Volunteering: the perks are free

Further information

Community Service Volunteers
The UK’s leading volunteer organisation. It creates opportunities for almost 100,000 people every year to play an active part in the life of their community, through volunteering, training and community action.

TimeBank
A new project encouraging individuals and companies to ‘bank’ time to help in their local community.

Voluntary Services Overseas

The Bat Conservation Trust

Sane - 020-7422 5539
Sane’s helpline is open from 12 noon to 2 a.m., every day of the year, and operates out of three helpline sites in London, Bristol and Macclesfield. Volunteers answer about 1,000 calls per week. No previous experience is necessary, as volunteers receive rigorous training, in the form of a 40-hour course, approved by the Royal College of Psychiatry.

REACH
Helps voluntary organisations benefit from the business, managerial, technical and professional expertise of people who want to offer their career skills, working as volunteers. There is no age limit.

National Council for Voluntary Organisations - 0800 279 8798

National Centre for Volunteering - 020-7520 8900, open Tues-Fri 2-4 p.m.

National Association of Volunteer Bureaux - 0121 633 4555

Millennium Volunteers
Aimed at 16-24 year olds, the new UK-wide initiative works in partnership with local organisations to encourage young people to ‘build on what you’re into’. There are 160 projects up and running in England. Projects are as diverse as working in HIV education to building gardens in deprived neighbourhoods. The overall aim is to appeal to a wide range of young people, from young unemployed people through to those in work, to put back into their local community.