Volunteers help us to enrich the help and support we provide for carers. That's why we want you to get as much from the experience as possible.
Aside from the natural feel-good factor you'll get from helping someone in need, we offer the opportunity to become part of our community, gain valuable skills and access training.
Many of our volunteers report feeling truly valued and some have gone on to paid work within Carers First or with other employers.
To make sure you’re well-prepped for your role with Carers First, we offer a variety of online courses. These range from ‘safeguarding’ and ‘mental health first aid’ to more specific training around ‘bereavement’, ‘working with dementia’ and ‘managing difficult conversations.’
As a volunteer, you’ll have a member of the staff team to support and advise you in everything you do. But you'll also be part of a supportive volunteer community.
We put on regular virtual events for volunteers as well as celebration events during Carers Week and at Christmas. These events are a great opportunity to meet other volunteers and learn from each other’s experiences.
If you have a particular interest or skill you would like to develop, we will try support you by matching you to a role that suits your needs.
We also love hearing ideas from our volunteers. Got an idea to improve our services? Think you can offer something we are not already doing? We would like to hear from you.
Frequently asked questions
This depends on the volunteer role and your availability. As an example, our telephone befrienders commit to giving one hour per week. If you plan to help at support groups, you may give a couple of hours per month and if you're helping with events, it may be for a few hours a couple of times a year.
We do things as quickly as possible. When you first get in touch, we will want to have a chat with you. If you’re interested in volunteering, we would then need to complete a DBS and take references. This can take a little while depending on how quickly people come back to us.
We aim for the whole process to take no more than 2 or 3 weeks but sometimes it might take longer. We will talk to you about the application process and stay in touch with you throughout.
Most of our volunteer roles involve using the phone or a computer or tablet. Some of our training is delivered by e-learning and many of our volunteer meetings are run virtually via Zoom. If you don’t have a phone or computer though, do get in touch and we can talk to you about alternatives.
Volunteers should never be out of pocket. We will pay costs that are part of your role and will talk this through with you.
You can volunteer for as many hours as you like, and it won’t affect your benefits. However, there are some things you might want to think about. For example, if you receive Universal Credit, you should let your work coach know as volunteering can count towards the hours you have to search for work. Find out more.
No. Many of our roles can be undertaken from home. If you want to volunteer within the community, then you need to live within a reasonable distance of one of the areas where we provide carers support.
We welcome applications from people with a disability. We would be happy to have a conversation with you about what support you might need from us. You can email us at: volunteer@carersfirst.org.uk or give us a ring on 0300 303 1555 and we’ll be pleased to talk to you, and do whatever we can to support you to volunteer with us.