Volunteering is a fulfilling way to give back to the community, and helping others makes you feel great in return. This #VolunteersWeek I am sharing some of the fantastic volunteering opportunities we have across Gosport, Lee-on-the-Solent, Stubbington and Hill Head.
Gosport Voluntary Action
There are many community groups across Gosport that are seeking volunteers right now and Gosport Voluntary Action aims to match individuals seeking volunteering opportunities with those organisations needing volunteers.
If your organisation needs help with the recruitment of volunteers, take the opportunity to use Go Volunteer to get access to your local volunteer database. Please contact us on 023 9258 3836 or go to the GVA website at: www.gva.org.uk to register.
If you are looking to volunteer then please contact us at the above and we will help match you up with a local group.
Simon Says
We have the following opportunity in Gosport: Bereavement group support worker.
An opportunity to work with bereaved children and young people at our monthly support group in Gosport. Training is given but previous work with children and young people is helpful. We carry out DBS checks. Commitment is 3 hours a month on a Saturday afternoon and for 10 months of the year.
If they are interested they can contact us by emailing info@simonsays.org.uk or completing an online application https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScj26_EMzzWnrmP6DSkrX-4aAZBUQsvun2UmSnGhOPyRYnefg/viewform
Gosport Scouts
Team player? Love supporting young people? Great at planning?
Most of our volunteers work directly with young people aged 6-18 through our Beaver, Cub, Scout and Explorer groups, known as sections – helping young people gain skills for life through activities and adventures.
No previous experience with young people? No problem. Whether you'd like to help out week-after-week or whenever-you-can, we provide training, learning opportunities and cups of tea – every step of the way. Not all volunteers work directly with young people. Locally, regionally and nationally, many help out in other ways.
Not sure how you'd like to help yet, or how much time you have to give? No worries. Your local team can chat you through a whole host of options – including flexible and occasional volunteering.
Find out more at http://www.gosportscouts.org.uk/ or email dc@gosportscouts.org.uk
Acts of Kindness
We have an amazing band of supporters at Acts of Kindness and at the moment we are looking for people who can help with delivering food parcels out to the community and those keen to get involved in community projects such as house cleans, gardening or keeping in touch with people.
Contact the AOK volunteer co-ordinator Alyson Marlow on VolunteerAOK@outlook.com and she will be in touch.
Friends of Leesland Park
The Friends of Leesland Park, a constituted volunteer group offer opportunities to help with the care and maintenance of the park and its assets and to assist with the organisation and presentation of on-park community events. Volunteers meet monthly on the morning of the last Sunday to undertake a wide range of park maintenance and development tasks. Safety brief, tools and resources supplied. The group are further responsible for arranging and presenting three annual community events including ParkFest at the same venue. Want to know more? You can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/158654841484521 or contact the Secretary at philip.sandall50@gmail.com
Harbour Cancer Support
Harbour Cancer Support are looking to strengthen their group of volunteers.
We are looking for regular, committed volunteers who would like to make a difference to others and to give back, even if you can only volunteer a couple of hours a week, one day a month or at our fundraising events, it can make a big difference. Our volunteering opportunities available are befrienders, trustees, complementary therapists, and volunteers to host our coffee mornings and help with centre cover.
For more information on volunteering or for an application form please contact us at Harbour Cancer Support, 2 Stoke Road, Gosport, PO12 1JB
Tel: 023 9250 1503
Email: admin@harbourcancer.org.uk
Gosport Borough Cricket Club
Based at Privett Park, we're a friendly, welcoming club offering cricket for everyone. We have 4 adult leagues sides, a Sunday and a Midweek squad, a women's softball squad and colts' squads from 5 years up.
We'd particularly like to build our team of scorers - in particular, scorers keen to use a digital platform called Play-Cricket. Full training and equipment will be provided. We currently have vacancies to score for 2 of our adult league teams but there are other opportunities to suit people's availability.
If scoring's not your thing we have a range of other volunteering opportunities including coaching, umpiring or generally helping out around the club.
If you'd like more information, please message Barbara, our Club Secretary, on 07968103578 or barbara.cooke99@yahoo.co.uk
Gosport and Fareham MS Society
The Gosport & Fareham MS Group provides support and information to those affected by Multiple Sclerosis and live within our catchment. We are a totally volunteer Group who raise all of our own finances, provide the essential link between the NHS & Social Services and administer a busy activities & social programme. For the past year or so we have been limited to ‘Zoom’ activities but there is light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel and by the Autumn we should be fully up and running again. The complete range of activities and events are regularly updated on our website www.gosportandfarehamms.org.uk
The Group is managed locally by a small ‘Committee’ with each of the ‘significant players’ undertaking specific duties. I have been ‘Group Co-Ordinator (Chairman) for quite a few years and feel that it is now time for a change in leadership – new ideas, new initiatives etc. The role is worthwhile, challenging, rewarding and generally takes up to less than 10/12 hours per month. Should you be interested in taking on this role please contact me (George Mc Aleese on 07825 410680). I will continue to be in post until the AGM in January 2022 so now is the time to volunteer and take advantage of a 6 month ‘shadow’ period. No specific qualifications necessary – the only requirements are a friendly manner, the ability to listen, be interested in charity type work and a team player.
Loud and Proud
Loud and Proud, supported by Gosport Voluntary Action, are an award winning group of young people age 16-25 who carry out a wide range of volunteering activities while building confidence and aspiration and making new friends.
They are actively recruiting new members, a Treasurer and support staff. Call 07895939510 or visit Facebook @loudandproudgosport.
National Coastwatch Institution - Gosport
NCI Gosport, a voluntary organisation, based in the Signal Tower of Fort Blockhouse, has a unique and commanding position at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour. The function of NCI Gosport is to maintain a visual and radio watch of this large area as well as the Eastern Solent, reporting any safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard and the Queen’s Harbour Master, Portsmouth. We are a declared asset and hence a member of HM Coastguard. The beneficiaries of our work are diverse and include all those who participate in any form of marine activity. There is a wide spectrum of craft to observe, from aircraft carriers to paddle boards, a large population of leisure craft, registered and private fishing vessels and ferries together with members of the public using beaches near strong tidal streams.
NCI Gosport welcomes anyone interested in the work of the NCI and in joining our Station to become a qualified Watchkeeper. No previous maritime experience is necessary as our in-house training programme will equip you with all the skills you need.
If you are interested in becoming a Watchkeeper at NCI please contact Caroline Hildrew, our Deputy Station Manager by email caroline.hildrew@nci.org.uk. She will be happy to answer your questions, give you information, arrange a visit to the station and organise the joining process. You may also like to visit our webpage: https://www.nci.org.uk/gosport
Gosport Citizens Advice
The demand on the service provided by Citizens Advice Gosport is incredibly high and is expected to grow in the wake of the pandemic. As a volunteer lead organisation we need to support the community through volunteer advisers more than ever.
As a volunteer in an advice role at Citizens Advice, you don’t need any special qualifications or experience. You’ll need to be friendly and approachable and have a respect for views, values and cultures that are different to your own. A reasonable level of confidence with IT
and writing skills is needed to undertake advice roles, but more importantly, you need to be a good listener. After a full induction, you will have a range of well recognised training opportunities and supervision to help you achieve agreed goals.
Once trained, you could be helping our clients online, over the phone and face to face, to explore the issues that they need help with and find the information they need to solve their problems.
The roles we are currently seeking to recruit for are:
- Generalist Adviser
- Telephone adviser
- Digital Adviser
- Receptionist
GADSAD
Are you able to spare a few hours on a Friday evening 1900 – 2115. To help set up and run games, keeping scores for our members? Who compete for annual trophies. The more volunteers the more games we would be able to run.
Can you help with the occasional trip? Drivers must be over 25 with a clean D1 licence. Local trips around the Gosport area on a Friday evening picking up GADSAD members for the start of club night at GADSAD Centre Elson and returning them on completion.
Website: www.gadsad.co.uk
e mail: gadsad@gmx.com
Gosport Borough Hockey Club
The team of volunteers at the Club currently offer a wide variety of support to the Club mainly through coaching and general administration duties to keep up to date with the ongoing requirements of our governing body England Hockey and our Club Matters accreditation. During the last year extra administration duties have meant that some volunteers are pulled away from their main areas of expertise so additional help is required to record and monitor attendance at training and administer our management online tool. Our management tool is also our website which requires updating with all the exciting hockey activities we do and what we plan for our future. Also excitingly England Hockey will be re-introducing an awareness level of grass roots hockey back into our schools, which has declined over a number of years - an offer at club level maybe the next step for children when they get the taste and awareness of hockey at school.
The Club are seeking volunteers to assist qualified coaching staff at training sessions, team management, updates to our website, develop our 3-year club development plan and improve our social media and public image offer. We have a great existing volunteer base (mainly from parents and players themselves) and would love to expand that solid base with fresh ideas and faces.
If you can help please contact on Donna Sutton chairman_gbhc@gosportboroughhockeyclub.com
Gosport Sea Cadets
Gosport Sea Cadets needs volunteers with practical business experience to help with the management of the unit.
Gosport Sea Cadets has lots of roles to match your profession, such as helping manage finances and budgets, fundraising for the unit, organising events, writing press releases for local media and building corporate relationships with local businesses.
The unit has lots of roles to match your skills and offers training to help you gain more. Make more of your free time in the evening by showing cadets how to sail, powerboat, kayak or windsurf. Volunteers are also needed to teach first aid, football, mountain biking, navigation and drill.
Volunteers are supported by a network of other volunteers and employees. As a new volunteer, you will receive an induction and will be given training and support to make you feel comfortable in your role. We are always there to provide ongoing help and support.
Gosport Sea Cadets opened in 1946 by at HMS Hornet which is now the Joint Services Sailing Centre just passes Haslar Bridge. It has supported thousands of young people in Gosport to learn nautical skills, with 58 cadets currently attending, supported by 27 volunteers. However, more are always welcome.
T.S Hornet Gosport Sea Cadet Unit is part of national charity Sea Cadets, which gives young people a new perspective. We broaden horizons and create possibilities. Working across the UK with 14,000 young people between 10 and 18, we help them see the world with confidence, gained through the challenge of nautical adventure and a Royal Navy ethos. Our aim is to help more young people to see the future that they want – and make that future happen.
The unit is open 2 days a week on a Tuesday and Friday evening from opening 6:45pm and closing at 9:15Pm, and meets at Berkeley Hall, Royal Clarence Yard, Weevil Lane, Gosport, PO12 1AX and our new Boats Station Haslar Road, Gosport PO12 2AQ we are on the right hand side just over the bridge opposite the main entry to Joint Service Sailing Centre Visit: www.sea-cadets.org/gosport to find out how you can join.
Portsmouth and Gosport History Group
We are looking for new moderators for our Facebook Group. We ask that they must have knowledge of either Portsmouth or Gosport.
We are also looking for people who can help with research projects and helping out at events.
If you are interested please contact PortsmouthGosportHistoryINQ@mail.com.
Repair Cafe
A monthly repair café is being established at the maker space in Quay Lane, Hardway. There are thousands of these repair cafés around the world, at least ten of them are in Hampshire, soon Gosport will have one too!
Repair Café Gosport is looking for local residents with different skills who can be present as repair experts during the meetings.
We are especially looking for more people who are handy with:
- clothing and textiles
- electrical and electronic appliances
- bicycles
- jewellery
- Computers and the internet
- furniture / wooden objects
Repair Café Gosport is non-commercial and entirely voluntary, we are supported by Hampshire County Council. Visit www.repaircafegosport.co.uk to sign up as a volunteer. Contact 02392 983802 / mail@repaircafegosport.co.uk / www.facebook.com/repaircafegosport
