We rely on around 80 volunteers at the BUILD Charity in a number of different roles. 

BUILD has a small team of employed staff and a huge team of volunteers! Our volunteers are carefully selected, trained and appointed to roles that have rewards beyond just helping people with disabilities, but also enhance the lives and careers of our volunteers.

Volunteering roles at The BUILD Charity are structured around both needs of the volunteer and the needs of the charity, making sure that both parties benefit from the relationship. The roles are designed to match the time and commitment available from the volunteer to the needs and commitments of the services provided by The BUILD Charity.

All volunteers are subject to an initial assessment discussion, as part of the registration process, an enhanced check by the Disclosure and Barring Service and at least two independent references from employers, academic staff or other places where they have volunteered, or are known.

All volunteers receive one to one induction training, and are required to complete the Disability Awareness and Safeguarding Workshops within the first three months of their appointment. Volunteers receive regular support and an annual review to make sure everything is still working well for both parties.

BUILD makes a contribution to volunteers’ travel and activity expenses, to ensure that they are not out of pocket when supporting our programme of activities.

We provide three types of volunteering opportunities which include:

• Front line volunteering – supporting one of our social, leisure and learning services, such as the Wednesday Club, Community Activities programme, or Learning and Skills Workshops where volunteers will work within a small, or sometimes large team, led by a BUILD member of staff.  This role may involve supporting and encouraging people with disabilities to take part in activities, helping them understand instructions, or get the most out of the activity.  Sometimes it is just helping them enjoy a great day out, knowing that someone is there to help them if they need it.
• Background Volunteering – supporting BUILD’s back-office functions in things like marketing, public relations, and fundraising, as well as working in a clerical role in our Norwich offices, producing a newsletter, managing our archives, or helping us link with new business opportunities. These opportunities also include being members of our Board of Trustees, Community Engagement Team or Advisory Groups that play a key role in our service development.
• Volunteering for people with disabilities – BUILD has always supported volunteering for people with disabilities. Some of our Trustees are people with disabilities, and most of the people designing and delivering our internal and external training programmes are volunteers with disabilities who are, of course, the real experts.

Whilst actual volunteering vacancies will vary from time to time, we often create volunteering roles where people have specific skills or interests to offer that enhance our programmes, or add mutual value to our work. Please talk to us if you have a skill, or interest that you want to share.

Most appointments as volunteers start with the completion of our on-line registration form followed by an informal discussion exploring what you, and we want to get out of the volunteering relationship. This is based on how much time you want to commit, when you are available, what skills you want to use, and what needs we have within our team.

Our current Volunteering Vacancies listing is here: Volunteering Opportunities 2022-23