Anti bullying week 2024

This week marks the start of anti bullying week and we have lots of resources and helpful bullying advice to help you take a stand against bullying.

Volunteer for us

Our incredible volunteers are at the very centre of the work we do supporting families who need us. Every year, we support families across the country to work through difficult experiences such as poverty, behavioural problems, relationship stresses, and countless other issues. We could not support these families without the dedication, passion and generosity of over 300 volunteers.

Volunteering opportunities

We have a wide range of volunteering roles available, from admin support, befriending a family, to taking calls on our helpline. Take a look at our current volunteer roles and join our fantastic team of volunteers. You can see current opportunities here. 

Ways to volunteer

There are many different volunteering roles available. Find out what volunteer roles are available near you, or if you want to know more about volunteering for Family Lives, download our Volunteer Information Pack

What will I gain from volunteering?

Our volunteers often tell us how rewarding their time with us is: you'll be part of a compassionate community and feel a real sense of pride for what you do. You'll meet new people, gain valuable experience, and develop your skillset.

We're passionate about helping people to reach their full potential, so we'll offer you full training suitable for the role, supervision from a named member of staff, including help setting personal development goals, and opportunities to increase skills and input into practice via regular Practice Development Groups.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone who volunteers at Family Lives enjoys their experience with us. Volunteers have told us that they value: making a difference to families, parents and young people, doing something inspiring/different, learning skills and improving their CVs. Volunteers also enjoy meeting new people and becoming part of Family Lives.

Read more about some of our volunteers.

How we support our volunteers

Family Lives has over 40 years' experience of working with volunteers. We have best practice policies and procedures in place to make sure that all volunteers and those we support have a positive and high quality experience with us. To ensure high standards of service we:

  • interview all volunteers
  • undertake DBS checks
  • aim for best practice in all our policies and procedures
  • follow strict safeguarding procedures
  • have a Volunteer Policy and Volunteer Agreement

We have gained the Investing in Volunteers quality standard for good practice in volunteer management. 

Get involved

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Volunteering FAQ

Here are the answers to our most frequently asked questions about volunteering.

Family Lives is delighted to be a recipient of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012, which commemorated Her Majesty’s 60-year reign. We have also gained the Investing in Volunteers quality standard. 

Health and wellbeing

Singing together

Drugs and alcohol

You and your teen

Learning and play

Mental health

Stress, anxiety & depression

Arguments and disagreements

Peers and friends

Resilience and self-esteem

Truancy and problems at school