Volunteering
Volunteering is simple. It’s about choosing to give time to help people, the community or society, the environment or animals.
Your volunteering must not be done for a business but can be undertaken for a charity or not-for-profit organisation. Where your volunteering is in support of surplus generating work, for example a charity shop, then some Local Authorities may require a work permit. The charity you are volunteering with should be aware of this and support you as required.
For your volunteering activity you need to choose to give time to do something useful without getting paid (apart from expenses).
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Level
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Minimum time
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Notes
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Bronze
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3 or 6 months
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You must do one of your Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections for 6 months, the others for 3.
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Silver
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6 or 12 months
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If you haven't achieved your Bronze Award, you must extend your Volunteering or the longer of your Physical or Skills sections to 12 months.
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Gold
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12 or 18 months
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If you haven't achieved your Silver Award, you must extend your Volunteering or the longer of your Physical or Skills sections to 18 months.
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List of ideas / suggestions:
When completing each section of your DofE, you should develop a programme which is specific and relevant to you. This sheet gives you a list of programme ideas that you could do or you could use it as a starting point to create a Volunteering programme of your own!
For each idea, there is a useful document
giving you guidance on how to do it, which
you can find under the category finder on
www.DofE.org/volunteering
It’s your choice…
Volunteering gives you the chance to make a difference to people’s lives and use your skills and experience to help your local community. You can use this opportunity to become involved in a project or with an organisation that you care about.
Help with planning
You can use the handy programme planner on
the website to work with your Leader to plan
your activity.
VOLUNTEERING
Programme ideas: Volunteering section
Helping people:
Helping children
Helping children to read in libraries
Helping older people
Helping people in need
Helping people with special needs
Youth work
Community action & raising awareness:
Campaigning
Cyber safety
Council representation
Drug & alcohol education
Home accident prevention
Peer education
Personal safety
Promotion & PR
Road safety
Working with the environment or animals:
Animal welfare
Environment
Rural conservation
Preserving waterways
Working at an animal rescue centre
Litter picking
Urban conservation
Beach and coastline conservation
Zoo/farm/nature reserve work
Helping a charity or community organisation:
Administration
Being a charity intern
Being a volunteer lifeguard
Event management
Fundraising
Mountain rescue
Religious education
Serving a faith community
Supporting a charity
Working in a charity shop
Coaching, teaching
and leadership:
Dance leadership
DofE Leadership
Group leadership
Leading a voluntary organisation group:
- Girls’ Venture Corps
- Sea Cadets
- Air Cadets
- Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade
- St John Ambulance
- Scout Association
- Air Training Corps
- Army Cadet Force
- Boys’ Brigade
- CCF
- Church Lads’ & Girls’ Brigade
- Girlguiding UK
- Girls’ Brigade
Sports leadership
Music tuition