Volunteering Opportunities
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Volunteering Opportunities Dear Volunteers, We hope you are well. This document collates ongoing efforts by individuals, non-profit organisations and community groups supporting People and Planet during the pandemic. We hope to keep those willing and able to support local initiatives informed about safe and accessible ways to help. We emphasise the importance of keeping yourself and others safe. Please do not attend an opportunity if you are showing any symptoms of the virus, are living with someone showing symptoms, believe you’ve been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus, or are in a high-risk category required to self-isolate . There are plenty of ways to offer support from your own home! Each individual project/charity will offer specific guidance around safe volunteering (based on the type of work they carry out), but you can also find official Government guidance on volunteering here! In this document (Direct links to page): 1. Protecting Yourself and Others 2. Key 3. Volunteering Opportunities a. London-Wide/Multiple London Locations b. Listed by Borough (A-Z) HandsOn London | 55 Philpot Street, Whitechapel |London | E1 2JH | Charity No: 1140291 1. Protecting Yourself and Others Our charity partners are taking all measures possible to ensure ongoing activities are safe, but please make sure you are up to date will all best practice. Here are some useful links from the Government and the BBC: CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): UK Government Response EASY STEPS: How To Keep Safe A SIMPLE GUIDE: What Are The Symptoms? CONTAINMENT: What It Means To Self-Isolate HandsOn London | 55 Philpot Street, Whitechapel |London | E1 2JH | Charity No: 1140291 2. Key: Telephone Support: Delivery Support: Remote volunteering: Practical Support (eg. Sorting, packing, shopping): Cooking/Food Prep: Donations of Food: Donations of Other Essential Items: Gardening/Outdoors: Animal Care: HandsOn London | 55 Philpot Street, Whitechapel |London | E1 2JH | Charity No: 1140291 3. Volunteering Opportunities a. London-Wide/Multiple London Locations Find and support your local Food Bank: • Volunteer with a Trussell Trust foodbank! • Find an independent food bank near you! Age UK – Find and support your local branch: Too many older people feel they have no one to turn to for support. We exist to help older people when they need us the most. Find out how you can support a local branch here! City Harvest: City Harvest is delivering food to charities still providing food for the vulnerable and need volunteers! If you can help, please visit here. NHS Responders: There are various roles that are part of the NHS Volunteer Responders programme. All volunteer roles have been developed to ensure that volunteers can help local communities wherever they can during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Find out more and sign up here! British Red Cross: Help your community in a crisis. We can help you share your kindness with those who need it most. By becoming a community reserve volunteer, you will help your community get back on track in the event of a major local emergency. The Felix Project: The Felix Project collects fresh, nutritious food that cannot be sold. We deliver this surplus food to charities and schools so they can provide healthy meals and help those in need. Sign up here! FareShare: FareShare saves good food from going to waste and takes it to over 200 charities and community groups across the capital, who turn it into meals for Londoners in need of support. Sign up here! HandsOn London | 55 Philpot Street, Whitechapel |London | E1 2JH | Charity No: 1140291 Brighten Up London: Since the launch of our Brighten Up London 4 years ago, we have been working with volunteers to enhance London’s green spaces and to make them as safe and accessible as possible to the public. Over the years, thousands of volunteers have given their time to Brighten Up parks, charity farms and community gardens, creating wildlife habitats and nature trails, restoring ponds, planting trees, building allotments, outdoor classrooms, nature trails and much more across London. Help us support local communities and wildlife… Click the logo on the right to find out more! HandsOn London Virtual Sessions: We have been working with our non-profit partners to connect with isolated people with familiar voices and faces whom they are used to interacting with every week. Volunteers have been helping to run uplifting sessions that have involved quizzes, themed discussions, exercise classes, show and tell, and even ‘Desert Island Discs’ style sessions. We’re really open to new ideas and would love your help! [email protected] Refugee Community Kitchen: In London, we are being supported by Camden Council/ Make & Do Partnership with a kitchen and work space where we cook 4 days a week for Camden Town, Archway and Goodge Street, We also cook at Ridley Road Social Club in Hackney & Brixton Soup Kitchen in Brixton. Our distributions bring communities together as well as allowing other groups and services to help the people we work alongside, including the likes of StreetVet. You can find more information on our website, and here is the registration page! Good to Grow: Good to Grow is an online platform to support food growing in the UK, run by Sustain. The Good to Grow Network is all about getting people involved in their local community garden. Whilst many community gardens are running at a reduced capacity for volunteers, they still very much need the continued support and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved! Find your local Community Garden here! HandsOn London | 55 Philpot Street, Whitechapel |London | E1 2JH | Charity No: 1140291 Food For All: Food For All is an entirely volunteer run and managed food relief charity based in central London which currently provides 5,000 free meals a day to community groups and local authorities, as well as on the streets for people without accommodation. There are several ways to get involved as a volunteer for us: • Preparing & packing meals at our central London kitchen, near Holborn Viaduct • Delivering meals in your car, on your bike or even riding one of our rickshaws • Handing out meals at one of our food hubs around London • Helping with admin tasks at home on your computer St. Mungo’s (Emergency Hotel Assistant): For anyone facing homelessness, and particularly for people who are sleeping rough, our first priority is to make sure that they have somewhere safe and secure to sleep – especially now. We are operating in hotels specifically repurposed to support our clients. The clients have been transferred to the hotels from a variety of communal sleeping spaces and shelters for the specific reason of offering somewhere safe and isolated to stay until the government determines the risk of the virus is no longer. We are currently recruiting for volunteers who have an understanding or experience of working with vulnerable adults to support in these emergency hotels (in Camden, Leyton and Lambeth). Click here to find out more! With Compassion: Compassion London is a group of professional chefs, foodies and people who have come together to cook and deliver free or donation based healthy, nutritious and delicious meals for those who need them most. We believe no-one should go to bed hungry. In these difficult times, please join us and show our common humanity through the power of giving a meal to anyone in need. • Please note – With Compassion are in the process of moving home! Whilst there may not be an opportunity to join their volunteer team straight away, they would still love to hear from you! HandsOn London | 55 Philpot Street, Whitechapel |London | E1 2JH | Charity No: 1140291 FoodCycle: We support people who are hungry and lonely by serving tasty lunches and dinners every single day in towns and cities across the country. Many of our guests struggle to afford the basics to eat and many will eat alone without company or conversation. If you like what FoodCycle does and want to make a difference in communities across the country, there are tonnes of ways you can get involved! All of our Projects are run by a team of incredible volunteers and we are always looking for more people to join our team. Volunteer roles include cooking, collecting or hosting. You can also support our new ‘Check in and chat’ service by signing up to make weekly phones calls and having a natter with our guests. Rhythms of Life: Rhythms of Life is a London homeless charity. Every day, 365 days of the year, our amazing volunteers hit London’s streets to help those in need. We currently operate in Islington, Camden and Westminster, providing meals, clothes, toiletries, sleeping bags, and, most importantly, a friendly ear whenever needed. Volunteer to help London’s homeless. At Rhythms of Life you can make a real difference to the lives of people living on the streets. We are staffed entirely by people who give their spare time and energy to volunteer to help London’s homeless. Join our family! Locals: Meet people to have real-life experiences and have fun doing good! 1) As a host you can create an experience: event, masterclass, meetup, date, and so on. 2) Any user can make a financial commitment to donate to participate in your experience. 3) You can choose one or a group of users to join your experience. 4) Funds raised from the users you selected go to the verified cause of your choice. Find out more and download the app! Omega: As a charity which helps people stay connected in later life, we're calling for urgent help to scale up our telephone befriending programme in the light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.