Volunteering doesn't have to be a long-term commitment. Even a small amount of your time can make a huge impact. Here are some ways you can manage that time efficiently:
Volunteering at one-off events
There are lots of voluntary, community and faith organisations in Surrey who are often looking for volunteers to help out at one-off events. These events could be anything from stewarding to supporting fundraising activities.
You could volunteer at sporting events like Ride London, take part in a campaign, support you local community like Team Caterham or fundraise for your chosen charity.
Contact your local Volunteer Centre to find out about one-off opportunities near you or if you already have an organisation in mind, you can get in touch with them directly.
Featured event
Tandridge District Council (TDC) is running an Emergency Evacuation Centre Exercise and they'd like volunteers!
- Do you want to know what happens when you are evacuated from your home?
- Do you want to help improve how evacuation centres are operated?
If so, please join TDC on Friday 22 September 9.30am to 1pm at the Douglas Brunton Centre, Caterham CR3 5TA.
If you are interested please speak to Helen Hammer, call the volunteer office on 01883 818350 or e-mail caterhamvc@tvsc.org.uk.
Timebanking in Surrey
Timebanking allows people to exchange their time and skills for 'time credits'. These time credits can then be spent on others in the community. Everyone's time is valued equally and one hour of help earns one credit. All sorts of things can be exchanged; from gardening, cooking and shopping, to learning or teaching an instrument or language.
Here's an example of how the system works:
- You volunteer one hour of your time to teach someone a new language.
- This earns you one time credit.
- You spend this credit on someone helping you in your garden for one hour.
To find out how to get involved, see our Timebanking online information.
Micro-volunteering
Micro-volunteering allows you to volunteer your time in bite sized chunks. So wherever you are and whatever time you have, you can contribute to worthy causes.
- GoodGym helps you get fit by doing good. With GoodGym you can join a network of runners that combine regular exercise with helping out communities. Visit their website to find out more and get involved.
- Park run is a community-led 5k run every Saturday at 9.00 at 100s of locations. Volunteers help make sure everything runs smoothly. Find your nearest park run.
If you already have an organization in mind that you'd like to offer your skills to, you can get in touch with them directly.
