Volunteer Centre Sandwell provides information for those interested in volunteering. They connect volunteers with a variety of opportunities at organizations supporting causes like homelessness, childcare, conservation, and caregiver support. The application process varies by organization but typically involves completing a form, providing references, and sometimes a background check. Most roles do not require qualifications but rather interest in helping and relevant skills or experiences. An interview is informal to discuss interests and availability as well as learn about the role and organization. Volunteers decide how many hours they can commit to daytime, evening, or weekend opportunities. A supervisor will provide guidance and check-in regularly. Those interested can contact the Volunteer Centre for more information.

1. Volunteer Centre Sandwell
Frequently Asked Questions About
Volunteering

2. What do volunteers do?
• Volunteers are valuable, they offer time and skills.
• Volunteer Centre Sandwell strives to provide a
diverse mix of volunteering opportunities.
• Activities might include
befriending, cooking, gardening, teaching etc.
• The organisations might be supporting all sorts of
causes such as homelessness, care of
children, conservation, supporting carers etc.

3. How do I apply?
• The Volunteer Centre will introduce you to an
organisation that we hope fits your interests
and experience.
• Most organisations will ask you to complete
an application form. Some will ask for 2
references and some may even require a DBS
check.

4. Do I need qualifications?
• In most cases, no.
• Most organisations are interested in who you
are and your skills and life experiences.

5. What happens at the interview?
• Usually you will go along for an informal chat. The organisations
want to find out if you can help them so they might ask you-
• Why you are interested,
• What you want to do,
• What your skills are,
• What you might want to learn,
• How much time you have to offer and when.
• Remember it’s a two way process. You can ask them questions too.
You might want to ask about the hours available, whether expenses
are paid, about training opportunities and who will help you on a
day to day basis.

6. What are the usual hours for
volunteering?
• First of all you need to decide how many hours
you can give each week and how this fits with the
rest of your commitments.
• This could be daytime, weekends or evenings or a
combination of all 3.
• Different organisations ask for different amounts
of time to be volunteered.
• Some organisations may be able to offer a one off
opportunity such as bag packing in a supermarket
or helping to clear a green space such as a park
where you would volunteer for a single day.

7. Who will supervise me?
• Usually there will be someone who tells you
what work you will do each time you go to
volunteer. If you are working on your
own, there will usually be someone you report
to.
• Most volunteers will have a named person
who will review how things are going with you
regularly.

8. Contact us
• Volunteer Centre Sandwell is based in Oldbury
town centre behind Sainsburys. We are the
upstairs office in the building with the blue
doors.
• You can contact us by phone – 0121 544 8326,
or e-mail –
volunteer@volunteerentresandwell.co.uk
• We are open 9am – 5pm Monday – Thursday
and 9am – 4:00pm on Fridays.