in confidence, skills and a clear direction. As a mentor, you will provide practical and emotional support to 3-4 volunteers over a period of 6 months – before, during and after a trip abroad on projects in Ghana, Romania or Belarus. Your role will allow them to fulfil their potential, widen their horizons and enhance their employment opportunities whilst at the same time becoming more involved in an inclusive society.

Aberdeen in Recovery (AiR) was granted Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) charitable status in March this year. We are now looking to find talented, passionate and skilled people to fill some vacant seats on our Board of Trustees to help us grow and develop our innovative and solution focused new charity. This is a unique opportunity to help lay the foundations to ensure AiR has a long-term future as a charity with solid processes in place to ensure it meets its mission of: “To be a bridge from ‘dependence’ to ‘independence’ for the individual seeking to recover from problematic substance use and addictive behaviours”. This is such an exciting and invigorating prospect for individuals to get involved and be participant in the tsunami of change which is now gaining momentum and being driven by “Experts by Experience” and the vibrant Lived Experienced Communities which are blossoming, not only locally but are now established as a national phenomena. Since its conception, AiR and its members have worked tirelessly to establish and build collaborative relationships with professional services and third sector support agencies. We have consistently driven the message that individuals who have personal lived/living experience of active substance use, including Family members who have been affected by the addictive behaviours of a loved one, and the Recovery Communities they represent have something valid, essential and extremely beneficial to bring to described Recovery Orientated Systems of Care (ROSC). We can provide existing services and clinical structural systems with resources, skills and capabilities that they, no matter how much effort, time and money they invest, will never be able to offer or provide. So, it gives the greatest of pleasure to see this is now recognised on the highest levels that “Recoverists” can productively contribute to the design, development and delivery of truly person-centred ROSC. This being evidenced by the vision, philosophy and content of the Scottish Governments “Rights, Respect and Recovery” Drug and Alcohol Strategy. We also believe it is reaffirmed by the recent success in being granted funding from the Government’s National Development Fund, with our principle partner Alcohol and Drugs Action (ADA), for our ‘Recovery Peer Pathway’ joint two-year project. This collaborative venture will build on three years of pilot work to further establish and build proactive and productive Developmental Pathways within ADA and their Volunteer network while in synergy with AiR membership for individuals who desire to initiate change in their behaviours and outlook as they progress on their recovery journeys within, and imperatively out-with, statutory and formal support services. We believe that the blue sky thinking behind this project categorically and emphatically fits with the expectations, outcomes and concepts of the above Government policy. So, if you have lived experience, or a stakeholder interest, and a passion for recovery and are willing to give of yourself that another may learn, you will not find a better opportunity to indulge your appetite than from within Aberdeen in Recovery. For more information please contact Dermot Craig, Recovery Community Development Manager at E Mail: dermot@aberdeeninrecovery.org or tel.: 01224 638342 / Mobile: 07751 213108.

Have you been Bereaved by Suicide? Do you have a desire to help other people who have also been Bereaved by Suicide? Are you comfortable listening to the experiences of others? You could be just the person we are looking for. We have self-help support groups across the UK, where you can meet with other people who have been bereaved by suicide and we want to enroll some new volunteers to set up a group in Aberdeen. Typically, our groups meet once a month and last for around 2 hours. Presently many groups are meeting virtually via Zoom but when regulations allow, they will return to Face to Face. They provide an opportunity to listen, to share, to ask questions and to connect with others. Each local SoBS group is run by a team of 3: the group leader and two group volunteers, all of whom have been bereaved by suicide themselves. Between them, they facilitate the session, get the conversation started, make sure everyone has the opportunity to talk if they want to, and generally look out for people and each other. The team also work together to manage the administration, fundraising and communication for the group, sometimes with the help of additional support volunteers. There is no set structure to a session – people are free to talk and listen as they wish. The topics discussed vary from week to week but often includes people sharing their story, how they are feeling, what has happened since their last group visit, questions about coroners and discussions about common challenges such as flashbacks, supporting children or facing neighbours. Many groups also offer a small resource library and can share information about local sources of support. For further details please contact Phill Abbiss, Volunteer Coordinator (North) at E Mail: phill.abbiss@uksobs.org or tel.: 07535 854 860.

