The types of volunteering experience that students can get are endless; organisations look for events planners, marketers, administrators, community outreach assistants, musicians, IT experts, youth leaders and so much more and there are endless places to find these experiences.<\/p>\n
So how do you find the right role for you? We\u2019ve compiled a step-by-step guide on how to find the best volunteering opportunities, including some specific websites and resources to get you started!<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re looking to fill out your CV, it\u2019s worth looking at where the gaps are in your current resume. What skills do you need to develop or demonstrate further? Which sectors do you have less experience in? That way, you can tailor your search to opportunities that you will get the most out of.<\/p>\n
Maybe you\u2019re looking to make new friends, in which case when looking at volunteering opportunities you can consider how big the team is and how much interaction you\u2019ll have with your peers. Or, if you\u2019re looking to better your mental and physical health, you could look at outdoor volunteering opportunities with organisations like the National Wildlife Trust.<\/p>\n
Volunteering opportunities massively differ in the amount of time you\u2019re asked to dedicate to them \u2013 most operate on an ad hoc basis, meaning you can come whenever you have free time without the pressure of regular hours that comes with a paid job. However some opportunities, for example, volunteering on the exec of a student society, might require more time when attending weekly meetings, running social media accounts and handling finances.<\/p>\n
No matter how much free time you have, there will always be an organisation that welcomes you \u2013 it\u2019s just a matter of finding the right one! So before you think about volunteering somewhere, check you\u2019ll have the right amount of time.<\/p>\n
Did you know that working with student societies, on your JCR, or as an academic rep can class as volunteering? Before you branch out from your university peers, it\u2019s always a good idea to check which opportunities are right on Lancaster University\u2019s campus!<\/p>\n
There are so many opportunities in Lancaster city, from volunteering to maintain Williamson Park to ushering in the Dukes to working in one of Lancaster\u2019s many charity shops.<\/p>\n
Further out than that, you might find organisations close to home where you can volunteer in the holidays, or if you have a car you could travel to woodland areas to volunteer with groups like Morecambe Wildlife Watch or The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.<\/p>\n
General Websites<\/strong><\/p>\n Websites where you can find a opportunities across sectors include:<\/p>\n Websites that post UK-based volunteering opportunities are:<\/p>\n Arts Opportunties<\/strong><\/p>\n Lancaster residents can volunteer in a multitude of arts festivals, events, and organisations, including:<\/p>\n Community-based Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking to support local communities, here are some places that you can look to get your search started:<\/p>\n Charity Sectors<\/strong><\/p>\n Lancaster is filled with charity shops looking for volunteers, and some of these shops are part of the following charities:<\/p>\n Environmental Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n If you want to get outside and support local environment groups, you can take a look at volunteering for these organisations:<\/p>\n Volunteering is all about getting new experiences and meeting people you wouldn\u2019t otherwise interact with, so go into each opportunity and be willing to try new and exciting things! To get the most out of your experience, it\u2019s important to be open to every opportunity, because sometimes the ones you think are least relevant to you end up opening the most doors!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To conclude, it\u2019s important to think ahead when looking for volunteering opportunities. There are so many to choose from, so consider what you want to get out of the experience when signing up. But, don\u2019t forget to keep an open mind! Volunteering is about growing as a person and a member of the community, so try to welcome the opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The types of volunteering experience that students can get are endless; organisations look for events planners, marketers, administrators, community outreach assistants, musicians, IT experts, youth leaders and so much more and there are endless places to find these experiences. So how do you find the right role for you? We\u2019ve compiled a step-by-step guide on how to find the best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":729,"featured_media":436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[14,44,35,82,39],"class_list":["post-433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-development","tag-career-advice","tag-career-development","tag-career-paths","tag-volunteering","tag-work-experience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/files\/2025\/03\/303370.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/729"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":437,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions\/437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/fassemployabilityhub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Try different things!<\/strong><\/h3>\n