Volunteer roles

Thank you for considering volunteering with us.

We are a diverse group of people with one thing in common: We believe that communities function best when we look after each other. If you can’t see a role that fits your skills – get in touch and tell us what you CAN do! No doubt we can find a role for you.

Tuesday afternoon form-filling volunteer

crop ethnic psychologist writing on clipboard during session — Photo by Alex Green on Pexels.com

Hours: 1 til 3pm Tuesdays (term time only)

This role is for the sticklers and the detail oriented. We need patient, kind and non-judgemental people to sit and help our mums to fill in forms and to read and understand official letters. You don’t need any specialist knowledge of the forms or letters, you simply need and unflappable nature, a high level of written English, a knowledge of how to navigate online and paper forms or the confidence to learn.

Volunteer form filler role

Volunteer Application form

Monday, Wednesday, or Friday playgroup helper

The Magpie Project in Forest Gate, who help families living in temporary accommodation in Newham, providing support and advice to mothers and children under five. Photographed 13 March 2019.

Hours: 9.30 til 2.30 (termtime only)

This role really just involves playing with babies and toddlers, chatting to mums, helping set up and break down the session, and eating lunch with everyone.

You will need to be empathetic, patient, non-judgemental and unflappable.

Have a look at the role and get in touch.

Playgroup helper role description

Refreshments and kitchen helper

flat lay photography of vegetable salad on plate — Photo by Ella Olsson on Pexels.com

Hours: 9.30 til 2.30 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (term time only)

We love to offer everyone who comes in to the building really high quality refreshments from teas and coffees to croissants, fruits and pastries in the morning (much of it thanks to City Harvest and other food redistribution operations). We feel like this is a form of care and love. We also offer a healthy lunch based on bread cheeses and salads on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

We are looking for someone who is willing to prepare cold food in accordance with food hygiene standards and to serve and wash up afterwards.

This role means alot of standing (up to 3 hours) and washing up and cleaning as well as chatting, passing the time of day and being pleasant and friendly.

Level 2 food hygiene training provided.

Adhoc volunteer driver

We are often offered free items such as baby clothes, equipment and buggies by people who would struggle to deliver them to our donation points.

We are currently missing many great items because we do not have the capacity to collect these items from kind people around Newham.

If you work from home, have time during the week, and have a car, this might be the role for you. Low commitment, do it when you can, but make a massive difference as you do.

Volunteer driver role description

Pop-up clothes club team

clothes hanger hanged on clothes rack — Photo by EVG Culture on Pexels.com

We currently run a clothes club for mums and minis on the second Thursday of every month.

During the month we collect and sort as-new clothes, and small equipment alongside toiletries, sanitary items, maternity wear and outerwear for mothers.

We then create a ‘shop’ where mums use tokens to ‘buy’ items for themselves and their babies – giving them back choice and dignity.

We are looking for someone or a group of people who are prepared to give two or three hours each week to sorting, sizing, maybe even ironing or repairing donated items so that they are ready to be put in fromt of our mums and minis at our pop up shops.

If you have transport you can do this at home, or you could come in and do it at our premises. Our standards are very high indeed – we won’t put anything in from of our mums which we would not put on our own children. So we need someone who is ruthless in rejecting any donation that would demean or belittle our beautiful mums and babies.

This has been taking up a lot of the team’s time and we would love to hand it over to a crack team of volunteers to take it off our plate.

Email to discuss this opportunity

Online shopkeeper

We have launched a small shop on the site. We are going to be selling beautiful branded T-shirts, baby-grows and bags alongside our sensational sterling silver jewellery collection designed and hand made exclusively by Jeff at Number 8 Forest Gate.

We are looking for someone who is already a knowledgeable online seller with eBay or Etsy experience to take on the order fulfilment process in full. We will provide the products, packaging and postage and you will keep the inventory, stock and package and post everything out.

The great thing about this role is that you can do it anywhere in the country and at a time of your choosing. We only ask that you set aside a couple of hours twice a week to check and pack and post orders.

Get in touch to talk this through with us.

email your interest

Freebay/facebook/Mumsnet forum watcher/womble

person using a smartphone — Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

We are so lucky to have many people in our local community who wish to help our families with donations of items. We also sometimes find ourselves with items that our mums do not want and we cannot store.

We know we have many many well-wishers on local mums forums as well as freecycle, freegle, neigbhourhood mutual aid and other platforms.

Unfortunately we just don’t have the time to keep up with all the noticeboards that donations are offered on.

We would love to have someone who we could task with looking out on these various forums (fora?) for items that we are always in need of (buggies, buggy boards, IKEA high chairs) and picking them up for us. We would also like this person to be able to take unwanted donations from us and sell them on the same platforms.

