Author: Susan Dennison

Are you looking for a rewarding way to give back to your community? Consider becoming a hospital car driver with Uttlesford Community Travel. Their hospital car service plays a crucial role in ensuring that individuals who are unable to access regular transport can still attend their medical appointments with ease.

As a hospital car driver, you’ll have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others by providing essential transport to medical facilities. Whether it’s driving patients to routine check-ups, treatments, or surgeries, your support can alleviate the stress and uncertainty often associated with accessing healthcare services.

Flexible volunteering hours to suit.

Skills needed:

• Driver with a clean licence
• Caring and compassionate
• Friendly and helpful

For further information:

Contact us on:

T: 01371 404525

E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

Volunteer Gardeners are needed for weekly sessions that take place on Monday & Thursday mornings (weather dependent). No experience is necessary just an interest in helping out with various tasks such as watering, sowing seeds, weeding and much more…

Dig It Community Allotment is located at the Byrds Farm Lane Allotment site which is tucked away just behind Crocus Fields road, just off Little Walden Road at the north end of Saffron Walden. It was launched with the purpose of enabling anyone to be able to come and learn how to grow their own fresh, fruit and veg in a friendly social atmosphere. The site has been made wheelchair friendly and has several raised beds with plans for more, so it’s easy for anyone of any age or level of fitness to join in!

Gardeners are needed for:

• Maintaining our community allotment and ensuring it is clean and tidy.
• Carrying out small maintenance and repair jobs on the allotment.
• Helping with planting and harvesting of produce
• Assisting with composting and soil maintenance.
• Maintaining the safety and cleanliness of the allotment.

The above list is not exhaustive, and volunteers may be asked to take on other tasks to support and assist the smooth running of the allotment.

Volunteers should wear suitable clothing/footwear for the garden and wear garden gloves.

Skills needed:

No previous experience is required but you must be enthusiastic, friendly and enjoy working outside and working with people.

For further information:

Contact us on T: 01371 404525

E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

The disability benefits team are specially trained volunteers who visit people in their homes to help them to complete complex disability benefit application forms. Last year they helped 563 clients apply for disability and carer’s benefits worth over £1,548,000 a year!

What will you be doing?

As a home visit volunteer, you will help people who, because of limited mobility, pain levels, confusion or caring responsibilities, are unable to attend the office. Undertaking one visit a week, on average, you will receive specialist training so that you can help clients to complete disability benefit applications and provide support and advice on fall prevention, social transport, care options, befriending and support groups, handyman services, access to priority registers, warm homes or budgeting advice, which can vastly improve the quality of life of disabled people and their carers.

This is a flexible role that works very well around other commitments.

Skills needed:

You don’t need any specific qualifications or experience; you will receive full training for this role. But you should:

● be friendly and approachable

● be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own

● have good listening skills

● have excellent verbal and written communication skills

● be able to understand information and explain it to others

● be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection

● be willing to undertake training in your role

● have access to a car, as travel around the district is required. Travel expenses will be reimbursed.

For further information:

Contact us on:

T: 01371 404525

E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

Audley End House and Gardens are looking for outgoing and enthusiastic people to join our team of Storytelling Volunteers to help bring their site to life. You will be dressed in a relevant historical costume.

Dressed in replica costume you’ll interact with visitors and share stories of life from the era.  This role isn’t about acting, or portraying a particular individual, it’s about using your costume to engage with visitors to help them connect with the site’s past.

Each interaction you have with visitors can be different and no two conversations will be the same. To help visitors get the most from their visit you could be:

• Describing what life would have been like living or working at the site
• Answering visitors’ questions and providing accurate information in a lively and engaging way
• Using handling objects or demonstrating historical activities

Skills needed:     

• You’ll need to enjoy meeting and talking with people of all ages and backgrounds
• Have a passion for sharing historical stories and information
• Some historical knowledge would be beneficial, but we will provide you with all of the information and training you need
• A desire to learn and a want to share your knowledge with our visitors

For further information:

Contact us on T: 01371 404525 E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

Audley End House and Gardens are looking for Buggy Drivers to take visitors around the site.

Buggy Drivers are there to offer this transport whilst providing a warm and friendly welcome.

What will I be doing?

