Overview
Volunteering means sharing your time and skills to help someone. You are not paid for your time as a volunteer, but you may get money to cover expenses. This is usually limited to food, drink, travel or any equipment you need to buy.
You can volunteer at any point in your life, and it will bring great rewards to the people you are helping. Some volunteering roles may be an hour every week and others may be full time similar to a paid job. Others may just be to cover a one-off event or over a shorter period of time. It is up to you how much time you feel you are able to give.
Mencap explain volunteering in easy read.
Reasons to volunteer
If it is an area you want to work in later, it can help to know people already working in it. The people you meet will get to know who you are not just what you put on your application or CV.
You can learn and practice new work-based skills. This can give you more confidence. Including:
- Listening and speaking
- Good timekeeping
- Working as part of a team
- Leadership
You can also put these skills on college or work application forms and talk about your experiences of it at interviews. It can also count towards your Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Things to consider
Things to think about before volunteering include:
- Your age – some places may have a minimum age to volunteer for that cause.
- How much time you can commit?
- What are you hoping to achieve from taking part?
- What are your strengths? Sometimes it can be good to use the strengths you have to support the organisation or cause. It can also be good to challenge yourself a little!
- The people you will meet and how you will manage this. Is it ‘customer facing’ or will you be ‘behind the scenes’?
Support and reasonable adjustments
If you have additional needs or a disability, you can still volunteer. Organisations should support you to take part. Volunteers do not have the same legal status as employees. This means the law is slightly different.
However, many volunteers are still protected under the Equality Act 2010.
This may include reasonable adjustments, such as:
- flexible hours or breaks
- clear instructions or training
- changes to tasks or equipment
- extra support from staff or volunteers
You can ask about support before you start. A good organisation will listen and work with you to find what helps. Volunteering should be positive and accessible. You do not have to manage on your own.
Find volunteering opportunities
Somerset Council has many volunteering roles across different services. Not all roles are open all the time. You can search the volunteering website and apply for roles that are available now.
If a role is not open, you can check back for updates or register your interest. We will contact you when that service starts recruiting again. Choose a role that suits you and help us make a difference.
Spark a Change is a digital volunteering platform. It brings together people who want to volunteer with charities and community groups across Somerset. The platform offers many types of volunteering roles. You also can learn more about inclusive volunteering through the Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership and the Fit for Work programme.