Volunteer
Our volunteer teams are an essential part of our CARAS community - community members frequently tell us that the welcome by volunteers is so important in an increasingly hostile world. It helps them feel connected, valued, and wanted.
We believe the welcome people experience at CARAS is strengthened through its diversity. This includes the diversity of faiths and beliefs amongst our community members, staff, trustees, and volunteers.
Volunteers also bring diverse skills, insights, life experiences, languages, and enthusiasm to add to our activities and projects. We welcome volunteers from all sections of the community, and particularly those with lived experience of displacement and the UK asylum and immigration system.
Thank you for considering joining CARAS as a volunteer. Only with your support can we continue to provide spaces of sanctuary and challenge the current government narrative of increased hostility and brutality. Community is at the heart of what we do; together we can present a compelling message of hope and community every day, every week to displaced people from across the globe.
Volunteer Opportunities
Our commitment to you as a volunteer
We are proud to have been awarded the Investing in Volunteers Charter mark.
Our volunteer development plan and our day-to-day volunteer engagement incorporate the 6 quality standards of the charter mark:
1. A vision for volunteering
2. Planning for volunteers
3. Volunteer inclusion
4. Recruitment and welcoming of volunteers
5. Supporting volunteers
6. Valuing and developing volunteers
Our Volunteer Development Lead supports our project staff to ensure that you have all the information and training you need, the roles you are asked to take on are legal, ethical, appropriate, and safe and most importantly, that your volunteer experience with CARAS is positive, rewarding, and enjoyable.
All our volunteers receive general training and safeguarding training prior to placement. Certain teams provide additional training to support more demanding volunteering roles.
All volunteers have a named supervisor.
All volunteers are invited to our rolling programme of learning and social events.
