When you change a childhood, you change a life.
Want to see it happen?
From helping run a parent and baby session in a children’s centre, supporting disabled children as they take part in school holiday activities or building a long-term relationship with a young person being cared for by their local authority, there’s lots of ways you could change a life.
What does volunteering with children or young people involve?
You could do one of a wide range of roles directly supporting children, young people or families. This might involve supporting someone on a one-to-one basis, or in one of our groups. We also have online opportunities as well as roles within our centres and other community venues.
Whether you have experience in supporting your children, other peoples, or are keen to learn, your contribution could help us make children, young people and families feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful.
I enjoy playing with the children. It gives me a sense of relief being able to give back to the community. Here at [our service] we are a community, we believe in everyone!
Inci
Children’s services volunteer
Here are some of the ways you could help change lives
Be a young person’s microphone
Imagine feeling like no one ever listens to you. You could be an advocate for a young person, making sure their voice is heard when decisions are being made about them.
Support a group
There are groups across the country who could benefit from your help. By assisting in the setting up, packing away and by making sure the people who turn up feel they belong you can make a difference.
Be a helpful voice on the end of the phone
By answering calls on our helplines you could help make sure families know where they get the support they need.
Visit with a young person
By regularly visiting a ‘looked after’ child or young person living in residential care or a foster home you could be a valuable source of advice and support.
Become a breastfeeding peer supporter
We know feeding a new baby can be a challenge, however you choose to do it. If you’ve experience, you could support parents with breastfeeding and infant feeding.
Be a Parent Champion
You could help raise awareness of our services and support parents and carers to access groups and one-to-one support. Helping make sure they have local information about support services for their children.
Being able to translate for families who face language barriers has been especially rewarding as it helps to bridge communication gaps and ensures everyone feels heard and understood. I’m happy that I’m supporting families in my community, helping them through challenges and to access the resources they need.
Heida
Parent Champion volunteer
Ready to start volunteering?
Other ways to volunteer with us
Become an office volunteer
Could you provide the warm welcome someone needs when they walk through our doors or calls one of our services? Maybe you’re organised and know your way around Microsoft Word and Excel? If so, joining one of our busy office or administration teams might be the volunteering role for you.
Volunteer in your local Barnardo’s shop
Be part of the team that makes our shops a welcoming place for people in their local community. Or, you could support our online store. Either way you’ll be helping to fund services that children, young people and families need.
Help support our fundraisers
Money raised through fundraising activities helps us make children, young people and families across the UK safer, healthier, happier and more hopeful. Fundraising volunteers help inspire others to raise vital money. From designing and distributing promo materials, telling people about events on social media to cheering people across the finish line, they help us change lives.