Every year, Volunteer’s Week acts as a useful reminder of the power of volunteers. St Mungo’s was started by volunteers. In 1969, a group of people decided to do something to help people sleeping rough outside Charing Cross station in London.
Today, volunteering at St Mungo’s is still going strong; from supporting our outreach teams, to teaching art classes, our volunteers are vital in helping people to recover from homelessness.
This Volunteers’ Week, which runs from 1 to 7 June, we want to say, once again, a huge thank you to our 560 volunteers by bringing the change they make into the spotlight.
What our volunteers do
St Mungo’s volunteers contribute across an exceptionally wide range of roles, reflecting the breadth of our services’ types and our clients’ needs. In frontline positions within Outreach, First Response, StreetLink, and Housing First services, volunteers directly support people to move away from homelessness.
In our peer-led and lived experience roles like Client Ambassadors, Move On Peer Volunteers, and Advisory Board members, volunteers offer their expertise to help shape recovery journeys and St Mungo’s strategic direction.
A smaller chunk of our volunteers regularly offer their skills and expertise in digital/ tech, wellbeing and office roles helping us strengthen organisational capacity and ensure our services stay accessible and responsive.
Through leading art groups, cooking sessions, gardening, yoga and music groups, volunteers also help us create safe, welcoming spaces where clients can re-build confidence and improve their wellbeing. Our most recent offer, microvolunteering, further expands volunteers’ impact through bitesize contributions like translation, photography, and event support exactly when needed the most.
So, you can see why we are grateful to our volunteers. They not only enhance our service delivery but also create a sense of belonging and empowerment that matches our service ethos. Plenty of volunteering testimonials give a taste of how volunteering feels across our organisation:
On his duties as a microvolunteer translator, Saeid said “I helped translating a St. Mungo’s announcement letter to Farsi. The main goal for me was that every bit and piece of that letter to look like a genuine Farsi letter, not just some poor computer translation. Using a proper Farsi font, correct alignment, and conveying words that lack direct equivalents naturally. Attention to detail matters a lot, because even a simple letter can give a feeling of assurance to the client; making them feel deep down that ‘These St. Mungo’s people must know their stuff! I am in good hands’”
First Response volunteer, Ed, said “I finish a shift knowing I’ve helped, even in a small way. But if we don’t find anyone, we’ve still given St Mungo’s frontline team more time to focus on helping others. We’re all connecting with the community and supporting people through some really tough times, and hopefully helping them to leave homelessness behind for good.”
Creative writing volunteer, Neil, said “We give clients a chance to be vulnerable in sharing their thoughts and experiences. Some just want a chat, but whichever reason they come along for, they notice you’re there for them and we’re pleased to see each other.”
Celebrating our volunteers
This year, as every year, during Volunteers’ Week we’ll be holding some local events to say thank you to them in-person and give our annual Volunteer Awards for 11 years running. We’ll be sharing more from our celebrations across our social media channels throughout the week too so we can say a big thank you in small ways.
Get involved
If you’re thinking about volunteering, we’d love to hear from you. We have a wide range of roles with new opportunities added on a weekly basis, whatever your background, skills or availability is, we’re confident that there’ll be something for you!
To those considering roles at St Mungo’s, hub volunteer Jocelyn said “Just do it. Take the chance. It always pays dividends. St Mungo’s is doing an incredible job, and I hope to return to support them again soon.”
See our current volunteering opportunities
Happy Volunteers’ Week to all St. Mungo’s volunteers and to everyone else who is making our world a better place through volunteering!
