Volunteering

St John Ambulance is the nation’s leading first aid charity.

Every year, more than 400,000 people learn how to save a life through our training programmes, including hundreds of thousands of young people.

Our volunteers provide first aid in their communities, keeping people safe at events, and working alongside the NHS in response to 999 calls. We’re also always campaigning to raise awareness of first aid and directly educate the public.

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is a non-profit organisation that helps poverty struck areas by sending dedicated volunteers to achieve community goals, like better healthcare, more valuable education and broader opportunities. They are always looking for people to volunteer abroad to help these struggling areas. "Our volunteers, supporters, programme, corporate and institutional partners, who share so generously in order that lives might be transformed around the world."

Volunteer Essex allow you to search through the many different volunteering opportunities in and around Essex county. They have about 14 different volunteer centres around Essex, including: Colchester, Chelmsford, Southend, Braintree and many more. 

Home-Start Colchester is an independent local charity dedicated to making a real difference to children and their parents, delivering a vital community grass roots home-visiting mentor service. A service built on postive relationships, a service without doors.

Home-Start offers positions to volunteer, such as family support home visiting or mentors.  Email Home-Start for an application form to volunteer. 

We are a local, independent charity connected to the national charity Mind. There are 140 local Minds across England and Wales. We all have to raise our own money to run our services. We each have our own board of trustees who are responsible for how we are run. Mid and North Essex Mind work from Chelmsford to Clacton, from Braintree to Colchester – we cover all of mid and north east Essex.

Colchester Mind offers volunteer positions and paid positions.

They offer training in mental health awareness.  

The Colchester League of Hospital Friends is a charitable organisation that works with Colchester hospitals to provide additional equipment to benefit patients. The most visible work of the League is their Shops, Guiding Service, Ward Shop Trolleys, Ward Newspaper and Library rounds in Colchester General Hospital, and the tea bar at Essex County Hospital and cafe at the Primary Care Centre in Colchester. Along with paid staff, these outlets and services are manned by the many volunteers who willingly give of their time.

We are a one-stop shop for all matters related to the environment, providing a focal point for the gathering and exchange of information on one of the most important issues of the day; the environment.

We are well known for supporting Colchester and Wivenhoe Farmers Markets, as well as RePaint Essex, a paint recycling scheme, and ReUse Essex, a great way to reuse rather than reject unwanted goods. Green Open Days are also high on our agenda, along with a lot of other great projects aimed at helping inform, educate and assist those looking to choose a greener path.

Voluntary Action Oldham is a support and development organisation for voluntary, community and faith groups across the borough. 

We connect people, ideas and resources and aim to build vibrant communities by increasing volunteering and strengthening social action.

Working Abroad is the international networking service for volunteers, workers and travellers. They offer over 1000 volunteer abroad organisations and overseas volunteer projects around the world searching for support from volunteers, all of which can be viewed and contacted for free using their online database.

They help people to volunteer in around 150 countries worldwide, including countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and North America. Volunteer abroad projects in different countries can be short term, long term, paid, unpaid, skilled, unskilled - it all depends on your needs, qualifications and personal interests.

NCVO champions the voluntary sector by connecting, representing and supporting voluntary organisations. They work to help voluntary organisations and volunteers make the biggest difference they can.

NCVO connects organisations with the people, partners and resources they need to make big differences.

Volunteer Centre Leeds helps individuals to find suitable volunteering opportunities and provides advice and support to organisations to set up and manage a volunteering programme and to find suitable volunteers.​​

Colchester Volunteer Centre is the promoter and guide to volunteering in Colchester.

We have over 3,500 potential volunteers registered with us and we help many of them to identify appropriate opportunities and give guidance and support on contacting groups, thus supporting them to achieve their goals as volunteers.

GoodGym is a community of runners who get fit by doing good. Whether you’re new to running or are trying to beat your marathon Personal Best, we’d love to have you involved in doing some good in your area. 

We do physical tasks that benefit our community and keep us fit. You can run in a pack to work on a community project and/or support older people in the community by doing one off missions or committing to a weekly social visit as part of your runs.

We run to see isolated older people. As a runner it can keep you motivated to run and makes sure that someone that is feeling isolated or lonely gets a regular visit. You'll get the help of a qualified trainer and support to achieve your goals.

Get started with GoodGym and we’ll keep you up to date with runs in your area. 

NCVO champions the voluntary sector and volunteering. We connect, represent and support voluntary organisations.

Each day, millions of people make a difference to the causes they believe in through voluntary organisations and volunteering.

This thriving voluntary sector and volunteer movement are essential for a better society – especially in times of challenge and change.

That’s why, inspired and empowered by our 11,000 members, we champion the voluntary sector and volunteering. We do this by connecting, representing and supporting voluntary organisations, from the smallest community groups to the largest charities.

We connect organisations with the people, partners and resources they need to make the biggest difference.

We represent the voluntary sector and volunteering to government – using the best research, we demonstrate their true value and help influence policy-makers.

We support voluntary organisations by generating and identifying the best knowledge and expertise.