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Volunteer Opportunities
Community Links runs community-based projects in 60 centres and invites employees to volunteer their time to make a difference to the lives of children and adults across east London! The volunteering opportunties listed below are open to employees of companies that support our work through corporate donations. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary we’d like to focus our volunteer projects on empowering children and young people, families and older people and communities to maximise their own potential to achieve.
Check out some recent projects that corporate volunteers have been involved with! For more information about a specific opportunity, complete this form and email it to Trishna Shah
Special One-time Volunteering Projects
The Apprentice Team Challenge
Two teams have the opportunity to compete to sell the most on eBay in six hours. The first day is based at our eBay social enterprise Auction My Stuff. Each team of six has three corporate volunteers and three local young people. Each person should bring two donated items to sell, and we will provide some, but all go into a pool. Each team alternately choose their 20 lots at the beginning of the day, and then work as a team to photograph, research, describe and list their items in the time available. One week later, all the teams meet up again at a reception in a meeting room at the Company, where they watch their items sell. The team whose items sell for the most will win the coveted apprentice trophy.
Such a challenge will inspire our young people through interactions with motivated professionals, give corporate volunteers an opportunity to bring out the best in young people and raise money to support the work Community Links does locally in east London. We are looking for a £500 donation to undertake this project, which will enable us to buy 2 new digital cameras for the social enterprise.
If you are interested, please contact Trishna Shah
Empowering Children and Young People
Engage with children in After-School Clubs or Special Needs Centres.
During term-time, spend a weekday afternoon helping kids with their homework and/or running an activity outside of the centre’s daily programs involving arts and crafts, music, drama, or anything else of interest to kids. Can be an ongoing or one-off individual or team volunteer opportunity.
Create and Run a Skills Workshop
During term-time or holidays, create and run your own workshop at an after school club, youth centre, or in the daytime for an education centre for kids who are excluded from school or young people who are looking for work. Topics can include: CV building, interview skills, photography, budget management, music, drama, arts, sports, etc depending on the age range at that centre. Share your knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to make a difference to young peoples lives. Can be a one-off individual or team volunteer opportunity.
Inspire Young People to Learn a Sport
Any time of the year when the weather permits, you can volunteer alongside the sports development team (S-Team), who sets up sports leagues in estates throughout east London to improve the well-being of kids and to keep them out of trouble. The S-Team sets up projects in parks and works closely with the children to generate interest and develop skills in various sports. Through regular visits, typically over a 6 month period, the group grows and becomes more established, until eventually when the kids take complete ownership of their new sports league. At this point the S-Team moves onto the next neighbourhood and starts all over again. Can be an ongoing or one-off individual or team volunteer opportunity.
Design an Alternative Education Project
During term-time, volunteer with one of our educational projects to provide alternative ways of learning, which are often more effective for these children who do not thrive in regular school environments. Collaborate with teachers in advance to bring in aspects of curriculum into the unique activities, which can include: doing a series of workshops that enable the children to produce a youth newsletter; assist with creative writing projects; teach kids to develop music and/or films; take kids on a half-day rock climbing or museum trip. Can be a one-off individual or team volunteer opportunity.
Offer a Work Experience Placement at Your Company
Inspire a young person by providing them with a one week placement at your work place. Many of the young people we work with have not been outside Newham. A work experience placement would broaden their horizons and introduce them to the work environment and the many career choices out there.
Plan a Fun Day or an Educational Trip
Between Easter and October, Links Event Solutions can organise an event to involve as many or as few kids as we choose, accommodating as many as 200 children. We can suggest the venue, provide services that fit within your available budget, and if necessary bring in our own staff to assist on the day. Can be branded as a sponsored event by our company. Take children from a community centre ranging from 6-13 years on an educational day trip to visit a zoo, museum, theme park, or other general places of interest. Trips can include or be focused around children with special needs and/or disabilities if the volunteers are keen to involve them. Great one-off opportunity for a large group of volunteers!
Empowering Families and Older People
Empower People with Disabilities
Learn about the daily challenges affecting disabled people’s lives through one-on-one conversations and help them to gain access to additional funds that can dramatically improve the quality of their lives. The information that volunteers learn through the course of the conversation will enable them to complete a disability application form for the client, which is then used to file their claim. This provides volunteers with the unique opportunity to engage directly with users for a half or full day and learn, first-hand, about the issues that they are facing in their day-to-day lives. It can be an ongoing or one-off individual or team volunteer opportunity.
Christmas Season Volunteering
There are lots of fun and festive volunteering opportunities for individual or teams to get involved with leading up to the holiday season. For more information about Christmas volunteering activities, contact Trishna Shah in the autumn!
Empowering Communities
Innovate to Impact Communities
Depending on the studies that Links UK, Community Links national arm, is undertaking at a given point in time, you can volunteer to support their work by undertaking policy-based research, conducting interviews or large-scale surveys, or providing editorial expertise to their publications group. Because these needs are always changing, please contact Trishna Shah for available opportunities at the time when you or your team is interested in volunteering.
Extreme Makeover Team Challenges
Paint a room or a mural, plant a garden, or spruce up one of our many centres to make the buildings more inviting for the thousands of young people who utilise them all year round. Because centres’ needs are always changing, please check with Trishna Shah to learn about the current projects that are available at the time that your team is interested in volunteering.
Join Our Business Leaders Group
Our Business Leaders Group is a stimulating volunteering opportunity for senior employees. The group consists of 20-30 business professionals, either employed, self-employed or retired who meet once a year for a strategy meeting at which current challenges faced by Community Links are tackled and plans for future growth and development outlined. Each person brings their personal skills and business acumen to the table, network with other professionals and end the session with drinks, dinner and lively debate hosted by Sir David Walker at Morgan Stanley. Contact Anna Mothes to find out more.
For more information about a specific opportunity or to get involved please complete this form and email it to Trishna Shah