Support available |
Advice sessions for volunteers |
These are half-an-hour sessions for students and staff who would like information and advice on how to match their volunteering motivation to suitable volunteering opportunities.
You may book a session at any point during your volunteering journey. Sessions are available on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am to 11.30am at our main office – 101 New Cavendish Street – and on Fridays at the same times in our Harrow office. To book a session, please go to the main page - http://www.wmin.ac.uk/page-1494 - for instructions.
You can also book a session with a Careers Consultant for advice on your CV, cover letter, application forms or on how to prepare for a job interview.
There are plenty of other services that the Career Development Centre provides – to find out simply click on this link: http://www.wmin.ac.uk/page-737
Following up on an application |
Workshops and training sessions available |
FAQs |
These FAQs have been collected by our volunteering team and hopefully you will find these helpful when thinking about becoming a volunteer.
If you want to submit your own question, simply email us with your suggestion – your questions are always welcome!
People volunteer for different reasons. You may want to do it because you want to gain an advantage over your peers when competing for jobs and show that through your volunteering, you were able to learn new skills, increase your knowledge and gain some real-life experience. Or, you may want to volunteer for social reasons as volunteering is ideal for meeting new people, making new friends and having fun. Or for less selfish reasons such as wanting to give something back and making a difference to the lives of others.
Students who have already volunteered have reported increased levels of confidence, communication and interpersonal skills and an enhanced belief that it will positively contribute to their future career prospects.
We are part of the Career Development Centre, responsible for brokering suitable volunteering opportunities for students and staff of the University of Westminster within the local community.
For further details on our services, please go to www.westminster.ac.uk/volunteering
Our opening times and locations of services can be found here:
http://www.wmin.ac.uk/page-1494
You may expect the following:
Our recommendation is that you come to one of our induction sessions before you start applying. The content of the induction will include the following:
If you can't find a suitable induction session or there aren't any sessions planned, please book a 'Volunteer advice' session to go over the induction material. Volunteer advice sessions are half an hour sessions that take place on Monday's and Wednesdays between 10:00 am and 11:30 am.
The full list of induction sessions including 'Volunteer Advice' sessions are available on the Events list on our online vacancy and events management system, ProspectsNet.
Please note, the first time you use this system, you will need to 'opt in' and wait 12 hours for your account to be created. You will then be able to return to the system and access our events by selecting ‘View and Book Events and Quick Queries’ where you will find all of our inductions listed.
No, it’s very simple and quick. You will need to fill in a short form, which takes about five minutes. You will then be asked to read and sign a Volunteer Agreement, which is half a page in length.
Once you have attended the induction session, filled in the registration form and signed the Volunteer Agreement, you can then look through the volunteering opportunities that we advertise, and decide which ones interest you and apply directly. You will also be able to access our volunteering blog/e-newsletter which will provide you with relevant updates.
It’s not scary at all. It is a police check to identify candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, especially work that involves children or vulnerable adults.
This is up to the organisation, but generally once your CRB form is being processed, you should be able to start volunteering. In exceptional circumstances the organisation might want to wait for the results of your CRB check before you can volunteer with them, but they will advise you about this.
Complete information on
the CRB check process is usually provided by the organisation that
requires this check and we recommend that you contact them for
details. Usual procedure requires you to either telephone the CRB
application line on 0870 90 90 844, in which case you will need to
provide the Registered Body name and number (Please have this
information to hand when calling), or complete a paper application
form handed to you by the person who asked you to apply. In both
instances, you will have to provide evidence of your name, address
and date of birth, along with the Registered Body name and number,
and the level of CRB check. This will help the person who asked you
to apply, confirm your identity.
A guidance booklet on how to complete the form is available
here.
Yes. The contact details will be available on each of the opportunities that we advertise under the section ‘How to apply’.
In some cases yes – but this is mostly an informal chat and nothing more. They just want to get to know you and see where your interests lie. Sometimes they might assign you a different task if you both decide that it would be more beneficial.
It is one of our essential requirements that we ask of every organisation that wish to advertise a volunteering opportunity with us. A role description complete with person specification spelling out the knowledge, skills and experience they require from a candidate is submitted and advertised with every vacancy that we place on our system. If you felt that a certain vacancy does not have enough detail, please let us know.
Yes that’s true – some will. Any specialist training (such as operating small pieces of equipment, codes of conduct etc) will be given to you by the organisation itself. It is their responsibility to look after you while you are volunteering with them.
If, for whatever reason, you become unhappy and you are not enjoying the placement or suddenly discovered that you might not be able to commit to it, you should come and talk to us immediately.
It is sometimes difficult to find an obvious match between the available list of volunteering opportunities and your motivation to volunteer. If you have such a dilemma, making use of our ‘Advice Sessions for Volunteers’ slots might just be the answer. Alternatively you could drop us an email (careers@wmin.ac.uk) or call us on 02079115184
It is simple and straightforward. It is all done online now using our Vacancy and Events System. The first time you use the system you will need to Opt In to the service (Note: the initial registration process can take up to 12 hours). You can then access and book onto all our events by selecting 'View and Book Events and Quick Query Sessions'. You will then access all of our forthcoming events. To see ‘Advice for volunteers’ event select 'Show Regular Activities'. Click here to be taken to the vacancy and events system, and book a session.
