Volunteer with us
If you want to help older people during the Covid-19 crisis
At this time, Age UK Wiltshire is not in need of additional volunteers. This is largely due to the recent re-deployment of our existing volunteers from services that are currently unable to operate, such as our Fitness & Friendship Clubs and our Home Visiting Wellbeing and Information & Advice volunteers.
While we are not immediately able to offer you a volunteering opportunity, we’re constantly developing and expanding our services to meet the evolving needs of older people in the area. This means we may be in need of additional volunteers in the weeks ahead. Please do check back for any new opportunities as they arise, and thank you so much for thinking of us.
In the meantime, we would like to encourage you to start helping older people who may be in need and not connected to our organisation.
If you would like to help, please check on your neighbours and see if there is anything you can do to help such as, shopping, collecting emergency supplies or calling up for a chat. There are a number of ways you can do this:
- Take part in neighbourly volunteering and help support older people who are staying at home due to the coronavirus epidemic - see Age UK's guidance how to go about this
- Contact churches in your area to see what action they are taking within their local communities. Find a church is an online directory; you could also look in a local directory.
- Visit Covid- 19 Mutual Aid UK. This is a group of volunteers supporting local groups who are keen to set up community mutual aid throughout the covid-19 outbreak. There is a list of groups arranged on the Find Your Local Group page under the map. You can join a group that is local to you or create your own and encourage others to join. Many of these groups are organised through social media platforms like Facebook so you'll need to have an account to join.
- Swindon residents can sign up through Voluntary Action Swindon and offer their help
- Salisbury residents can sign up through Compassionate Community Connection - Salisbury Community Support
Age UK Wiltshire is local independent charity providing support to anyone over the age of 50 living in Wiltshire & Swindon who needs a bit of information, advice, extra support or friendship.
We rely on the support of more than 300 wonderful people who give their time and energy to help us provide our services.
Where possible, we will try and find you a volunteering role in your local area so you know that you're making a difference in your own community.
If you would like to join our friendly team - even for a few hours each month - we'll help you find the role that's right for you.
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Why volunteer for Age UK Wiltshire?
The people who donate their time to support our work are highly valued by all our teams. Whether you are working directly with our clients in our Community Support or Information & Advice services, as Fitness & Friendship club helpers, fundraisers or 'behind the scenes', we aim to ensure your time with us is rewarding and enjoyable.
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What's in it for you?
Giving up time to help someone in greater need is both rewarding and inspiring.
It can help you gain experience and improve your CV; it will enable you to meet new people and be part of a friendly team; it will allow you to hone existing skills through training and support from Age UK Wiltshire.
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Why we got involved
Our volunteers share their experiences of volunteering with Age UK Wiltshire
Ready to start volunteering?
If you are ready to volunteer with us then the first step is to have a read of our volunteer roles handbook and complete our application form. This is how we first get to know you and understand what you want to get out of volunteering.
Our volunteering roles
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Information & Advice
Our Information & Advice volunteers work from our offices or in their community to provide information and advice to older people, their families and carers who contact us for help. They also provide our Information Reception at our Devizes office greeting people and giving general information.
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Community Support
Community Support volunteers provide support to socially isolated and vulnerable older people in their homes and in their community and make a real difference to their lives.
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Fitness & Friendship
Our volunteers work alongside our Fitness & Friendship team to deliver Fitness and Friendship activity classes in the form of a social club. These are delivered across the county to promote independence and healthy living in later life.
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Office & Admin Support
Volunteers work with our Business Support team to deliver the wide range of office and administration tasks that ensure the continued operation of our offices and the services that we provide.
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The Big Knit
If you're a knitter or crocheter, we're always on the look out for people to knit little hats for The Big Knit to help us raise funds to support our work.
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Not sure?
You don't have to make a decision about a volunteer role yet.
Complete an application form and we'll give you a call to chat with you about our volunteering roles to help you make the choice that's right for you.