Volunteering

Volunteers play a vital role in the success of Bits and Bobs and continue to be an important part of the team as the project grows and matures.

The project has benefits from the work of a number of people on a voluntary basis, supporting and complementing the work of the staff and trainees.

Volunteers have contributed their specialist skills as support workers, artists, community educators, drivers, IT specialists and administrators and marketing assistants

Many continue an on-going involvement with the project, but inevitably, many are only able to help on an occasional or short-term basis. This means that there is a constant need for new volunteers.

Benefits of Volunteering

Everyone that gets involved as a volunteer finds that it is a process of exchange. In return for giving of their time or skills, they get something back from the organisation. They might benefit through learning new skills themselves, helping to build their confidence, the chance to meet new people, or the satisfaction of helping a cause they believe in.

What we're looking for

At Bits and Bobs we welcome people of all ages and backgrounds (well, you must be 16 and over). You might be a student, retired, on sickness or unemployment benefit, or simply in a position to spare a few hours to a good cause.

We also welcome people with or without specialist skills. While a background or knowledge of art and craft, working with people with learning disabilities, retailing, admin or IT is very welcome indeed, it is by no means essential. An enthusiastic attitude is just as important, and many people become volunteers in order to gain experience in these areas. Many find that a period of volunteer work helps considerably with their job prospects.

Here's how to get involved:

1. Peruse the website and see if it's the kind of please you like the sound of
2. Check out the latest listing of volunteer opportunities (listed below) and see what interests you
3. Visit the store and ask some questions
4. Fill out and application form and we'll be in touch

We are looking for the following volunteers to help out the project:

• Warehouse/Shop Assistant- to work in the shop sorting collected stock, serving customers and assisting with the attractive display of stock.
• Van Driver/Drivers mate- help with weekly collection runs and deliveries. 2-8 hrs
• Workshop/product development- we run regular creative reuse workshops and make a range of products from the materials available in store. We are looking for people to work with our Outreach Worker to develop their workshop delivery/assisting skills or assist in developing a range of products and activity kits to be sold at annual selling events such as Treefest and The Big Tent.
• Marketing- we wish to attract more members and suppliers, so if you have any skills in this area or even if you are willing to distribute flyers and posters to other venues, businesses and the general public, we would love to hear from you.

We would appreciate any amount of time available, from an hour or two a week, to a day or two, to when ever we need people to help us.

Get in touch

Please get in touch if you would like to find out more, come and visit or just talk about volunteering

Please consider whether you, or someone you know, could spare some time to become a volunteer with Bits and Bobs. Contact Alison Bell Alison.Bell@bitsandbobsedinburgh.org.uk for a no-obligation chat about what the work might involve.