Volunteer to support people facing homelessness

Volunteering with Crisis means you are volunteering with a major UK homelessness charity and making a difference to the lives of the thousands of people experiencing homelessness. Whatever role you do, whether that is directly with those experiencing homelessness, or helping to raise funds and awareness, you will have an impact on lives.  You will also be part of a friendly, passionate, and committed team who want to end homelessness. 
 
As well as the feeling of making a difference, you may be sharing your existing skills and experience or developing new ones. You will have access to learning, and we will equip and empower you to talk about homelessness. We will support you to feel part of a team, know you are valued and ensure you can connect with other volunteers. 

We are really excited that you are thinking of joining us. We have roles available across lots of different departments. To find a role you can search by department such as volunteering in our shops or in our local services or you can search by location. Find a role that suits you and then click on the apply now button. You will be asked to sign-up with us first (if you haven’t already signed-up) and then you will need to complete a short application form for the role you are interested in.  
 
For some roles, we might invite you to meet with us (this may be in person or online) so we can find out more about you and you can find out more about us. This is really informal and nothing to be nervous about.  For other roles such as in our shops you may be asked to do a trial shift. 

We are really sorry but if you are under 18 we are unable to offer volunteering opportunities. If you are over 18 and have the right to volunteer in the UK, then we would love for you to volunteer with us. 
 
To find volunteer opportunities for under 18s why not contact your local Volunteer Centre or take a look at V-inspired’s website. 

We are delighted you have applied to volunteer with Crisis. We cannot end homelessness without our volunteers. You should have received an email thanking you for your application (please check your email junk folder if you haven’t). 
 
Our teams will be in touch with you shortly about the next steps of your volunteering journey.  This may take up to a couple of weeks at busy times. If you have been waiting a particularly long time, please email Crisis Volunteering.

Not all our roles require references, but those volunteering in our Skylights and Head Office do. We will ask for two references and need to receive one back. For some of our roles, we will ask that one of these is a professional or academic reference – this can include references from other volunteering roles you have done.

If you have any questions about references, please don’t hesitate to ask us.

Some of our roles may require a disclosure check (DBS); you will be able to see this on the role description. If the role does, we use a digital system to manage this and we will request and pay for it (where payment is needed). 
 
Some roles may require a basic disclosure check, others may require an enhanced disclosure check. A basic disclosure check contains details of any convictions that are unspent, whereas an enhanced disclosure check will contain details of both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and warnings. If you want to know more about these checks, please visit the Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland. 

We want to ensure all our volunteers feel equipped and confident in their role, so we will ask you to complete some essential learning including on topics such as safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion and data protection, as well as role specific training for some positions. Completing this learning will help you and us ensure we keep everyone safe and maintain the privacy of people’s information, as well as creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone. 
 
For roles in our Skylights, you will receive a welcome session with your Volunteer and Involvement Lead, alongside role specific training. All volunteers, whatever department they volunteer in will have a named supervisor for any questions they have/support they need and to ensure you feel connected to Crisis. 
 
There will also be opportunities to access additional optional learning through our e-learning offer and through your supervisors. 

We want you to have a great experience with us. Volunteer wellbeing is really important to us, so we will help you to feel comfortable during your volunteering. We do this in a range of ways depending on your role. You will always have a named contact at Crisis for any questions or concerns and we offer opportunities for further learning and to connect with other volunteers throughout the year.

We will ensure you have had the training and information you need before you start the role.

If there are particular skills you want to develop please do talk to us and we will do our best to support you with this.

Any volunteering with Crisis will be carried out in a safe environment. We offer training, regular support sessions and clear policies to keep everyone safe in the workplace. If you are volunteering in the community with us, we will ensure you have relevant training and processes to be able to do this. 
 
The safety of our volunteers is of high importance to us, and we want you to feel if you do have concerns about safety that you can raise them with us and be listened to. You can discuss any additional needs, or any concerns with your Volunteer and Involvement Lead or named volunteer supervisor and they will support you to feel safe. 

We understand that volunteering is great to have on your CV. If you have volunteered with us for over three months, we can provide you with a professional reference.

The voice and experiences of those with lived experience are vital in ensuring we shape our work to meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness.  We encourage anyone with lived experience to apply for our volunteer roles.  
 
We also involve members and people with lived experience of homelessness in opportunities across the whole of our organisation, including our Experts by Experience Panel. For more details, please contact the Member Involvement team.

We are sorry that you can’t find a role that’s right for you at this time. We are constantly updating our roles so please do keep checking back as we’d love for you to join us in ending homelessness. You can also contact us directly at Crisis Volunteering and let us know about your skills, experience, and the kind of role you are looking for.

Yes, you can volunteer and claim benefits, as well as receiving out of pocket expenses. Check the Government guidance here and speak to your Jobcentre Plus to let them know that you’re volunteering.

We want everyone to feel they can volunteer at Crisis and value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those with lived experience.

Crisis is committed to making the organisation as accessible and inclusive as possible and we want to support individuals with a physical or mental health condition, mobility impairment or who identify as neurodiverse to volunteer with us.

We will try to adapt all roles to make them accessible and where this isn’t possible, we will try to support you in finding a role that works for you. If you think that your disability may affect the role that you are applying for then you can either let us know on your application form or let your Volunteer and Involvement Lead or Volunteer Supervisor know when you meet with them or at your welcome session. Alternatively, get in touch with us at Crisis Volunteering.

We would welcome applications from you for our vacancies. As with any job application, you will need to demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the role, but we hope your volunteering experience will help you do this. Take a look at our jobs at Crisis pages to find out more about working for us.