Voluntary Work Placement Scheme

Information for potential host charities

Working For A Charity runs a series of Foundation Courses aimed at people wishing to move into the voluntary sector. These courses offer a series of seminars covering core areas of charity operations as well as information and advice on applying for jobs in the sector. Participants are also recommended to seek voluntary work experience in a charity and links are provided to the participants to follow-up.

Having a mature, independent, high calibre, results focused individual at no cost - can't ask for more than that.

 - Charlie Adie, Chief Executive - Motiv8

1. How often is the Foundation Course run?

There are currently three each year (Winter course starts late January; Summer Course late May; Autumn course: late September)

3. What does a voluntary work placement involve?

During a placement the host charity is expected to provide the course participant with one main specific project (or several small projects) and opportunities for shadowing one or several members of staff and / or attending internal / external meetings.

4. What sort of projects is the host charity expected to offer?

Projects can vary greatly in types, scope and level of responsibility, from simple admin work, to business strategy development, via organising events, researching trusts/corporate givers, carrying out a survey, launching a new service / publications / campaign and much more. In short, anything that the charity needs doing but currently lacks the internal skills or the time to do.

The main criteria for a good placement would be that:

  • the project(s) can be realistically completed in the twenty days available
  • it gives the student the opportunity to learn more about the voluntary sector and how a charity functions and to feel he/she has achieved something valuable/useful
  • it provides the charity with something it needed doing

5. What sort of people come on the Foundation Course?

Participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and offer a great variety of skills and experience at all levels of responsibility - from students recently graduated to senior executives. Though all the participants doing their placement need to be inducted and given appropriate support throughout their project(s), many of them are self-starters, able to work with a minimum of supervision.

6. What else is expected from the host charity?

  • The host charity would be expected to invite its volunteer to attend internal and external meetings (in a non-participatory capacity unless told to the contrary) or/and to shadow a member of staff. Meetings of all types (even if not necessarily directly related to the project) can be very useful as they offer another way of understanding the activities / complexity of a charity).
  • The host charity will also be asked, at the end of the work placement, to provide a brief resume of what was achieved during the placement.

7. Are there any costs involved?

There are no charges to the host charity. The only costs involved would be travel and other expenses / luncheon vouchers, if it is the charity's standard policy to offer to its volunteers.

8. When should placement requests be sent?

To ensure that you will not lose your chance of being put forward to the participants as a possible work placement, we recommend that you send your Charity Registration Form at least 3 to 4 weeks before that Course is due to start. However, if your projects do not have a specific deadline, you are welcome to send your requests at any time throughout the year and we shall allocate them on an ad hoc basis.

9. How can we increase our chances of being 'selected'?

One way is to suggest several types of projects (e.g. marketing, PR, fundraising, research, etc) in the section 'Specific projects' of the Registration Form. This means that there will be a slightly wider choice of likely volunteers.

Another way is to attach to your Registration Form a sheet of paper listing, for each project, some bullet points indicating the sort of activities/responsibilities the project involves. It gives us a clearer idea of the skills/experience required and also makes it easier to 'sell' the project/charity to the student.

Do try and make each project attractive by offering some variety and involvement and by pointing out any opportunities for contacts within the charity or outside (e.g. other charities, users, local councils, trustees etc)

10. When can we expect to hear if we have been allocated a participant?

The final matching of placements and participants usually takes place just before a Foundation Course is due to start (see above para1). By that time a maximum number of participants are registered and this means more chances of the right students being chosen for the most relevant projects. When we have a possible match we contact the student and the charity to discuss the suitability of the choice. If the two parties are interested, they then meet to discuss the placement before a final decision is taken by both.

11. What happens next?

Once a participant with the experience/skills relevant to the project(s) offered by the charity has been selected we contact the participant and the charity to discuss the suitability of our choice. A CV will be sent to the organisation for consideration and if both are interested, the participant is asked to call the charity to arrange an informal meeting / interview.

NB. It is the responsibility of the host organisation to vet the candidate and carry out any necessary checking of references or qualifications relevant to the work proposed as part of the placement.

Want to register?

If you wish to register as a Host Charity you may either download the registration form in PDF format (you might need to get Acrobat to open/print PDF files) from this web site and print it. Or you can use the information request form to submit your postal address to allow Working For A Charity Training to post the registration form you. 

Working For A Charity, NCVO, Regent's Wharf, 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL.