Volunteering is simple. It’s about choosing to give some time to do something useful, without getting paid. It can be helping people, the community or society, the environment or animals.

In school you could be involved in paired reading, mentoring, being a prefect, helping in the library, doing a recycling project, working backstage for a school production, doing the publicity for a school play or xmas bazaar, fundraising for a local charity, coaching football or other sports for the younger students.

Out of school you could volunteer at a charity shop, help at the local hospice, be involved in a conservation project with BTCV, be a server at your church, help with brownies or beavers, help at an animal rescue centre, fundraise for a charity, collect bric-a-brac and items for the local charity shop to sell.

Decide what your interests are – working with people, children, animals or a project? Look in the local yellow pages or online to see what groups are in your area that need volunteers, phone them or go along to see what they do and whether you want to work with them for a couple of hours a week.

Once you have made contact and have agreed the times you can volunteer, you must be reliable and punctual. Other people are relying on you to do the work you agreed, so be sensible and do not promise to do longer hours than you can really manage. Remember you still have to fit in your schoolwork, your friends and your family!

VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES in ESSEX
Put Volunteering in Essex (or your nearest town) into Google – see what you can get involved in locally

The Wilderness Foundation
01245 443073
www.wildernessfoundation.org.uk - for projects in your area

The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV)
01206 764470
www.btcv.org – for local projects

Hospices in Essex
Farleigh Hospice, Chelmsford 01245 457300
St Luke’s Hospice, Basildon 01268 272292
St Helena’s Hospice, Colchester 01206 845566
St Clare’s Hospice, Harlow 01279 773700

Animal Shelters in Essex
Clarks Farm Greyhound Rescue, Little Totham 01621 788315
RSPCA, Wethersfield, Braintree 01371 851201
RSPCA, Colchester 01206 860586
Colchester Cat Rescue, Ardleigh 01206 864284
Hopefield Horse Sanctuary, Brentwood 01277 201110
Wildlives Rescue Centre, Thorrington 01206 251174

V Involved
For V Involved volunteering projects in Essex contact SAVs in Southend who cover the whole of Essex
0808 1787337
or their website:
http://www.savsmembers.org/estv/?file=kop1.php

If any Essex charities or voluntary groups would like to add their details here, please contact the DofE office 01245 436633