We have offices across the region in Hull, Leeds and Sheffield and work in three induction centres in Barnsley and Leeds. Volunteers are based in our offices, in the induction Centres and in the community. Please see below for more information about our different offices.
When completing the volunteer application form, please make a note of which areas you are particularly interested and where you would prefer to volunteer. We are always looking to broaden the range of our volunteer activities and welcome ideas for new projects. If you have a specialist skill or interest that is not included in the list below, please mention it when you are completing your application form.
Leeds-based roles
Volunteers at our Leeds office are involved in a broad range of activities in the community and in the office. Please have a look at these opportunities and make a note of any areas that you are particularly interested in on your application form.
Office-based roles
Helpline volunteers
Volunteers staff an information line for clients, in two-hourly sessions. They answer routine enquiries and pass on details of more complex cases to the project workers on duty.
Advice volunteers
Volunteers assist project workers to screen clients and provide information to clients and project workers during advice sessions
Client assistance volunteers
Volunteers play a key role in assisting clients in our office in Leeds. Volunteers co-ordinate donations of clothes and toys and distribute them to clients. Volunteers look after the waiting area by keeping it tidy and serving refreshments to clients. Volunteers also accompany clients to various appointments.
General administration volunteers
Volunteers also assist many of our teams with general administration. This is a good opportunity to gain work experience as well as to learn more about the Refugee Council. Volunteers assist with filing, photocopying and mail outs as well as contributing to the Volunteers’ Newsletter and assisting with information updates.
Events Volunteers
Volunteers help to organise events for Refugee Week, held every year in June. Volunteer also assist with the delivery of Refugee Council conferences and training courses held in the Leeds area.
Community-based volunteering
Volunteers also take part in a number of projects outside the Refugee Council office, either in community centres or at Hillside, the induction centre in Leeds.. We run activities in Leeds based community centres and at our induction centres in Barnsley and Leeds. In addition to this we run two region wide projects from our Leeds office – the SMILE project and the Talks Team which are based in the community.
Induction centre volunteers based in Barnsley and Leeds
Induction centres provide temporary accommodation to asylum seekers, most of whom are newly arrived in the UK. Our clients usually only stay in the centre for a short time (2 to 33 to 4 weeks) and are provided with a series of briefings to help them understand the asylum system and adapt to life in the UK. Volunteers work closely with staff in providing support to clients. Please read the Barnsley section for more information about specific volunteer roles.support our clients in a number of ways. Volunteer roles include teaching English, organising activities and providing practical support. We are very keen to develop volunteering within our induction centres and would be really interested in hearing from you.
Drop in volunteers
We run two drop in sessions for clients in the centre of Leeds and in Bramley. Volunteers organise and assist with a range of activities including English language teaching and art classes. Volunteers also help to market these drop in sessions and encourage clients to attend.
Talks Team volunteers
Volunteers give talks or run workshops for community groups, voluntary and statutory organisations, faith groups and in local schools. This is a great way to improve your communication skills and also to increase the understanding of refugee and asylum seeker issues across the region. The talks team runs talks throughout Yorkshire and Humberside. We have two volunteer roles in the talks team; speakers who are willing to tell their personal story to an audience; and coordinators with teaching/presentation skills to coordinate the talks and target new audiences across the region.
RIES volunteers
RIES (Refugee Integration and Employment Service) is a government funded programme that for the first time will provide consistent and planned support and advice to people who are newly granted refugee status in the UK after claiming asylum.
Volunteer Integration Advisors and Volunteer Community Advocates will be working alongside paid colleagues and with their support. The purpose of these roles is to provide advice and practical support to clients who have been granted refugee status to enable them to access services, employment and to continue their journeys to rebuild their lives in the UK.
Volunteer Integration Advisers will provide advice to clients attending appointments at our offices. Volunteer Community Advocates will work mainly on an outreach basis and assist clients to access other services by accompanying them to appointments and acting as advocates to ensure that they receive the services to which they are entitled.
For the Volunteer Integration Adviser we would ask that you are able to commit to one full day 9.00 a.m. - 5 p.m. per week for a minimum of four months.
For the Community Volunteer Advocate we would ask that you are able to commit one half day to one full day per week.
SMILE project volunteers
SMILE (Supporting and Mentoring in Learning and Education) is a new project for the Refugee Council and works with refugee and asylum seeking children both in families and in the UK on their own. The project is based in Leeds but will work across Yorkshire and Humberside. The project has three distinct volunteer roles:
Mentors – working with children for 3 months (minimum commitment) to help find educational placements and then support them to settle in to school/college.
