Join us!

We are looking for volunteers with a passion to help our team deliver courses to support parents/carers of neurodiverse children (pre or post diagnosis).

All our courses receive outstanding feedback and are currently over-subscribed and we want to be able to reach out to more parents. You could help this happen.

We would love to hear from you! Barnardo’s is a fantastic place to volunteer at. You will receive training and will be well supported by the team. There are also lots of opportunities on offer for learning and getting involved with the charity, as well as meeting new people.

Positions How to Apply What's it like? What's in it for me? Questions?

Our Current Volunteering Opportunities

Volunteer Role	Location	Time Commitment	About the Role
Family Support - Group Helper	Fareham Basingstoke Hedge End Havant and Dibden Purlieu, New Forest Online - from anywhere	Two hours a week for 8-12 weeks during school hours, term time only. We offer evening courses online as well as during the school day.	Ideally, we’d be looking for volunteers to commit to one full course at a time to provide consistency for the parents attending. Experience of working with neurodiverse families or lived-experience is preferable as you’ll understand from personal experience what situation some parents are in. Click here for more information about what you’ll be doing and the skills needed for the role.
Family Support - Group Helper	Isle of Wight Online - from anywhere	Two hours a week for 8-12 weeks during school hours, term time only. We offer evening courses online as well as during the school day.
Admin	Hampshire Isle of Wight	Flexible	Not currently advertised. If you’d like to support the team, but you’re not sure that being a group helper is right for you or you are unable to commit two hours a week for a 12-week course, there may be tasks or projects that we need help with so please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Polly White. Please email polly.white@barnardos.org.uk

Volunteer Role

Location

Time Commitment

About the Role

Family Support - Group Helper

Fareham
Basingstoke
Hedge End
Havant and Dibden Purlieu, New Forest
Online - from anywhere

Two hours a week for 8-12 weeks during school hours, term time only.

We offer evening courses online as well as during the school day.

Ideally, we’d be looking for volunteers to commit to one full course at a time to provide consistency for the parents attending.

Experience of working with neurodiverse families or lived-experience is preferable as you’ll understand from personal experience what situation some parents are in.

Click here for more information about what you’ll be doing and the skills needed for the role.

Family Support - Group Helper

Isle of Wight
Online - from anywhere

Two hours a week for 8-12 weeks during school hours, term time only.

We offer evening courses online as well as during the school day.

Admin

Hampshire
Isle of Wight

Flexible

Not currently advertised.

If you’d like to support the team, but you’re not sure that being a group helper is right for you or you are unable to commit two hours a week for a 12-week course, there may be tasks or projects that we need help with so please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Polly White.

Please email polly.white@barnardos.org.uk

Other opportunities at Barnardos

Hampshire Isle of Wight

How do I apply? And then what happens?

Here’s how the process works: Don’t worry – it looks like a lot, but it isn’t really! With us being in the Children’s Services department we need to be very thorough.

You apply through the Barnardo’s website . Search for Hampshire or Isle of Wight and you’ll see all the opportunities. Scroll down to find the Family Support Group Helper opportunities for the Neurodiverse Family Support Team. Or click below!
Hampshire Isle of Wight
Once we receive your application, we will arrange to have a chat on Teams to find out more about you, your availability and what would work best for you. We will tell you a bit about the team and the role and it gives you a chance to ask any questions.
We will then contact your referees for a reference and security checks will take place – you don’t need to do anything for this bit.
If all is well, we will invite you to an induction meeting to say hi!
Mandatory e-learning on subjects such as safeguarding and health and safety need to be completed before you can start any hours with us.
We will assign you to a course with a Parent Support Worker and you’re good to go!

We will look after you every step of the way.

What’s it like volunteering at Barnardo’s?

Barnardo’s values its volunteers. Without them, we couldn’t provide all the services we do to help children and families.

Meet one of our wonderful volunteers who is working with our Hampshire & Isle of Wight Support for Neurodiverse Families team. Here is what she has to say about it.

What's in it for me?

Providing induction and training
Providing regular supervision
Consulting with you about any changes that affect your volunteering
Providing a safe environment, out-of-pocket expenses and insurance cover whilst you are volunteering with us
Responding to feedback as quickly as we can

Our volunteers tell us about lots of other benefits of volunteering including:

Experience of working with families
Experience for your CV
Supporting your local community
Meeting new people
Increasing self-confidence
Feeling like you are making a difference
Improving your health and wellbeing
A chance to contribute to a worthwhile children's charity

Some of our volunteers have told us:

I love volunteering for Barnardo’s – it’s a great organisation!

Supporting young people gives me a great sense of satisfaction.

I’ve made some wonderful friends.

I’ve learned so much and gained lots of experience.

I look forward to my volunteering once a week.

Any questions? Contact us!

If you have any questions, Polly White, our Volunteer Coordinator, would be really happy to help. You can contact her at polly.white@barnardos.org.uk or if you don’t have access to email, or would prefer to talk, her number is 07749572159