Mearns Kirk Helping Hands runs a variety of groups and activities to support health and wellbeing and reduce social isolation in the local community. One of our more recent groups is the Men's Breakfast Club. This group is designed to bring men who are looking for a bit of company together for a chat and a hearty breakfast. A volunteer breakfast chef is vital to the group, so a breakfast can be prepared, cooked and served

Mearns Kirk Helping Hands runs a variety of groups and activities to support health and wellbeing and reduce social isolation in the local community. One of our more recent groups is the Men's Breakfast Club. This group is designed to bring men who are looking for a bit of company, together for a chat and a tasty breakfast. A volunteer group leader is vital for the week to week running of the club, to help with set-up and clean down, take the registration and donations and be a point of contact for new members. With assistance from project staff, the group leader will also help promote and develop the club

Our Men’s Group supports men who are having a rough time and could do with a helping hand. We usually have tea/coffee together and then do some fun activities. These could include: music, debates and discussions, games and organised trips. We are especially looking for people who could share a specific skill or talent they have, or lead an activity, games or discussion. For those who can’t commit longer term, there is the possibility of volunteering for a 4-week block or volunteering on a rota.

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)’s Scotland Reducing Gambling Harms programme would like to invite people with lived experience of gambling harms to connect with us and help shape action to reduce gambling harms in Scotland by sharing their expertise and priorities. The Scotland Reducing Gambling Harms programme is a Scotland-wide programme to put the voice of people affected by gambling harms at the heart of action to reduce those harms. Gambling-related harms are the adverse impacts from gambling on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, communities and society. This includes financial, employment, and relationship issues, physical and mental health problems, criminal activity, and in the most severe cases suicide as a direct result of gambling harm. People can experience gambling harms to different degrees, and we are interested in speaking to anyone who feels they have experienced harm as result of their own, or a loved one’s gambling. We work with people with lived experience to identify key areas of importance in reducing gambling harms in Scotland. These key areas help shape the focus for the Scottish Implementation Group of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms and put the voice of people affected by gambling harms at the heart of action to reduce those harms. With people with lived experience, we also provide perspectives, advice and information on other matters related to gambling harm. For example; shaping awareness raising campaigns and helping inform the focus of future research on gambling harm. By taking part, people with lived experience have the opportunity to influence policy change to help reduce gambling harms in Scotland. More information about the programme and our work is available on the Scotland Reducing Gambling Harms webpage on the ALLIANCE’s website. https://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/people-and-networks/scotland-reducing-gambling-harm/ We are keen to hear from people with experience of gambling harms or people who have a loved one(s) with experience of gambling harms. Sometimes, we call these people “affected others” and they might be a partner, parent or guardian, child, or sibling of a person with lived experience of gambling harms. Having views from a diverse range of people is important to us. We particularly welcome speaking to: • Older People • Younger People • Women • People from a range of cultural backgrounds • People from a range of religious backgrounds • People from a range of ethnic and racial communities • Anyone who views themselves as a member of a minoritised community There are lots of ways to be involved and help shape gambling harms policy, practice and research in Scotland. You can: Become a Forum Member We support a forum of people with lived experience of gambling harms to come together on a regular basis with policy and decisions makers in Scotland. Forum Members commit to attending regular, evening meetings roughly every six weeks for one and a half hours. Contribute on an individual basis For people who are unable to commit to the regularity of the Forum, we are able to speak to people on a one-to-one basis as topics or opportunities they are passionate about arise. We recognise that people have different comfort levels when it comes to discussing gambling harms, and individuals will have different preferences when it comes to how they’d like to be involved. We are more than happy to be flexible and to work with people in a way that feels safe and comfortable for them.

The Comradeship Circles service aims to reduce loneliness by offering older members of the ex-service community the opportunity to enjoy regular group camaraderie by telephone. A Comradeship Circle will host typically six people on the same day and time each week to chat about a range of topics and interests over the phone. We are looking for Technical Support Volunteers who will ensure the smooth running of the Comradeship Circle by connecting veterans to the call, monitoring connection throughout the hour, and updating the contact management database. This role is home based and requires access to a laptop, headphones, and the internet.