October Half-Term Holiday Project Volunteer

October Half-Term Holiday Project Volunteer

We are a charity that harnesses the transformative power of play and exercise to help vulnerable children recover from complex trauma. As a volunteer you will support our children in holiday projects, giving them lots of attention and care.

What You'll Do:

We are a charity that harnesses the transformative power of play and exercise to help vulnerable children recover from complex trauma. Our goal is to nurture the confidence of every child we work with and develop valuable life skills to help them reach their full potential.

Volunteers will support children at Solidarity Sports projects during school holidays. In practice this may be running through playgrounds with our children, supporting them as they try bouldering for the first time, ice-skating, and many more fun activities. Volunteers will build a positive, trusting relationship with our children, and make them feel special and valued at all times during our projects.

Your team leader will assign you 1-2 children as partners for the day. We maintain a good ratio of 1 adult : 2 children so we can give our children as much attention and care as possible. We ask that you bring your ENERGY, passion and enthusiasm to volunteering! Please also take initiative to help out with various tasks.

During this October half-term (28th Oct - 1st Nov, Mon-Fri), we are bringing our children to various venues across London for exciting day trips!

We have projects every school holiday, in Christmas, Easter, Summer, and Half-Terms, Monday to Friday, from approximately 10am-4pm.

Location: West London (outside Shepherd’s Bush, Hammersmith, Earl’s Court, or Notting Hill Gate underground stations)

The volunteer coordinator will contact you with details of meeting point.

Reimbursement: Travel is reimbursed up to £15 and lunch up to £4.50 with receipts provided.

Requirements: All volunteers will be DBS checked before volunteering. We will help you obtain an enhanced DBS check for free. If you have lived in the UK for less than 3 months you will have to obtain an equivalent background/criminal check from your previous country of residence.

Flexibility:

This is a very flexible commitment – you can do 1 day in this week, 2 days, or all 5 days if you’re keen!

We do ask however that volunteers commit to the 10am-4pm time slot, as you will be paired with two children during this project, and if you are not able to stay for that amount of time there will not be enough volunteers to adequately supervise the children (there should be at 1 volunteer:2 children ratio at all times).

After signing up, we will organise a quick 30-minute call with you to discuss volunteering logistics. We will also help you get an enhanced DBS check for free if you don’t already have one.

Our upcoming projects dates - please note them in your diary if you would like to volunteer during other holidays:
October half-term -- 28th Oct -1st Nov
Christmas -- 23rd, 27th, 30th Dec; 2nd, 3rd Jan
February half-term -- 17th-21st Feb
Easter -- 7th-11th, 14th-18th Apr
May half-term -- 27th-30th May
Summer -- 21st-25th Jul, 28th Jul-1st Aug, 4th-8th Aug, 11th-15th Aug, 18th-22nd Aug

If you are interested for further opportunities, during the school term we also have after school clubs running every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 3:30-5:30pm.

Why You'll Love It:

This is the perfect volunteering opportunity for you to give back to the community while having fun!

What You'll Learn:

You will gain hands-on experience by applying key psychological theories (e.g. trauma recovery, attachment) to real-world situations, and develop a better understanding of how they influence children's emotional and social development. You will also learn to be empathetic and sensitive in supporting our children, who have experienced significant adversity.

What We're Looking For:

You MUST have a passion for working with children. Our children have been through a lot in their short lives; it is vital we listen and give them a safe and fun space to express themselves. We want to create a happy, loving environment for them.