Our Volunteer Development Pathway

We know that our volunteers give their time for different reasons. At St Mungo’s, we are committed to progression at all levels and we support and develop our volunteers to ensure that they are best placed to make progress in their careers.

Our volunteers specifically looking to progress into employment will have access to our newly created Volunteer Development Pathway (VDP) which supports volunteers in how they can use their skills to apply and secure employment opportunities.

Download our VDP handbook

Richard Knight

Richard currently works as Corporate Volunteering Coordinator but on a career break in 2018, he volunteered with StreetLink and St Mungo's.

He says, “I was so impressed by the volunteer journey at StreetLink – the communication, training and support all made me feel really welcome and part of a team doing really important work."

Rob Neale

Rob is part of our fundraising team, but also volunteered his time in the Recovery College for three years to run a course on public speaking.

He says “public speaking is a hard skill to learn and a big part of my role at St Mungo’s. It’s one of my key transferable skills and, in practice, the people we support can also benefit from building their confidence at the same time."

Anita van Mil

Drawing on her skills in research and facilitation, Anita was a volunteer, running a women’s engagement session with us. She then continued as a Locum worker alongside her job elsewhere before she successfully applied for the Research Manager role. And building on the opportunities for learning and development we offer, she recently moved into senior management.

Ola Pedro

Ola started as a volunteer in our mental health hostel in Islington. Ola has since developed his career with us using support available such as our 'Steps into Management' scheme and our mentoring program and is now a team leader in our Criminal Justice Services.

Steph Brazell

Steph started as a volunteer for our Bristol Recovery College in 2019 where she facilitated a Textiles Group and a Women’s Group. When the pandemic hit, she volunteered at the Emergency Hostels, and then went on to become a Locum worker for a year. She's now in a fulltime role as a Progression Coach back with the Bristol Recovery College.

Ricardo Lopez

Coming from Spain and having no UK experience in the sector, Ricardo found volunteering the perfect way to develop his career further. He started as a befriender volunteer in 2009, and then eventually joined us as an agency and then permanent Project Worker and is currently one of our Regional Heads in our East Region.

Training

Being a volunteer with St Mungo’s means that you have free access to our e-Learning portal and we invite you to monthly online events to support your development.

Our e-Learning courses and our online events are regularly reviewed and new training sessions are added to ensure we are giving volunteers the skills and knowledge to develop. 

Amie's experience

The volunteer team really make you feel valued as a volunteer. Volunteers are integral to the people St Mungo’s support and their progression in moving away from the streets.

Amie's journey with St Mungo’s began in September 2019 as a Mental Health Volunteer for one of our Bristol services.

Read her blog

Join us

Search our current volunteering vacancies and find the right opportunity for you. Then simply complete the application form and we’ll be in touch to discuss next steps. We advertise new volunteer roles on the first and third Friday's of every month so remember to keep checking our page.

See our current volunteering opportunities