Shine Lincolnshire

Volunteering

Volunteering

Volunteering is choosing to do something for the benefit of others, or for your community or the environment, without being paid to do it. Volunteering is open to anyone and can bring great personal rewards. We believe that everyone has a valuable contribution to make to society.

The benefits of volunteering

Volunteering can help you find a new direction, increase self- esteem, skills and motivation all while reducing stress and anxiety. By volunteering to give your time you are not only helping others but putting yourself in a position to learn new skills, gain experience and meet like-minded individuals.

Finding volunteering that suits you

If you are thinking about volunteering but you are not sure what role would suit you, it can be easier to start by thinking about what you are interested in. Once you have done this you can search related organisations and charities to see if they have any open volunteering opportunities – you can do this through the organisations website or find opportunities via Lincolnshire Volunteers Programme

This can be in a variety of roles so it might be a good idea to think about what your skills are and how much time you can offer to the role. A volunteer offering two or three hours a week is just as valuable to an organisation as someone offering full time unpaid work. If an organisation is looking for volunteers to work specific times; are those times convenient for you? If not, consider a different job or a different organisation. Remember you can always increase your hours if you wish, don’t be scared to ask for a reduction if the hours are too much for you.

It is also good to think about how you can offer those hours – would you rather volunteer digitally over the phone or online or would you rather work in a face-to-face environment? In today’s digital age, many organizations need help with writing, graphic design, email, and other web-based tasks. Some organisations may require you to attend an initial training session or periodical meetings while others can be conducted completely remotely. In any volunteer situation, make sure that you are getting enough social contact, and that the organisation is available to support you should you have questions.

Volunteering with Shine

At Shine we recognise the positive impact volunteers can have on an organisation as well as on the community we are supporting. We have roles to suit everyone and will work with you to ensure it fits around your interests, skills and commitments.

If you would like to volunteer with Shine, please contact us on [email protected] or read through any available roles below.

Volunteering with organisations we support

Through grant administration we support over 70 organisations county-wide, these range from large, multi-faceted charities to local community groups. The similarity across the board is that many of them rely on volunteers to keep their projects and organisations running. They are located all across the county so you will be able to find a volunteering opportunity in a remit and location to suit you.