"Volunteer Application Form"

Volunteer Application Form

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1. About You


If you would like to talk someone about volunteering or for help with this form please email us at volunteers@shaw-trust.org.uk or phone 0300 247 2222.

Personal Details








If you don't have an email address, please click here for an alternate application form or phone 0300 247 2222. Without an email it might take longer to get you started.
Your Health and Wellbeing
It's essential that you give us any and all relevant information about your health and wellbeing so that we can keep everyone safe.

The Equality Act 2010 protects disabled people - including those with long term health conditions, learning differences and so-called "hidden" disabilities such as dyslexia. If you tell us that you have a disability or health condition we can make reasonable adjustments to make sure you have the support you need. 






If you've told us about health conditions above, you don't need to repeat your answers here.


Under 18s
As you're under 18, we need to know your full date of birth and we will need to get parental consent for you to volunteer. Please give us  your Parent/Guardian's email address. We will email them straight away and mention your name as you have written it above.



Please note you need to be 14 and over to volunteer in our shops and over 18 to do some of our volunteer roles.

2. Your Skills and Interests

Everyone has something to offer. We want to make the most of the skills and experience you already have as well as give you all the training and support you need.
Peer Mentor Volunteer - Justice
As a volunteer at one of our Activity Hubs you will have an opportunity to use your lived experience and support others through their journey. We will give you the training and support to be an important part of the Hub team. You will help to make it a vibrant and positive place.  

A key part of peer mentorship is about meeting people where they are and offering a range of support. This can involve running group support sessions or offering one-to-one support depending on what people need. Please note, the one-to-one activities must not be in an enclosed or private space. 

This role could include: 
  • Being a helpful part of the Hub team and adapting to the needs of others. 
  • Peer mentorship – leading group support sessions or one-to-ones. 
  • Leading activities including board games, computer games, and crafting. 
  • Encouraging people to make positive, helpful decisions.  
  • Helping people to build their confidence and social skills. 

Please note that as each location varies significantly, some of the activities and responsibilities above may not be involved. Recruitment and activities is at the discretion of the Hub teams. 

Our work in the justice sector is designed to help the people we support to contribute positively to society and break the cycle of offending and reoffending.  We provide Activity Hubs in the Midlands and East of England offering a warm welcome, a hot drink and one-to-one guidance with a support worker, group sessions, and space for participants to work on their own with our team available.  Convictions There is no blanket ban on people with convictions volunteering for us. This role is designed to give people with convictions a way to give back and help others. We treat every person and every location on a case-by-case basis. There will be a bit of paperwork involved which we will help you through. Later on in this form we will ask you to let us know if you have unspent criminal convictions. If so, we will need to carry out an enhanced DBS check on you (it won't cost you a penny).




Retail


This helps us get your application to the right shop manager quickly
At the moment, we're training new staff for this shop so it might take slightly longer than normal to get you started. We will get in touch as soon as possible.
This is one of our newest shops and it's going through a full re-fit. It might take a little longer than normal before we can get you started, sorry. We will get in touch as soon as possible.

Password - OPTIONAL
As you might be using a till, you will need your own password and PIN. To help you pick something easy to remember, you can request your own login details now.


Employability
The Work and Health Programme (WHP) covers central England and the home counties and we have some virtual volunteers as well.

Volunteer coaches and mentors support people with their wellbeing, confidence, and skills to help them on their route into work. By delivering groups or one-to-one support, volunteers directly support a wide range of people by giving them the time, care, and knowledge they need. In some cases, volunteers can deliver group sessions virtually (from home or one of our offices).


Employability
KEEPING THIS FOR WHEN WLA or RESTART RECRUITING AGAIN

We currently welcome volunteers on two programmes supporting people into work.

The Work and Health Programme (WHP) covers central England, the home counties, and West London. Volunteer coaches and mentors support people with their wellbeing, confidence, and skills to help them on their route into work. By delivering groups or one-to-one support, volunteers directly support a wide range of people by giving them the time, care, and knowledge they need. In some cases, volunteers can deliver group sessions virtually (from home or one of our offices).

The Restart Programme is in Birmingham. Volunteers help run Jobseeker sessions where we help people to find the right job for them. By volunteering alongside our staff, you'll help these sessions run smoothly and give people direct support to find their perfect fit.

Children and Young People Services (London)
We're looking for volunteers to help our team in and around London. By giving your time to support our team and young people in your community, you can make a real difference. 

We work with some of the country’s most vulnerable young people. They are often at risk of poor educational attainment, social exclusion, exploitation and substance misuse issues. By supporting them through a crucial, challenging time in their lives, we can help them to improve their life chances.  

We deliver supported internships and run events and activities to give everyone the support they need; whether that’s helping them to find a job, a course, develop their skills, or supporting young people with mental health and wellbeing.   

