At St Mungo’s, our volunteers are the heartbeat of what we do. Since 1969 when St Mungo’s was started by volunteers, they have remained a vital part of the way that we work and the support we provide clients.
We recognise the value and the contribution that volunteers make all year round, but between the 2nd and the 8th of June it is brought into sharper focus as we celebrate Volunteers’ Week.
During Volunteers’ Week, which starts today, we celebrate and highlight the critical role our volunteers play at St Mungo’s. During the week we will be running two main celebration events. One in London on the 5th of June and One in Bristol on the 2nd of June. These events give us the opportunity to properly thank and celebrate our volunteers. At both events we will be handing out our Volunteers Awards. These awards are run in partnership with the Marsh Charitable Trust and volunteers whose nominations were successful are awarded £250 and a certificate.
Volunteering continues to evolve and at St Mungo’s, it’s no different. Following Covid we were hit by significant reductions in volunteering and we lost over half our volunteers. Since then we have adapted and tried to increase the level of flexibility in our volunteer roles. The development of micro volunteer roles has allowed us to increase the ways in which volunteers can provide support with translation, videography, photography, beauty and hairdressing volunteers being advertised and recruited to. We now have over 100 volunteers who are able to provide support on an adhoc basis.
If you’re interested in volunteering, please click here.
Since Client Involvement joined the Volunteering, Apprenticeships and Student Placements team, we have also seen an increase in opportunities for clients to become involved. The Client Advisory Board, the Ambassador scheme, client placements and initiatives such as our “repairs champions” ensure that clients have meaningful roles they can undertake, developing new skills and confidence but also adding significant value to the organisation.
Volunteering is only effective if the right support is in place so I want to thank the team (Maria, Mena, Imogen, Frances and Amy) for all their work in making sure we bring in and support volunteers in the right way but also a huge thank you to volunteer supervisors across the organisation for the brilliant way in which you support and involve volunteers.
Happy Volunteers’ Week 2025
