Volunteering

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

The project has benefited from the work of a number of people helping out on a voluntary basis, supporting and complementing the work of the trainees and passing on job skills.

Volunteers have also contributed their specialist skills as artists, community educators, drivers, IT specialists and administrators and marketers.

Many continue an on-going involvement with the project, but inevitably, many are only able to help out 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, help to build their confidence, the chance to meet new people, or just 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. 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.

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

• 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.
• 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, for 1-4 hrs
• Workshop/product development- we run regular creative reuse workshops and make a range of products from the materials availbel 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 Ethical Christmas Fair.

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. Feel free to contact Jane Davidson jane.davidson@intowork.org.uk for a no-obligation chat about what the work might involve.