Introduction to Volunteering
CVS Lincolnshire hold the Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation (VCQA). This is the national quality mark for organisations that are registered as Volunteer Centres.
We champion volunteering as a force for positive action and as the only accredited Volunteer Centres in Lincolnshire, focusing on excellence and good practice. We provide a brokerage service matching potential volunteers and volunteer involving organisations.
This means you can be assured that whether you are an individual wishing to volunteer, an organisation wanting support for your volunteers, an employer who supports employer supported volunteering or a funder or commissioner who can fund our work that we’ll provide a high quality and effective local service.
Book a Volunteer Appointment
We offer one-to-one appointments that can be booked across the county.
For more details on each office location follow this link to our contact us page.
Why Volunteer?
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.
Volunteering is a great way to:
- Meet people
- Improve your health and wellbeing
- Gain experience
- Make a difference
- Do something you’re passionate about
- Gain new skills
- Fill some spare time
- Help people
- Get involved in your local community
- Try something new
- Enjoy yourself
If you are looking for something to do, then there are lots of organisations that would appreciate your time.
Whatever your interest, we can find a volunteering role tailored to you. We are in regular contact with community groups and charities who are looking for people to support them in hundreds of ways.
Getting Started as a Volunteer
There are lots of new and exciting opportunities being added to our Lincolnshire Volunteering Platform every day. You might be surprised at the variety of things you can do.
Our volunteer advisors are here to help and can support you to identify suitable roles.
If you would like support with volunteering or would simply prefer to speak to one of our experienced team members, please contact us.
Try Some Microvolunteering
Short on time? Did you know that you can volunteer for just a few minutes, any time of the day or night.
You could even do it in your pyjamas!
Take a look below at some of the microvolunteering opportunities you can do right now.
Help wildlife experts find and identify in your area as many species of plants, animals and fungi as possible. BioBlitzes can be carried out anywhere there is wildlife, including urban areas such as parks, cemeteries and canals.
The records collected during a BioBlitz form part of a genuine scientific survey of the area. Find out more and get information on how you can help by following this link to the National History Museum BioBlitz website.
There are all sorts of ways in which you support the nature plants and fungi to help protect them with lots of free activities and learning resources to get you started.
Take a look at the link to the Grow Wild website for more information.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, you can take part in vital dementia research, research opportunities for people with and without dementia and research opportunities for dementia carers or supporters.
Find out more by following the link to the Join Dementia Research website.
There are lots of opportunities to volunteer from home, in your local community and even on your phone!
From five minutes, two hours or half a day's volunteering, it is all time well spent at Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
If you are interested then follow the link to the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People website for more information.
Zooniverse gives people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to participate in real research with over 50 active online citizen science projects.
Work with millions of registered users around the world to contribute to research projects led by hundreds of researchers. Visit the link to the Zooinverse website for more information.
On Change.org, people everywhere are starting campaigns, mobilising supporters, and working with decision makers to drive solutions.
Find out how to start a petition by following this link to the Change.org website.
Help brighten the lives of sick children. There are many ways to get involved in Post Pals and it couldn’t be easier.
In less than 5 minutes you can make a child smile. And for some of the children it might be their only smile that day.
Learn how you can help make a difference to a sick child by following this link to the Post Pals website.
Free Rice is an educational trivia game that helps you get smarter while making a difference for people around the world.
Every question you answer correctly raises 10 grains of rice for the World Food Programme (WFP) to support its work saving and changing lives around the world.
Find out how you can help by following this link to the Free Rice website.
Walrus are under threat from a warming climate. Thanks to people like you, the WWF are collecting vital information that can help.
Become a Walrus Detective today and join thousands of others who are contributing.
Find out more by following this link to the WWF website and help contribute to conservation science by searching for and counting walrus in thousands of satellite images taken from space.
Starting in November right up until Christmas Eve, MS are asking you to knit or crochet Christmas stockings and ‘sell’ them to anyone you know to raise money.
Or instead of stockings, why not create hats, scarves, or jumpers? Your ideas are welcome, and all abilities are encouraged whether you are just starting out or at expert level, they want you to join them.
Get more information by following this link to the MS website.
If you would like to help with the search for missing people but do not personally have a loved one missing, you can help by sharing the Missing Persons appeals publicly.
Follow this link to the Missing Persons website for advice on the best practice to follow, when helping with the search and sharing a missing person’s information online to ensure their safety, and the safety of their family, is prioritised.
Ecosia’s mission is to create simple ways for everyone to be climate active every day. Ecosia dedicate 100% of their profits to the planet.
That means you can plant trees, protect endangered animals, and uplift communities around the world simply by using this browser on the internet.
Follow this link to the Ecosia website to learn more about their projects.
You can make a huge difference to your local community by simply help to pick up litter.
This helps to benefit your local community making it a safer place for all to visit.
All you need is some spare time, some safety gloves and a strong bin bag.
There are various types of micro volunteering opportunities with Macmillan, they are often simple, quick, one-off tasks you can do either from home or in your local area.
Take a look at the link to the Macmillan Website for more information.
Young Lives vs Cancer have created easy to access, low commitment volunteering opportunities full of possibilities. These are opportunities that allow you to donate your time and allow Young Lives vs Cancer to utilise all of the amazing skills you have all in support of children and young people with cancer.
There are a mixture of opportunities available, take a look at the link to the Young Lives vs Cancer Website for more information.
Alzheimer’s Society have five ways to micro volunteer that take no more than five minutes each. Even little actions can make a big impact on the lives of people affected by dementia.
Take a look at the link to the Alzheimer’s Society Website for more information.
Cancer Research UK have flexible, bitesize volunteering opportunities. A little time goes a long way. And your time could help everybody live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
Take a look at the link to the Cancer Research UK Website for more information.
I am Looking for Volunteers
We work with organisations from all sectors to link potential volunteers with opportunities that match their interests and needs.
Our team can assist you with all aspects of volunteer management. This includes:
- Good practice development
- Training
- Volunteer recruitment
- Promoting opportunities
- Support with Lincolnshire Volunteering Platform
Our Lincolnshire Volunteering Platform is visible to the public and enables prospective volunteers to view and apply for volunteering roles. You can easily register, after which you will able to start uploading and advertising your own volunteering opportunities.
Guides for Organisations
Our quick guides below will help you to find out more about our volunteering platform and support you to use it.
What We Do and Do Not Do
We promote your opportunities to potential volunteers face to face, at events and online.
Our volunteering platform is a free advertising service that enables you to reach a wide range of potential volunteers in a simple way. If someone is interested in your opportunities, we will notify you of their contact details and ask you to get in touch with them to take things further.
We do not ‘vet’ potential volunteers on your behalf, so you will need to carry out whatever recruitment and selection processes are appropriate for your work.
However, we can work with you to help you develop a recruitment process to suit your organisation and the work that volunteers do.
