Ideas for charity work with ur children?

jet77

Hi,

I would love to do charity work with my children as I have limited childcare and I think it would benefit them to learn to help others.

I have thought about dog walking for a local animal shelter but I'm scared that I'll end up falling in love with one and taking it home :eek:

I would be grateful for any ideas.

I also want to do a charity parachute jump and was wondering if anyone had any experience/recomendations as to which company/charity to go through Quite a few come up when u do a google search.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Luv Jxx

Savvy_Sue

Just a warning that you might find it difficult to find places where they will let children volunteer - depends on the kind of thing it is, of course, but Health & Safety and insurance can be major headaches, unless it is an area where there are already children involved.

As to dog walking, I'm sure the shelter wouldn't let you just take one home!

I know a friend's son was helping at the local City Farm when he was quite young, and as you obviously like animals that's one possibility to explore, if you have one nearby.

If there's an old people's home nearby, would visiting there appeal? I am sure they would want to run checks on you before you started (that's another reason you can't always let children volunteer!) but maybe there are people without regular visitors.

How old are your children, btw?

Errata

If you have a Council for Volunteer Services (CVS) in your town they'll have a list of volunteering activities and places that need volunteers. How about something to do with conservation/countryside? British Conservation Trust?
Wouldn't recommend visiting any older peoples homes, could be far too harrowing for small children.

jobbingmusician

If you want to do dog walking, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf need puppy socialisers (You have to live in a convenient place.)

If you want to do a parachute jump, you could make a tremendous difference to Different Strokes, a small charity which helps children and younger adults who have had a stroke. They run a parachute programme, and each person who jumps makes a real contribution as their annual running costs are only around £200,000 (and they reach hundreds of thousands of people on this budget!) They were one of MSE's charities of the year last year

pinkfluffybabe

Not sure where you are based, but you can find your local Volunteer Centre/local opportunities here:

Scotland
http://www.volunteerscotland.org.uk/default.aspx

England
http://www.volunteering.org.uk/Local+and+Regional/findoutaboutvolunteeringinyourarea.htm

Northern Ireland
http://www.volunteering-ni.org/

Wales
http://www.volunteering-wales.net/index.html

airforce_beret

i used to donate to ActionAid and they paid for your parachute aslong as you raised so much.

easy way to get your children involved is to help out with fayres for charity etc...cook cakes...go on stalls, help set things up..that kind of thing.

most other charities actually require you to complete a CRB check. I only know this as I am a volunteer in lincoln

cattie

Not quite hands on help, but how about sponsoring an animal, perhaps from an animal shelter where you will get regular updates on how your chosen pet/animal is getting on.

Some of the larger charities that look for sponsorship such as Redwings horse sanctuary (who also care for donkeys) may even give you the option of visiting from time to time.

If you like dogs then http://www.dogstrust.org.uk are always looking for sponsors & I know you are able to visit your chosen dog & take him out for a walk as a former work collegue used to do so.

If you like cats then maybe the cats protection league can use some help. The one in my area looks for volunteers to help out with feeding the animals & cleaning out their cages once a week or more.

full-time-mum

jet77 wrote: »

Hi,

I would love to do charity work with my children as I have limited childcare and I think it would benefit them to learn to help others.

I have thought about dog walking for a local animal shelter but I'm scared that I'll end up falling in love with one and taking it home :eek:

I would be grateful for any ideas.

I also want to do a charity parachute jump and was wondering if anyone had any experience/recomendations as to which company/charity to go through Quite a few come up when u do a google search.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Luv Jxx

Our local country park has a conservation group which I'm sure they let parents volunteer with their children. Out in the open, planting trees, learning about wildlife and the worst that could happen is they want to grow things in your garden - cue veg plot....

Ianna

See https://www.do-it.org for volunteer opportunities in your area - you can search by interest and region.

full-time-mum

My daughter belongs to St John Ambulance as does my Mum. Once DD gets her first aid certificate, she will be able to go out on duty with her grandma - not quite what you were looking for but certainly another idea. Badgers start at 5, cadets at 10.

KatieKins

If your children like being creative/drawing etc there is always http://www.postpals.co.uk