Helping you to find and support your volunteers

diverse group of volunteers of all ages

If you want to involve volunteers in your organisation, but aren’t sure how to get started, we can help.

Our Community Support North Yorkshire team can offer a range of general and bespoke support. From our Volunteer Co-ordinators Network for volunteer organisers to our training and resources, we’re here to help your organisation be the best it can be with all things volunteering.

Find out more about the support we offer to organisations with volunteers. You can contact the Community Support North Yorkshire team on communitysupport@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk or 01904 704177.

Refresh your knowledge

Be inspired and refresh your learning by dipping into our range of volunteering resources.

We’ve got a wide range of resources to help you find and support your volunteers. Why not take a look at our specialist guidance such as our Trustee Recruitment Toolkit and advice on how to find volunteers, as well as sample volunteer policies and agreements on our Community Support North Yorkshire website. We’ve also included plenty of other information from organisations such as the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) including blogs and podcasts to help you and your volunteers.

We run training to help organisations support and get the most out of their volunteers, from maintaining wellbeing to using social media to find the volunteers you need.

Hear what others have to say

There are hundreds of inspiring volunteer groups across North Yorkshire, making a difference to their communities and providing vital support and services to the most vulnerable.

Hear from groups about their volunteering journeys, and see how support from our Community Support North Yorkshire team can help you to grow, be more impactful or work through challenges to build a more resilient society.

Read about the support we gave to The Wood Meadow Trust in Selby. Working together, we’ve helped them to build closer links with their volunteers and boost recruitment.

Join our Volunteer Co-ordinator Network

If you’re responsible for supporting volunteers in your organisation, you may like to join our Volunteer Co-ordinators Network.

Meet others in a similar role, find out about resources and training, and get support with your work.

Advertising your volunteering roles

If your organisation is looking for volunteers, you can advertise your volunteering opportunities for free on our Volunteering in North Yorkshire directory.

You can add and edit details of volunteer opportunities and respond to enquiries from potential volunteers on the website. Your opportunities can also be included in our weekly newsletter feature ‘Opportunity of the Week’. Register here to sign up to receive our newsletters.

North Yorkshire Connect

North Yorkshire Connect is a free community directory run by North Yorkshire County Council. It contains information about local activities, services, advice and guidance that is relevant, reliable and accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you’re a non-profit community service group, government agency, club or organisation you can register for a free listing on the site to help you increase the visibility of the services you offer and volunteering opportunities available. This guide will help you upload your organisation’s details.

Vision for Volunteering

Vision for volunteering aims to enable inclusive, accessible and valuable volunteering in England

Volunteering Principles Charter

As part of Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership’s 180 Days of Action on Workforce placing Volunteers at the Heart of the System, a task and finish group (ToR here) was formed to focus on volunteering practices.

In recognition of  the important role volunteers play as part of our wider workforce by developing meaningful and accessible volunteer roles as an introduction to workforce opportunities, the volunteering task and finish group developed this Volunteering Principles Charter. The intention is to set out an agreed set of principles about volunteering and how volunteering should be managed so that our volunteers know how much they’re valued.

If you have any feedback on this charter, please contact sarah.robinson@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk who is our Building Better Connections Project Co-ordinator.

Community First Yorkshire is funded by North Yorkshire Council and NHS North Yorkshire to support organisations with volunteers in North Yorkshire.

For support and advice, simply get in touch by emailing communitysupport@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk or call 01904 704177.