The fact that you can’t find a suitable opportunity today doesn’t mean you won’t find one tomorrow or in a week’s time. Our database is updated on daily basis, so we recommend that you keep checking it regularly. In addition to the list of opportunities on our website, there are many more on http://www.do-it.org/. If you still can’t find a suitable vacancy, please come and talk to us, we might be able to help you.
We do not deal with work experience directly. Our main area of service is brokering volunteering opportunities from third parties, mainly charities. There are cases where charities advertise volunteering opportunities that they sometime agree to turn into a work experience project. However, that is entirely left for the student to negotiate. In other words, you may treat any of our volunteering opportunities as work experience projects if you are able to secure a position and persuade the host organisation to accommodate your work experience needs.
Our focus is supporting students and staff of Westminster to volunteer in the local community. However, we do have lists of organisations that do specialise in sending volunteers overseas so contact us if this interests you.
Once you have registered on our online vacancy and events system, you will receive information on opportunities advertised that may be relevant to your interests. Additionally we send out a monthly email to all registered volunteers listing a selection of suitable volunteering opportunities.
Links |
Internal Links
External Links
Action Link Direct provides information about London voluntary groups. Information can be sorted according to types of Organisation, target groups they work with, areas of London they serve and areas they work in. Action Link direct gives the user the ability to sift through all these Organisations easily and locate exactly which Organisation would be of interest to the user.
Community Service Volunteers (CSV) works to reconnect people to their community through volunteering and training and so to enrich people’s lives. CSV has new solutions and innovative ways to tackle society’s needs and it was founded in 1962 by Mora and Alec Dickson who also founded the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Their philosophy guides CSV today – everyone should be able to take part in the life of their community.
Our long term vision is to be an internationally recognised, independent source of information and support to voluntary and community sectors worldwide. Why? Because we believe the activities in which voluntary and community organisations engage are crucial, both to the causes they serve and the social environment in which they operate. We believe we are able to contribute towards positive social change by supporting these organisations to succeed. We are a resource for these organisations.
Do-it makes it easy to find out about volunteering in your local area. Just enter your postcode and you'll get a list of current opportunities to choose from. You can search by category and, without making any commitment, find out more about any vacancy that interests you.
E-Volunteerism is a quarterly "publication," in which a table of contents is posted at the start of each quarter. Combining the characteristics of a printed professional journal with the potential of Internet technology, e-Volunteerism caters to volunteer leaders/managers who want to go beyond the mundane in the volunteerism field.
The Institute for Volunteering Research is an initiative of the National Centre for Volunteering in association with the Centre for Institutional Studies at the University of East London.
An essential on-line resource for volunteer managers, potential volunteers and anyone seeking up to date information on volunteering
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) works with and for the voluntary sector in England by providing information, advice and support and by representing the views of the sector to government and policy-makers.
The Agency provides a comprehensive suite of training and information on all issues of volunteer management. The Agency is committed to producing and disseminating high quality, up to date information about volunteering by staying in touch with the membership, identifying their needs and responding to them quickly, producing high quality, practical information materials and disseminating information widely in an accessible format.
VolResource aims to make it quick and easy to get to useful information on anything to do with running a voluntary organisation (whether a community group, charity or other non-profit body).
The Voluntary Sector Skills site is full of information on skills and workforce development for staff, volunteers and trustees working in the voluntary and community sectors.
Working For A Charity exists to promote the voluntary sector as a positive career option for those seeking paid employment and to promote the opportunities and benefits of becoming a volunteer to people who wish to do unpaid work. The vision for the organisation is of a world in which the voluntary sector is seen as a significant and worthwhile sector in which to work
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the statutory organisation that regulates charities. Our aim is "to give the public confidence in the integrity of charity". We are not a grant-making organisation and we do not provide money, either to charities or individuals. The Charity Commission seeks to ensure that charities operate within a framework that enables them to work effectively for the purposes for which they were set up.
The CRB - an executive agency of the Home Office - is set up to help organisations make safer recruitment decisions. By providing wider access to criminal record information, the CRB helps employers in the public, private and voluntary sectors identify candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, especially that involving contact with children or other vulnerable members of society.
Student volunteering is a unique opportunity for students: to increase their knowledge, skills and abilities, to understand and appreciate the diversity of our society, and to work in partnership with communities for mutual benefit.
CSV creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their community. Virtual volunteering enables the participation of people who, due to mobility issues, home responsibilities or work commitments, are often excluded from volunteering because they are unable to work on-site during office hours.
Time Bank may also be able to find you online opportunities.
Updated: 8/31/2010 By: John McMenamin