While there is a lot of overlap in the different roles available, each has a specific focus.


Refugee Employability Programme
We deliver the Refugee Employability Programme in London to support refugees with finding employment, improving language skills, and integrating into their new communities. You can find out more about the programme by clicking here.

We're looking for volunteers to help our team give participants the support they need. You will be based at one of our three busiest locations: Shepherd's Bush Hub, New London College (Hounslow), Boundary House (Uxbridge)

If you have lived experience as a refugee or asylum seeker, you can become a Peer Support Volunteer. Your experiences, empathy, and knowledge will help you to connect with participants and support them through the process.

Even if you don't have lived experience as a refugee or asylum seeker, you can become a Community Mentor Volunteer. By helping out at our busy sites, you can share your time, care, and local knowledge with participants to make a real difference.

These roles could both include:
  • Supporting people with life admin such as housing applications and accessing local services foodbanks and GPs. 
  • Helping people with job searches, applications and interview preparation. 
  • Proof reading CVs and cover letters.  
  • Helping people to build their confidence, resilience, and social skills.  
  • Helping people build a professional network such as using LinkedIn. 
  • Being a helpful part of the team and adapting to the needs of others. 
  • Leading group support sessions or one-to-ones. 
  • Supporting activities including showcase events and recruitment fairs. 
If you think you can help people with some of this, then please apply now.


Garden Centres and Social Enterprises
Each site is a bit different - that's part of the fun! At our Garden Centres and Social Enterprise sites, we provide supported employment placements for people in our community. We help people to learn new skills and build their confidence while delivering a great service to our customers. 

Volunteers support what we do by directly giving support to people on placements here or by assisting colleagues to keep things running smoothly. 





3. References

We cannot accept references from family members. We can accept references from people who know you from a personal or professional context. For example, a current or previous manager, colleague, support worker, landlord, faith leader, teacher, friend, or neighbour.

We will only request a reference if we intend to offer you a role or if you state below that you're happy for us to contact them straight away.

Along with a suitable reference, we will need to check your ID and proof of right to volunteer before you start. For a list of suitable ID types, click here.
Referee Details



Please note, if you cannot provide a valid email address for a referee, you will be unable to submit your application. We suggest you click "Save my progress and resume later" and contact volunteers@shaw-trust.org.uk to discuss further.

Getting you started - OPTIONAL


4. Emergency Contacts

Just in case, please give us a name and number of someone for us to contact in case of emergency.
Emergency Contact



Emergency Contact 2



5. Equal Opportunities - OPTIONAL 

Your answers will be kept private and will not impact your recruitment. We will never use the information in a way that could identify you. Your answers help us to understand what we need to work on to be as inclusive as we strive to be.


About you - OPTIONAL
Please give the answers which best fit for you.

Your gender


Sexual orientation

Ethnic group
Following the ONS National Census, this question is divided into two parts. Firstly we ask for your 'high-level' ethnic group(s). Secondly, we'll ask for a bit more detail. We have also taken the wording from the ONS Census. This helps us understand how our volunteers reflect wider trends.

You can select as many ethnic groups as you wish.
Could you tell us a bit more please?
You can select as many ethnic groups as you wish.





Religion or belief

What is your current employment stats?

What best describes your highest level of qualifications?

6. Some Policies

Almost done - there are just a few things we need to check first.
Declarations
If you have any unspent convictions, let us know below. Any convictions do not necessarily exclude you from volunteering with us and we assess this on a case-by-case basis.

An unspent conviction is any criminal conviction that you’re still in the rehabilitation process for, or that will stay on your criminal record.

If you have an unspent conviction, you might be nervous about whether this will affect your ability to be taken on. We will assess everyone on a case-by-case basis. Please be completely honest with us.

If you declared an unspent criminal conviction, or think this may apply, we will be in touch to discuss this further. 
Conflict of Interests
Do you have any relationship or prior engagement with Shaw Trust? This could include as a participant on one of our programmes, family members working for Shaw Trust, prior contractual engagement with us or a professional connection. 

This is to protect the reputation of Shaw Trust, its employees and agents from accusations of bias, partiality or favouritism and comply with the Bribery Act 2010 and Charities Act 1993.

This does not exclude you from volunteering with us, but in the interests of openness, please declare the details as per our Conflict of Interests policy.


One Last Thing...

Data Protection
We'll only use the information you've given us here for your volunteering record. It will be treated as confidential and stored in line with data protection legislation. You can read the Volunteer Privacy Notice for further details about Shaw Trust's commitment to protecting your data.

In submitting your application form you are declaring that the information you have given us is correct and that you give your consent for Shaw Trust to process your personal data.

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