We are imagining that – after an initial float – this could be a self-funding stream whereby the income from the things you sell on our behalf could be used to buy the things we need.

If you are already an ebay empress or a mumsnet moghul and you would like to help us, please get in touch to talk through the opportunity.

email your interest

Check out our fundraising ideas

Get in touch

Bank Examples	Forms of Identity Needed
Metro Bank	Asylum seekers can apply for a cash account and/or savings account. This requires an Application Registration Card (ARC), proof of address and confirmation of asylum seekers support allowance or other income.
Lloyds	You can apply for a Classic Current account with a BRP, ARC or a Home Office Immigration Status document. Refugees and asylum seekers can apply for a ‘Classic current account’. This includes an arranged overdraft. Fees are charged if you go into your overdraft.
Nationwide	You can get a ‘FlexBasic account’ (basic bank account) and an ‘Instant Access saver’ (basic savings account). They accept BRP, ARC and Home Office Immigration Status document.
HSBC	You cannot open a bank account if you are from outside the EU. They accept BRP but NOT ARC. They accept BRP but NOT ARC.
Monzo	Refugees can open a current account with a BRP and their UK address. However, Monzo do not accept ARC. You can get your benefits or salary (depending on your employer) paid into your Monzo account 1 day earlier.

Saves Time	Make sure there is enough money in your account when the direct debit or standing order will be taken. If there is not enough money, you could be charged extra by the bank.
You don’t need to remember to pay a bill	You must remember to cancel standing orders when you want to stop paying someone regularly.
You will get money back for any incorrect payments for direct debits only.	Sometimes you might think you are setting up a direct debit, but it is actually a recurring payment or continuous payment authority (CPA). Be careful if companies ask for the long number on your card instead of your sort code and account number. This will mean they can take money whenever they think they are owed.
You can cancel a direct debit or a standing order at any time through your online banking account or by contacting your bank.


Magpie Mums say: “Always use direct debits if you can, so you don’t forget to pay and are charged. If you can’t use direct debits, make sure you put the dates when you’re supposed to make payments in your phone calendar.” “I’m used to it. It’s easy on the phone. I try to avoid going to banks.”

Account number	A 10-12 digit number given to your bank account. You can find your account number on your online banking page or on bank statements.
Card Number	A 16-digit number with that is found on the front of your debit/credit card.
Credit Card	A credit card doesn’t spend your money. It spends the bank’s money and you must pay it back. This means you can spend more than is in your account, but you might be charged extra for doing this, especially if you are late paying the bank.
Credit Score	A number that records how likely you are to repay your debts. High credit scores are better as it means financial products such as overdrafts and credit cards cost less.
Debit Card	A debit card is a card that lets you take out money from ATMs and make payments in stores or online from your account.
Financial Service Compensation Scheme (FSCS)	An organisation set up to protect the money you put in bank accounts. If you have a current or basic account, the FSCS will pay you up to £85,000 if your bank goes bankrupt.
National Insurance Number (NI)	The number makes sure that the National Insurance contributions and tax you pay are properly recorded on your account. It also acts as a reference number for the whole social security system.
Overdraft	An amount of money you can spend even when you have no money in your account. It is like a small loan from your bank. Overdrafts are often not free, so you need to be very aware what the costs are before using one.
Personal Identification Number (PIN)	A PIN is a 4-digit number that is given to you with a debit card. This is used when taking out money from ATMs or when making in-store purchases with your card. Never share your PIN with anyone as it could be used to commit fraud.
Security Code	A 3-4 digit number found on the back of your debit/credit card in the signature section. This number will be required for nearly all online payments. The code provides an extra layer of security to safeguard you from fraud.
Sort Code	A 6-digit number that is used to identify your bank. You can find your sort code on your online banking platform, on bank statements or on your debit card.
Standing Order	When a fixed amount that you choose is paid from your account to another person or organisation. This is different from the direct debit as the amount that is paid is the same each time.

Saves time – you don’t need to remember to pay a bill.	You need to make sure there is enough money in your account when the direct debit or standing order will be taken. If there is not enough money, you could be charged extra by the bank.
You will get money back for any incorrect payments for direct debits only.	You must remember to cancel standing orders when you want to stop paying someone regularly.
You can cancel a direct debit or a standing order at any time through your online banking account or by contacting your bank.	Sometimes you might think you are setting up a direct debit, but it is actually a recurring payment or continuous payment authority (CPA). Be careful if companies ask for the long number on your card instead of your sort code and account number. This will mean they can take money whenever they think they are owed.