• Making sure that the buggy is clean and safe to drive by carrying out a driver’s daily checklist and giving the vehicle a clean at the end of your shift
• Driving the buggy around the designated route
• Inspiring visitors with stories about the history of the site and the various features of the garden
• Helping visitors orientate themselves around the site and provide recommendations of interesting parts of the garden to explore
• Keeping an eye on the site to ensure visitors are enjoying the garden in a safe and responsible manner and reporting any issues to the site supervisor
• You might also be asked to provide ad hoc support to the Visitor Operations, Hospitality and Events staff as required. This could range from transporting guests around the site through to conducting the evening sweep (checking and closing garden buildings) to ensure all visitors have left.

Skills needed:

• Driving Licence
• Practical experience driving a similar type of shuttle or golf cart vehicle is desirable but not essential
• Shuttle Drivers will need to be confident engaging with the public and enjoy chatting to visitors throughout the day

For further information:

Contact us on T: 01371 404525

E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

Volunteers are needed to support our Mobile Hub to promote the work of UCAN and increase access to the support services available to people in Uttlesford.

Our Mobile Hub is taken out to local events and rural areas in Uttlesford to promote our work and increase access to support services available to people in Uttlesford.
We are looking for a team of friendly faces to come along and support UCAN and the mobile Hub.
This is on an ad hoc basis times and dates to be agreed.

What will you be doing?

• Supporting individuals to explore what is on offer within the service and what options are available.
• Help with setting up the Hub
• Interact and engage with service users
• Handing out of leaflets
• Serve refreshments

The skills you will need?

• A friendly, positive and approachable manner
• non-judgmental
• work independently and as part of a team
• empathise with the challenges faced by the people using our services
• respect and maintain confidentiality
• Enthusiasm about UCAN and the work we do (training will be given)

Further Information and to Apply

For further information, and to register your interest please contact us on:

T: 01371 404525

E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

UCAN support people who are struggling with their gardens to do a one off tidy. Volunteer gardeners are needed.

We are looking for volunteers to help elderly and vulnerable people tidy up and bring new life to their gardens. This would be an ad hoc volunteering role as and when needed.

No specific skills are required for this role but a love of gardening may help.

All volunteering will be done in a secure way with a risk assessment carried out by a member of staff beforehand.

For further information:

Contact us on T: 01371 404525 E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

UCAN over the past year has successfully provided humanitarian aid to refugees arriving at Stansted Airport. We are now looking to create a Crisis Response Team who we will be able to mobilise and respond to crisis in Uttlesford at short notice.

We are looking for Volunteers to join a team of Crisis Response Volunteers to help support any emergencies and any other incidents that occur in Uttlesford. Working with partner organisations (Red Cross, Uttlesford District Council, Transport etc). As we are in close proximity to Stansted Airport, we are often asked to provide humanitarian aid to refugees arriving in the country.
This role will be very varied depending on the needs and can range from activities like arranging shelter, travel, food, medical information for people arriving or resident in Uttlesford due to a local/National/International Emergency.
You will always be working in a small team alongside other organisations. Full training will be given.
This role will be on an as and when needed, but occasionally it maybe at short notice dependant on what the emergency is and the situation.
Travel expenses can be reimbursed.

Skills needed:

• Previous Volunteering experience – Desired but not essential
• Ability to communicate in a calm and professional manner.
• Ability to work within the team
• Recognise own limitations and seek support from others.
• Act in a way that supports equality and values diversity.
• Organisational skills.
• Problem solving.
• Show empathy and compassion towards others and treat people with dignity and respect.
• Show resilience, adaptability and flexible approach as situations arise.
• Motivated to use initiative to recognise problems and seek solutions whilst understanding the importance of empowering and enabling others.

For further information:

Contact us on T: 01371 404525 E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

Thaxted Festival is host to leading professional musicians across all styles and genres, for four weekends in June and July. It depends on volunteers for its successful smooth operation. Could you be part of their team,  helping with preparation, working behind the scenes, or welcoming audiences?

Help is needed with:

• Box office and ticketing support
• Lighting, sound and technical assistance.
• Support for their artists during set-up, rehearsal and performance times.
• Marketing and promotion through social media and traditional channels.
• Catering volunteer to assist with refreshments

This year the summer festival is 21st June – 14th July although volunteers are needed throughout the year.

Skills needed:

• Computer skills
• Experience in Lighting/Sound
• Marketing or PR
• Team Working
• Enthusiastic
• Reliable and Friendly

For further information:

Contact us on T: 01371 404525 E: volunteer@ucan.org.uk

To register your interest: Click Here