Befrienders – working with children for 12 months (minimum commitment) to support them in finding and attending out of school activities and groups.
School information volunteers (minimum commitment 6 months)– visiting schools and promoting the experience of refugee and asylum seeking children.
Volunteer Comment:
'I enjoy very much helping others at the Refugee Council. These are real cases and real people's lives. I have been there myself and becoming a Refugee Council volunteer has given me the opportunity to channel my experiences into something constructive, by helping others'
Hull-based roles
We work with refugees from Iraq who have come to the UK as part of the UNHCR Gateway Programme. We are developing the opportunities we have on offer at our office in Hull. As well as those listed below, we are open to ideas you may have about ways you would like to volunteer with us at our Hull office.
Befriending
Make friends with our clients to help reduce isolation, increase confidence, improve integration, meet new people and introduce them to life in the local community. Work alongside project workers.
Drop-in Volunteer
Support clients at our regular drop-in. Tasks include paying travel expenses, making drinks, distributing information, being generally supportive, etc.
Language support
Help clients practice English in their own homes and in everyday situations around Hull
Help clients to prepare for tests
Employment support and Volunteering
Support clients to meet employment and volunteering aspirations.
Work alongside Employment and Volunteering Adviser at the fortnightly job clinics or as a mentor.
Community Activities and Organizing Events
Help identify and develop individual- and group activities in the community; organize events such as the Refugee Week 16-22 June; assist the Iraqi Community Group with organizational development; help source and secure funding for the different activities; work alongside the Community Development Coordinator
Women’s Group
Assist with women’s sessions during the drop in. Sessions will cover Health and Wellbeing, volunteering, social activities, etc.
Assist the women’s group for asylum seekers and refugees in Hull (WORAH) with their monthly activities; group aims to establish friendships and increase access to information for women who feel isolated and lonely.
Youth Mentors
Ideal for young people under 25 years who want to help young refugees (aged 6 to 25) to access youth activities, make friends and develop their learning prospects.
Sheffield-based roles
Volunteers provide a range of activities within Sheffield to support refugees from Iraq who have come to the UK on the Gateway Protection Programme.
Befriending
Our Local Friend project matches volunteers with individual clients and families. Volunteers will visit families and individuals in their homes. The aim of this role is to promote cross- cultural friendship and help refugees to get to know their local area and become increasingly independent and integrated. Activities could include cooking, going to a local community group, or practising English at home. A TEFL/CELTA qualification is not required.
Women’s Group
Providing activities and opportunities for female clients to develop their skills and confidence. We are particularly keen on working with people who are interested in teaching conversational English or organising arts and crafts activities.
Employment & volunteering
Assisting clients with job search, completing applications and interview skills. Supporting clients to create and maintain their CV. Helping to build confidence in preparation for employment or volunteering.
Community Development
Supporting clients to develop their own community organisations, music groups, sport/ leisure activities and social events. Help with funding enquires, community forum meetings, English conversation classes and to link in with the wider city community.
Refugees Into Teaching
The Refugees into Teaching project is a national project based at the Refugee Council and funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools. We provide information, advice and support to refugees who are attempting to qualify or re-qualify as teachers in this country.
We are currently looking for teaching professionals to act as volunteer mentors to refugees to help them overcome these barriers. Supported by the Refugee Council, you would draw upon your own experience to provide regular one-to-one mentoring to a refugee from our database. A mentor could be anyone with experience of working in primary or secondary education in England. You may be a teacher, teaching assistant, ex-teacher, supply teacher, teacher trainee or newly qualified teacher. Alternatively you might work at a teacher training provider or in another related profession.
Refugees into Teaching Volunteer Mentoring role: - To work sensitively with a mentee from a refugee background
- To arrange and conduct regular one-to-one meetings with a mentee, in a suitable public location
- To be able to commit a minimum of one hour a fortnight for at least three months
- To complete a mentoring action plan in consultation with the mentee and the Mentoring Co-ordinator
- To regularly update the action plan and activity record with progress made
- To provide mentoring input (drawing upon your own experience of UK primary or secondary education and, where necessary, using other suggested resources)
- To keep in regular contact with the Mentoring Co-ordinator, reporting any problems as they arise
- To work within agreed boundaries
- To maintain confidentiality where necessary
- To attend the initial briefing session at the Refugee Council offices
- To take part in ongoing development
- To complete feedback and evaluation forms as required
For more information, and to apply, please visit the project website on www.refugeesintoteaching.org.uk
