Volunteer with Heart
We welcome everyone, whatever your skills or experience.
VOLUNTEER ROLES - What you can do for HEART
VOLUNTEER STORIES - What our volunteers say
VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT - What HEART can offer you
Get involved and make a difference - join our team.
“It’s a brilliant way to be part of your local community and feel like you’re giving something back.”
What you can do for HEART
Out in the Community
Sue Tilley - HEART Road Runner
+ Community Volunteer
Helping the local community with tasks like getting shopping, picking up prescriptions, posting mail and other errands or just having a friendly chat with someone.
We get all sorts of help requests!
What skills you need: nothing but a willingness to help your local community!
Time Commitment: As and when you can help, tasks normally take less than an hour.
+ Info Hub Volunteer
Info Hub volunteers chat to people dropping into the hub - this can include sign-posting them to other help and services, help with form-filling and finding out information.
What skills you need: A joy of finding information for people, good listening skills and a friendly manner.
Training: Info Hub volunteers get HEART referral training and a volunteer handbook that include safeguarding, confidentiality and boundaries guidelines.
Time Commitment: The volunteer shifts in the hub are 3 hours long, either morning or afternoon with no commitment to a certain amount of shifts. All very flexible!
+ Road Runners - HEART Drivers
We have lots of regular driving tasks like helping with transport to a vaccination centre or an appointment. HEART drivers also volunteer with other organisations like delivering food parcels for Hastings Food Bank and Education Futures Trust. Our drivers are an energetic bunch!
What skills you need: A valid driving licence and a taxed and insured vehicle.
Time Commitment: This can vary, lots of our drivers pick up jobs as they come in, which can take an hour or two depending on it being a round trip and waiting. Other volunteers do regular shifts when they are helping other organisations.
“I get the satisfaction of knowing that even the little things we do to help out actually make a big difference to people’s lives.”
Working from Home
Laura - HEART Network Manager
+ Phone Befriender
Phone befrienders spend a small amount of time each week ringing someone up for a light chat, so that they have some connection and communication.
What skills you need: A friendly telephone manner and good listening skills.
Training: Some light training in safeguarding, boundaries and confidetiality which we supply along with support from our Volunteer Co-ordinators..
Time Commitment: Generally a couple of hours a week.
+ New Volunteer Opportunites
At HEART we have new volunteer opportunities that pop up all the time. These can be one-off volunteer blitzes like landscaping the Conquest hospital courtyards for the afternoon, being a creative running a workshop for Arts On Prescription or helping steward at a charity event.
Get the latest ways to be involved by subscribing to our newsletter where we regularly advertise new projects and volunteering that you can sign up for or keep an eye on our blog.
What our volunteers say
Our volunteers come from all walks of life - healthcare professionals, business people, fundraisers, community workers, artists – a spectrum of caring people all wanting to do what they can to make a difference in Hastings.
Meet some of our volunteers and hear about their experiences. They really are a great bunch of people.
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David Easterby
VOLUNTEER CO-ORDINATOR
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Samantha Waddington
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
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Ian Bunch
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
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Rachel McCarthy
VOLUNTEER CO-ORDINATOR
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Eunice Pugh
VOLUNTEER CO-ORDINATOR
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Rebecca Sinker
Community Volunteer
What HEART can offer you
Training and New Skills
HEART offers a wide range of bespoke training depending on how you want to volunteer.
This could be technical and referrals training for Volunteer Co-Ordinators, safeguarding and confidentiality workshops for Home Connect Buddies or brushing up on your journalism skills for the Communications Team.
Some of this training comes with official certification that you can use in other settings or jobs.
DBS service
(Disclosure and Barring Check)
HEART’s DBS team can take you through the process of getting your certificate, making it really quick and easy.
Some volunteering tasks with HEART require one, especially when working with more vulnerable people.
It can open the door to you helping lots of the Hastings community and working with other partner organisations.
Certificates and References
HEART can provide you with certification to show your outstanding contribution to volunteering.
We also provide references for future job applications and work with other other organisations.
Some academic institutions encourage students to volunteer. This can bolster your CV and equip you with some extra experience and references before applying for work.
Support and Guidance
Volunteers all receive a handbook when they sign up that has useful guidance on how to volunteer safely and where to find support.
We also have a Volunteer Network manager who checks in with all our volunteers and is available for any questions or advice.
Plus volunteers may be lucky enough to catch one of our HEART socials and share some of their experiences.
