Celebrating our volunteers, past and present.
Volunteers are at the heart of Renewal Programme, without them we would not be able to provide support for Newham. Our Volunteers love Newham as much as we do, and give all that they can to empower our attendees.
Volunteers kindly give their time, passion, and enthusiasm to help us achieve our main objective: to transform and empower the lives of those living within Newham.
If you would like to join our volunteers, check out our current vacancies here.
Our volunteer roles and stories
Kitchen Volunteer
Our kitchen volunteers prepare and serve hot drinks and a weekly hot meal as part of our Community Hub project
Food Bank Volunteer
Our Food Bank volunteers help to give food parcels to service users, give them relevant signposting and assess potential service users for eligibility.
Training and Education Volunteer
Our Training and Education Volunteers help to prepare lessons, set up classrooms and interact with our students
Cargo Bike Volunteer
Our Cargo Bike Volunteers help to pick up and deliver surplus stock from local businesses for our community pantry.
Youth Volunteer
Our Youth Volunteers help out with our many youth activities and programmes, such as our free holiday programmes and library events.
Energy Champion Volunteer
Our Energy Champion Volunteers are part of our Stay Warm in Newham project, they help give vital energy advice to our service users with Groundworks Green Doctors
Digital Inclusion Volunteer
Our Digital Inclusion Volunteers help our service users to get online, and help them with online essentials, such as registering for the GP.
Community Hub Involvement Panel
Our CHIP volunteers get together every month to develop ideas about the activities we run at the Community Hub.
Immigration Casework Volunteer
Our RAMP Volunteers work with our staff to assess client’s needs and eligibility, create a welcoming space, and help with admin tasks
Pantry Volunteer
Our Pantry Volunteers work as part of our Newham United Against Food Waste project. Pantry volunteers help to set up our community pantry, which offers staple food and essential non-food items at a discounted rate for service users.
Garden Volunteer
Our Garden Volunteers work as part of our Supported Housing project. Volunteers work alongside staff and other volunteers to create a welcoming and supportive atmosphere for residents.
Corporate Volunteer
Our Corporate Volunteers recently helped us to refurbish one of our Training and Education classrooms.
Past Volunteer Roles
Connect Newham Get Together Volunteers
Connect Newham was a project that aimed to reduce loneliness and connect people together. Part of this project was our Get Together days, which took place once a month, focusing on a theme, for example mental health. Our volunteers helped to organize these days, as well as providing support for service users on the Get Together days.
Connect Newham Befriending Volunteers
Connect Newham was a project that aimed to reduce loneliness and connect people together. Part of this project was a telephone befriending service. Volunteers remotely reached out to service users, encouraging conversation in order to reduce loneliness.
Who is behind the volunteering project?
Melanie Berard
Volunteer Project Manager
Melanie has been in charge of our Volunteering Programme since November 2020.
Having grown up in the French Alps, her background involves working with asylum seekers on the French-Italian border; she has spent most of her career working with refugees and migrants.
Melanie is particularly passionate about supporting our service users into volunteering. She believes in the power of volunteering to help people feel that they are valued parts of their community.
Read Our Volunteer stories here
Volunteering FAQs:
We currently have a team of 50 volunteer and we value their commitment and hard work. We could not operate without the dedication of our volunteers, who do an incredible job helping people living in the borough.
Volunteers must be over 18. We appreciate all of our volunteers and love welcoming new ones to the ever-growing team.
The amount of time needed is different for each vacancy, and we will always outline this within the role description.
The answer is this depends on your motivations for volunteering; it’s a great way to use your existing skills or give back to the community.
Similarly, individuals can also use volunteering to further their skills and knowledge and provide an opportunity for them to meet new people and gain confidence. In addition, volunteering looks great on CVs.
Yes, volunteers receive necessary training from our internal Volunteering department. Training is usually internal, but external training opportunities will sometimes crop up. Volunteers are given the same training opportunities as employees.
