I Want To Volunteer

• Introduction
• Benefits
• Opportunities
• Steps to take
• Other Info

Introduction

FOCUS was first set up by two Cambridge undergraduates wanting to contribute to the lives of people in the city in which they were studying. One of them had experience of working with inner-city teenagers, and the other of working with adults with a disability.

They struck upon the radical idea of bringing these groups of people together for an exciting, activity-filled summer camp. Together with their friends, they set out to turn their idea into a reality – and as word spread – more and more students signed up, until it was possible to run their first project, offering a one-to-one ratio of support!

These were the early beginnings of what soon became not only a powerful way of helping our participants develop but also an exciting and fun way of volunteering. Since then, as FOCUS has grown and developed, we have remained true to our ethos of involving volunteers. Not only do our volunteers bring enormous value to our work, but we also recognise that many of our volunteers gain as much from our projects as our participants!

Our volunteer base has now vastly widened beyond just involving students, and we now recruit volunteers from all walks of life with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. The most important qualities we look for in our volunteers are enthusiasm, responsibility, and a desire to develop.

Benefits of volunteering for FOCUS

We like to think that volunteering for FOCUS is a reward in itself! Certainly the feedback we get from our volunteers suggests they gain as much from our projects as our participants, and in some cases more!

Whatever your motivations, here’s a few starters as to why volunteering for us could be the best thing you’ve done in donkey’s years!

1. Social life and friends – being on FOCUS projects almost guarantees making friends for life. Not only are projects full of amazing shared experiences in which to get to really know other people, but they also provide many moments of fun and enjoyment to reminisce down the pub for years to come!
2. Confidence and skills – Being involved with FOCUS is anything but routine. During projects you’ll be encouraged as much as our participants to try new things! Many of our volunteers set their own goals and hopes for what they’d like to achieve, knowing they’ll always have the support of their team and FOCUS staff. By the time you finish, you’ll leave with the feeling that anything is possible!
3. Having Fun - sometimes a little chaotic, sometimes emotional, sometimes crazy, and sometimes thought- provoking, FOCUS always aims for its projects to be fun in everything we do! Laughter is a major ingredient in our work!
4. Pride in giving to others – It can be difficult at times to get involved in your local community. How do you start? Who do you speak to? What would you do, even if you could? Taking part in FOCUS projects is a real way of giving something of your time, energy and skills to help others. Our volunteers can be truly proud of the 'glow' they have when they see our participants changing around them.
5. Gaining new experiences of life and other people – part of the magic of FOCUS projects is the sheer diversity of people you work with in your team, and the variety of different situations you encounter. Both will help you think about things in new ways, and gain perspectives that will broaden your approach to life.
6. Enhancing your career – okay, so you’re filling out your job application form, and you've written your contact details and your educational history. What are you going to put though for questions such as:
   • Provide an example of a team that you have been a member of, and describe what your role was within the team;
   • Describe a situation or event when you had to organise others towards a common goal or outcome. How did you ensure that the objective was met?
   • Give an example of when you have used your communication skills in a challenging situation. How did you ensure that you were understood? What was the outcome?
   Being involved in FOCUS can help answer these questions over and over again! Furthermore, if you’re already in work then FOCUS is a brilliant way of developing anything from your team-working and presentation skills, through to leadership and negotiation abilities.
7. Learning about yourself – Being aware of your strengths (and also the areas you need to develop), can really help push your life forward. FOCUS projects will help you learn and understand about yourself and the way you handle situations and other people, with time for reflection, review and feedback.

Volunteer Opportunities

There are a million-and-one ways (well, nearly), to still be involved in helping FOCUS organisationally and gaining lots of different types of experience in the process.

Organisational Opportunities

• Activities & Entertainments – helping us research and design the most amazing activities, writing briefs, finding goodies, making costumes, seeking out resources etc.
• Fundraising – researching funders and companies, being part of a fundraising events team, helping to write fundraising applications etc.
• Journalism – taking photos, gaining quotes, writing newsletter articles, contacting the media etc.
• Marketing – researching our competitors and national magazines, helping organise our photo library, designing marketing materials, etc.
• Office Management – database management, filing, accounts, helping with our operations manual, writing letters, sorting us out(!), etc.
• Socials – helping organise socials to keep volunteers involved outside of our projects.
• Recruitment – helping us to recruit both our volunteers and participants through a variety of methods, assisting with interviews and visits, and ensuring that everyone involved has the information and advice they need etc.
• Training – helping update our training packs, researching new ideas, running training sessions, considering volunteer accreditation schemes etc.

Project Opportunities

As FOCUS nears the end of it’s Strategic Development stage, and more funding is confirmed, we’ll be able to schedule more and more of our new projects, (hooray!) As these become available, we’ll add the dates to our News page, so please check back soon! In the meantime, these are the type of project opportunities that we hope to be able to offer this year:

• Inspire Residentials – Residentials have been the backbone of FOCUS’ work since it began, and provide truly life-changing experiences for our volunteers. Usually held either during the Easter or summer vacations, a variety of roles are available on these week-long projects, (Residential Roles, Adobe PDF, 60KB), both for experienced and new volunteers. Alternatively to find out more, please contact Gill or look at our Inspire page.
• Challenge Programme – Challenge Team Advisors are either recruited individually through FOCUS, or positions are available for companies that are interested in ways for their employees to volunteer. The Challenge programme provides fun and exciting opportunities to work with small groups of school pupils, typically requiring only a two-hour commitment per week, for 10 weeks. To find out more, please contact Gill or look at our Challenge page.

There are also management training opportunities for bespoke Company projects, providing unique personal development courses for employees to explore their leadership and team management skills. For more information, please contact Matt Lilley.

Steps to becoming a volunteer

Becoming a volunteer for FOCUS is a relatively simple process, as outlined in the four easy-peasy steps below.

Please note that because we work with potentially vulnerable participants, we ask for two referees, and for you to undertake an enhanced CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check as part of this process.

STEP 1: Fill in a Form!

Sad but true, everything has it’s fair share of paperwork. We have a short volunteer application form (2sides), which allows us to collect your contact details etc, and gives you a chance to let us know which areas of FOCUS you are interested in. You can download an application form (Adobe PDF, 77KB). Alternatively, please contact Gill.

STEP 2: Interview

Once you’ve filled in an application form, we’ll arrange with you a time and place for a short interview. The aim of this is for you to find out more about us, for us to find out more about you, and between us, to make sure you get the most out of your involvement with FOCUS.

STEP 3: Training

In order that you can be prepared for your involvement with FOCUS, we have training for all our volunteers for whatever project or opportunity they might be involved in. We aim to make training events as fun as possible, and they are often a great way to start making friends with other volunteers, both old and new.

STEP 4: You're volunteering!

Hurray – after all this (phew), you’ll be able to volunteer for FOCUS! The help doesn’t stop there though – FOCUS has lots of support mechanisms within the organisation so you’ll never be thrown in at the deep end. Additionally, there are plenty more opportunities for further training if you feel you need more in a particular area.

Enjoy yourself!

Other Info

Further volunteer related information:

• Opportunities - The Volunteering Roles currently available.
• Volunteering Policy (Adobe PDF 77KB)
• Volunteer Newsletters

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