Volunteer

Age UK York relies on volunteers to help us offer vital services in the local community. Would you like to lend a hand?
We would like to thank everyone who contacted us during the pandemic to offer their support. As always, the people of York responded in an incredible way to support our older residents.
We have a wide range of volunteering roles on offer and aim to match you with a role that you will find interesting and fulfilling. These are summarised below, with more details about the roles and services in the tabs below.
- Retail assistants, in our Fossgate, Burton Stone Lane and Bishopthorpe Road shops.
- Shopping volunteers, to support our clients to access supermarket deliveries and/or do clients' shopping.
- Community café volunteers, who represent Age UK York at community café events.
- Outreach volunteers to organise and staff an Age UK York information and advice desk, initially based at St Sampson's centre, with an intention to roll out at additional venues in York.
- A volunteer to liaise with parish councils and high footfall organisations, to display Age UK York posters and information and to collate information on activities taking place in these areas.
- Minibus driver, to transport an older person to an Age UK York day club or activity. MIDAS qualification required, or Age UK York may fund.
- Car drivers, to transport older people from their home to an age UK day club.
Befriending
Our befriending service provides companionship and support to housebound older people living alone in the community. Many older people have few social contacts and feel socially isolated and lonely. We try to alleviate this by matching the older person with a carefully selected volunteer who agrees to call regularly, usually once a week
Our keeping in touch service provides regular monitoring calls throughout the year to older people with more limited social contacts. These calls provide friendship and the opportunity to raise any questions or concerns the older person may have.
We are currently looking for a volunteer to provide administrative support to the befriending service, for one to two mornings or afternoons a week. Details of the role and the experience and skills required, are outlined in the role description below.
Role Description Befriending Volunteer
Information and Advice
We have three roles available within our information and advice service.
Outreach volunteers organise and staff the Age UK York information and advice desk at St Sampson's Centre, which will be a gateway to the information and advice service. This will initially be at St Sampson's, with the intention to roll out to other venues across the city.
The outreach volunteer- parish councils and high footfall organisations, will liaise with parish councils and other high footfall organisations, such as supermarkets, to display Age UK York posters and information. They will also collate and feedback to us, information on activities taking place in these areas.
Role Description Information and Advice Outreach
Role Description Parish Councils and high footfall organisations
Shopping
Shopping volunteers will work with clients to help them to access shopping services, such as supermarket deliveries, or if this is not suitable, they will undertake the shopping for them.
Respite Care - In Safe Hands
Our In Safe Hands service offers short breaks to relatives and friends who look after an older person. Could you give a carer a break by caring for an older person in their home on an occasional or regular basis? We have a particular need for evenings and weekends.
Shops
Our shops in Fossgate, Bishopthorpe Road, Burton Stone Lane and Haxby are looking for shop floor volunteers. Tasks are varied and include greeting customers, advising and helping with sizes, operating tills (training provided), putting out stock, reducing stock and displays. If you are welcoming and friendly and can spare anything from a couple of hours to half a day a week, please contact us. We have a particular need for volunteers in our Fossgate shop, to cover Saturday afternoons (weekly or every second week), Tuesday mornings and Wednesday afternoons.
Day Clubs
Volunteers support our day clubs, which run every weekday in different venues throughout the city. The clubs offer local older people an attractive social meeting place, hot lunch, refreshments and interesting activities. If you can spare one to five hours a week to support older people, then why not join our friendly team? If you have an interest in dementia we have a number of specific clubs.
Keep Your Pet
Keep Your Pet is a short term support service for domestic pet owners. Volunteers offer short term support for older and vulnerable pet owners by providing fostering, dog walking, taking the pet to the vet, animal feeding etc.
Community Cafe
Community Cafe volunteers will represent Age UK York at community cafe events, socialising with older attendees and encouraging conversations.
Drivers
We are looking for minibus drivers and car drivers to transport older clients to our days clubs and outing venues, so that they can partake in social activity.
Minibus drivers must be over 25 years of age and either have a MIDAS qualification or be happy to undertake one. Car drivers will have a car, have fewer than six points on their licence and expenses will be paid.
Full details of the roles, including time commitment, can be found in the role descriptions.
Trustee
Age UK York is governed by a small board of volunteer trustees who have overall responsibility for the charity’s staff, services and finances, develop its strategic direction with the CEO and ensure that the organisation is well run.
Our trustees come from different professional backgrounds, bring a wide range of experience, skills and knowledge to the Board and are committed to delivering AUKY’s mission to make a positive difference to the lives of older people in York.
We are recruiting additional trustees to share their time and expertise as members of the Board and its various sub-committees, and to help us take the charity forward. References and a DBS check will be required.
If you are interested in this opportunity to get involved and would like to have an informal conversation about the role before applying, our Chair of Trustees, Rosemary Suttill would be happy to hear from you.
Please contact hr@ageukyork.org.uk to arrange this.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Age UK York.
Thank you for considering Age UK York for a volunteering role. We have over 300 volunteers supporting us to deliver services to older residents in York.
We aim to match volunteers with a volunteering opportunity that will be both enjoyable and rewarding. As such, we undertake a comprehensive recruitment process, taking six to eight weeks and comprising of an application form, interview, references, criminal records check (for most roles) and induction training. For most volunteer opportunities, we ask our volunteers to be in a position to commit to regular and longer term volunteering of at least a year. This is to allow us to provide ongoing support to our older clients. We are only able to accept your application if you are 18 years or older.
You will be joining a commited group of volunteers who provide invaulable support as we deliver services in York and we very much look forward to welcoming you to our team.
Application Forms
If you would like to progress your application, please download the application form and return to the email address below, or send to our office in Walmgate.
Download our application form (Word)
Download our application form (PDF)
If you are interested in a trustee role, please download our trustee application form here. (PDF version here.)