Volunteering
Volunteering means giving up your time to do something which helps your local community or area. Volunteers do not get paid.
Volunteers do lots of different things, including:
- helping and supporting people (for example, older people, asylum seekers, etc.),
- picking up litter and tidying up their local area,
- raising money for a charity.
Benefits of Volunteering
Volunteering has lots of benefits, like better physical and mental health. It can help you improve your confidence and learn new skills. It can also help you to feel more connected to people in your community.
Volunteering can also give you work experience, which will help when you are looking for a job. No matter what your interests, skills, experience, or how much time you can offer, volunteering can be suited to you.
There are a huge range of volunteering opportunities available across the North East – from short, one-off activities like helping out at a community event to regular voluntary roles in administration, and everything in between.
You can search and register for local opportunities using the links further down on the page below.
Volunteering as an Asylum Seeker
Volunteers are those who give their time for free to charitable or public sector organisations without any contractual obligation or entitlement. They are not employees or workers as defined by various statutory provisions. Volunteering can be undertaken at any stage of the asylum process, but such activities must not interfere with scheduled events such as a substantive asylum interview, regular reporting event or re-documentation interview.
Key elements in establishing whether someone is a volunteer rather than an employee or worker are whether there is an obligation on the individual to perform the work, and an obligation on the organisation to provide it; and whether the individual is rewarded for the work, through money or benefits in kind. Volunteers may be reimbursed for expenses incurred whilst volunteering, for example, for travel and food but should not receive any other payment. You can learn more via the Government’s link below:
Volunteering opportunities
Specific organisations:
By local authority:
References and DBS
References
To work in the UK you need a reference. There are typically two types of reference-
- The best type of reference is from your previous employer (or from a Voluntary Sector Organisation.) It is very hard to get a job without an employer reference from a UK company.
- Another type of reference is a character reference from someone British. You could ask your sponsor, or another trusted person who knows you.
DBS
What is a DBS check?
Employers can check the criminal record of someone applying for a role. This is known as getting a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. There are certain UK jobs which you cannot do if you have no DBS check. You can find examples of jobs which require a DBS check.
How to get a DBS?
It can be difficult to get a DBS check because:
- You need to show UK addresses for the last 5 years. (You can read the government guidelines here. If don’t have 5 years of UK addresses, follow these guidelines.)
- A DBS check can also be difficult to get because you need an organisation to submit your form, you can’t submit the form directly by yourself.
- You will also need to provide ID documents to confirm your identity
Here is some advice-
- Remember that not all jobs require you to have a DBS. Usually you will need a DBS check if you work or volunteer with vulnerable people..
- If you have questions you could make an appointment with Karen Watson or Matthew Brindley at Volunteer Centre Newcastle.
- Most Voluntary Sector Organisations will pay for you to get a DBS check so that you can volunteer with them.
- Every time you move to a new organisation (or a new employer) you need a new DBS.
- A DBS check expires after one year and must be renewed. The organisation where you are volunteering (or working) may invite you to sign up to the update service. This way the DBS does not expire.