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Whatever your experience or interest, as little as one day a month can make a difference.
“I’ve really enjoyed meeting different people on the team, and working with new people each time. Chatting with some of the women we meet has been brilliant and it’s been lovely to see that some of the women really value the practical support we give them.”
The Peony service is for women who are further on in their recovery. It develops wellbeing and skills to reach their goals in the community. Volunteer shifts are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, and we ask that volunteers are able to commit to at least one weekday per month. There are three kinds of volunteer role available:
Support volunteer: supporting staff to provide a structured programme and helping make sure that the space is warm, friendly and safe.
Creative session facilitator: creative volunteers are responsible for organising an art session for women who come to Peony on Thursday as part of the Peony art group. They are supported by Peony staff to design the activity and facilitate the session.
Volunteer cook: the volunteer cook’s role is to come to Peony to cook a delicious meal for the women on a Thursday.
The drop-in volunteer team helps us to make sure that the drop-in is a warm, homely, friendly and safe space for vulnerable women. Volunteers provide a supportive listening ear to the women accessing the drop-in, and also help us with practical tasks. Volunteers need to be available for at least one session each month for at least a year. Drop-in volunteer sessions are 12pm to 4pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This front line role is open to women only, aged 20 years or above.
Drop-in creative volunteers engage the women who access drop-in to take part in creative activity such as sewing and painting in the well equipped creative corner. Some creative volunteers also offer well-being activities such as hairdressing and foot care.
Our team of cooks prepare home cooked meals for women attending drop-in sessions. Volunteers need to be confident cooking a two course meal for 20+ women and available for at least one session each month for at least a year. Cooking sessions are 10.30am to 12:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Fridays. We welcome both women and men for this role. Volunteers need to be aged 18 or above and willing to complete an online Food Hygiene qualification.
Volunteers with office, IT, administrative and organisational skills assist our fun and friendly team and use their skills to make a difference to some of the most vulnerable women in our city. Jobs could include answering the phone, dealing with email enquiries, updating our database, supporting a specific service or piece or work and providing general administrative support where it is most needed.
One25’s outreach service is often how women first make contact with us, meeting us on our fully equipped outreach van. Three volunteers go out on the van at night and meet women’s basic needs by providing nutritious food, First Aid, warm clothing, condoms, safety alarms etc. They provide the chance to talk and get advice in a safe space and encourage women to get more in-depth help by visiting our drop-in or seeing a caseworker. Volunteers need to be available for at least one shift each month for at least a year. Shifts are 8.45pm to midnight on Monday to Thursday nights and 8.45pm to 1.30am on Friday nights.
Volunteer drivers have at least 15 hours experience of driving a van or similar sized vehicle and a full, clean driving licence. This front-line role is for women only, aged 25 years or above.
One25’s outreach service is often how women first make contact with us, meeting us on our fully equipped outreach van. Three volunteers go out on the van at night and meet women’s basic needs by providing nutritious food, First Aid, warm clothing, condoms, safety alarms etc. They provide the chance to talk and get advice in a safe space and encourage women to get more in-depth help by visiting our drop-in or seeing a caseworker. Volunteers need to be available for at least one shift each month for at least a year. Shifts are 8.45pm to midnight on Monday to Thursday nights and 8.45pm to 1.30am on Friday nights. This role front-line role is for women only, aged 20 years or above.
Our Board of Trustees serves as the governing body to everything One25 does. Our Trustees discuss and make decisions on our activities, take responsibility for shaping One25 and ensure we are well run and reach our goals for the benefit of the women who we support. Read more on our Trustees information page.
This is the process that we follow:
Meet us! The first step is to attend a volunteer information evening. This is an opportunity to find out more about One25 and the different volunteering roles we have available. However, we don’t have a date for the next information evening at this time due to the impact of the pandemic. Please leave your details here if you are interested in becoming a volunteer and we will let you know when we are recruiting again.
Apply. After attending an information evening potential volunteers are invited to submit an application form which is an opportunity for you to tell us about yourself and what skills you have to offer.
Please note, we particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, as these groups are underrepresented in our workforce.
Interview. This is an informal interview for us to get to know you personally and ensure we find the right role for you.
Induction. If you’re applying for a front line role, you will then be invited to a full-day induction training. Here you will get to meet other volunteers and staff and learn more about their roles and key learning needed to start as a volunteer.
Your first day as a One25 volunteer!
Before attending an information evening, please read our Volunteer Policy, Christian Ethos paper and Equality and Diversity Policy below.
If you have questions not answered here, please email iwanttovolunteer@one25.org.uk.
20 years old or over for van and drop-in volunteers. 18 years old or over for office, fundraising and other volunteers who do not work directly with service users.
Men are very welcome as cooks for drop-in or as office volunteers. Because of the nature of our services we do not employ men as staff or volunteers to work directly with service users.
Volunteering to help with our events or fundraising challenges might be an option: see our website, Facebook and Twitter. For outreach or drop-in volunteers we ask for a minimum commitment of one year: DBS checking, references, induction and training make short-term volunteering ineffective.
Yes, we often need volunteers specifically to lead creative activities in our drop-in.
I am afraid that we do not offer volunteer roles that require these skills at One25. We have therapists in place already, and due to the needs of our service users we do not offer placements to practitioners or students of massage or other physical therapies.
We are not able to provide counselling/psychotherapy student placements. We do not have a BACP registered supervisor here, and we do not have the staff capacity to provide appropriate placements / supervision for counselling students.
We do not take referrals of volunteers. Volunteers can apply independently, and should not themselves be dependent on support services.
We welcome volunteers who can positively use their past experiences to empathise with our service users and so would talk with you about this individually to make sure you are best supported and it’s the right time and voluntary role for you.
Yes we welcome volunteers of all faiths and none. All we ask is that you understand, respect and practise our values of unconditional love, justice, compassion, truthfulness and a willingness to see things through.
We embrace volunteers with strong faiths and we see One25’s work is an active expression of Christian values. Our whole work is surrounded by prayer and we would welcome your prayerful support too.
In frontline volunteering situations such as the van we are careful to sensitively build up a trusting relationship based on their own identified needs. This means that direct prayer or conversations about faith must be initiated by the woman herself. Should a spiritual discussion arise then we ask volunteers to appropriately encourage her to talk about her beliefs. The desire to help is often most appropriately expressed by silent prayer.
Please speak to a member of One25 staff about this. Our policy is that we do not recruit volunteers who work in their professional capacity with the same women who come to One25’s services. This is because it may lead to a conflict of interests for the volunteers and be confusing for our service users.
