Volunteering
Groundwork welcomes volunteers from all walks of life. Our
volunteers include people looking for work experience, people
on secondment, anyone looking for something useful to do with
their free time or just wishing to get out and meet others. By
being part of a local organisation, you can make a real difference
to the environment and other people’s lives.
Some volunteer posts are advertised on our Jobs page, or you could contact us now to
see what else is available.
Groundwork Thames Valley has about 100 volunteers, including
Board Members. We place a strong emphasis on supporting short and
long term volunteers – who are vital to the sustainability of
the organisation. Volunteers foster community pride in the
projects they are involved in. Our management structures and
processes are maintained to support best practice in order to
monitor, reflect and enhance volunteering within Groundwork.
Facts
- Youngest volunteer - 17
- Oldest volunteer - 79
- 4 Groundwork volunteers have become permanent members
of staff
- Average of 167 volunteer days are given each
month
What type of work would I be doing?
There
are a wide range of opportunities on offer, from outdoor to office
work. However, most opportunities come from one of the following
areas.
- Iver Nature
Study Centre
Helping Centre Staff run events for school children, working with
people with special needs or general gardening.
- Colne Valley Park
Visitors' Centre
Help Centre Staff with
enquiries from the general public, work in the tea shop or help
with events for the general public.
- Healing
Gardens
Help people who have long term health problems to continue to
benefit from their gardens - administrative as well as outdoors
work.
- Project-based
work
Work on local community or
environmental projects with staff from a range of disciplines,
including project officers and landscape architects. Could be
mainly office-based or more outdoors.
- Com.Cafe
The café offers a wide range of opportunities to volunteers
in a friendly community atmosphere with supportive and enthusiastic
staff. Opportunities in the café include food
preparation and customer service, helping people with IT or
internet or being part of the management committee.
