Kids charity - between working in a shop and fostering

DullGreyGuy

Is anyone aware of any charity, active in London, that's looking for volunteers that are more active than just fundraising/working in the shop but not as full a commitment as fostering kids would be?

I dont think we are prepared for the later but want to be more involved than the former

elsien

If you want to be active, what about dog walking- Cinnamon Trust? 

DullGreyGuy

elsien said:

If you want to be active, what about dog walking- Cinnamon Trust? 

Thanks for the suggestion but ideally we are talking kids charities rather than the elderly... we did do one event with such a charity and was asked which banana republic we were from and told we should be going back there... wasn't for us. 

elsien

Anything on here?
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/volunteering/search/find-a-volunteering-role

DullGreyGuy

elsien said:

Anything on here?
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/volunteering/search/find-a-volunteering-role

Possibly, we've looked previously and the ability to filter is rather poor... there are many worth while causes but filter for children's causes and the vast majority that come up are much wider but because they may include children they appear and you cannot exclude retail or head office type requests. 

strawb_shortcake

Scouting or guides etc, support at a children's hospital. I know a local women's prison used to ask for volunteers for the baby unit so may be another option

DullGreyGuy

annabanana82 said:

Scouting or guides etc, support at a children's hospital. I know a local women's prison used to ask for volunteers for the baby unit so may be another option

Thanks for the suggestions, will look into them.

I always thought the wider "Scouts" option would be good but back home there is no gender or age divide and for some reason she's never been a fan of the UK approach despite idolising the ideal

Savvy_Sue

DullGreyGuy said:

annabanana82 said:

Scouting or guides etc, support at a children's hospital. I know a local women's prison used to ask for volunteers for the baby unit so may be another option

Thanks for the suggestions, will look into them.

I always thought the wider "Scouts" option would be good but back home there is no gender or age divide and for some reason she's never been a fan of the UK approach despite idolising the ideal

Scouts are I think all mixed now, whereas Guides remains girls only. 

Have you looked at respite foster care / other forms of respite care? Or mentoring schemes? When is your time available? If you have daytime, then listening to readers in schools can be very worthwhile. If it's evenings and especially weekends, then the mentoring / respite care can kick in. 

MalMonroe

Hi, if you google "how to volunteer to help with children" - lots of links full of ideas and suggestions pop up.

Local schools near me are often looking for people to help children with reading and arithmetic on a voluntary basis. One of my friends did that, enjoyed it so much that she went on to train as a Teaching Assistant and now gets paid to do what she loves.

Also a few ideas here (some a bit further away than others!) - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/charity-and-voluntary-work/10-opportunities-to-volunteer-with-children

I also think that whichever charity said "we did do one event with such a charity and was asked which banana republic we were from and told we should be going back there" should be named and shamed. And their CEO or whoever should definitely receive a letter of complaint. That is just totally unacceptable.

DullGreyGuy

MalMonroe said:

I also think that whichever charity said "we did do one event with such a charity and was asked which banana republic we were from and told we should be going back there" should be named and shamed. And their CEO or whoever should definitely receive a letter of complaint. That is just totally unacceptable.

It wasn't the charity itself, or anyone working for them, but one of the elderly people in their care. I have to say I take what is probably a slightly agist view that they were brought up in a different time etc when such comments were considered acceptable but the Mrs is much more sensitive to racist/xenophobic comments

Brie

Is there some school you could attach yourself to to assist with after school or to do reading or literacy support with their students?