Volunteers' Week in Newcastle: 10 Places to Get Involved
Give a little bit back to the community with our round-up of volunteering opportunities in the city
There’s plenty of evidence that helping out and supporting others is good for us and can improve our own well-being as well as that of the people we're helping. And we’re a generous, giving bunch – around 14 million people did some sort of volunteering in 2021-2022, everything from gardening to food banks, play groups to teaching, support to mentoring.
Every year since 1984, Volunteers’ Week has sought to champion the important role volunteers play in our society, and this year's edition (running from from 3rd-9th June) marks its 40th anniversary. The week will be full of special events, awards and a general thank you to everyone involved.
We’ve gathered ten places in Newcastle city centre that offer fulfilling and worthwhile places to lend a hand, whether you want to tend to a garden, work in a theatre or help in a kitchen. Take a look — you might find something for which you’re a perfect fit.
One of the biggest volunteer-led charities in the country, The Prince’s Trust was founded by the then Prince Charles back in 1976 and these days works with around 60,000 people every year who are aged 11-30 and struggling in some way. They could be experiencing homelessness, disability, mental health or legal issues — whatever their difficulties, the trust seeks to provide practical support through various programmes, and volunteers are central to this. The charity runs a database of skills they need and perhaps you have something unique to offer, in any number of training or mentoring roles.
As part of the eco-friendly developments taking place across the city, The Gate is responsible for the Gatekeeper’s Garden, a small oasis of green tranquillity in the heart of the city. It’s a gorgeous little utopia full of eco-innovations (a bio-graffiti wall, for example) and they need your help. If you have some gardening skills – or are part of a group that does – get in touch with them and let them know what you can do to maintain this lovely space.
Although it was only formed in 2019, Urban Green Newcastle has had a significant and commendable impact on life in the city. This independent charity manages and maintains more than thirty parks and sixty allotment sites in the city, including some of the best-loved parks in the city centre — Leazes Park and Exhibition Park included. Crucial to their operation is the volunteer team who work hard to keep the green spaces in fantastic condition. If you’d like to get involved, enthusiasm is more important than know-how, and you could end up being a community gardener, a conservation ranger, or even help out in the Urban Green Cafe in Exhibition Park.
The magnificent, historical Tyne Theatre & Opera House uses volunteers in several aspects of its work and is dependent on some for some important roles. In production terms, Tyne Theatre Productions, its in-house fundraising team, is entirely volunteer-run, similarly the Tyne Youth Company. If you’re of a more technical bent, much of the stage machinery and the theatre as a whole is maintained and operated by volunteers, and the volunteer team also offer guided tours. There’s a wealth of ways you can get involved!
If history is your thing, you should consider volunteering at Newcastle Castle. The castle is dependent on its team of volunteers, who support the castle in three key ways: events volunteers help out with a range of cultural events, from film nights to guided tours, installations and performances; learning team volunteers run workshops and tours, often in conjunction with local schools; and the Living History Team take part in reconstructions, demonstrations and story-telling, often in historical costume. All the roles offer an opportunity to meet people, have fun and expand your CV.
Dance City is a brilliant, vibrant centre for all things dance related in the city, working with people of all ages and abilities in a range of dance-based activities. Volunteers play a big part in how the centre works and there are lots of opportunities to get involved, learn new skills, meet people and have fun. The whole volunteer scheme is flexible and inclusive, and you might end up welcoming arrivals and showing them where everything is, or collecting feedback on the classes and processes at the centre. And everything is supported by the Volunteer Here initiative run by the Newcastle Gateshead Cultural Venues group, which could be a great addition to your CV.
Established in 1985, The People’s Kitchen offers a safe place for people who live on the streets or in difficult circumstances. By providing hot meals, clothing, phones and sleeping bags, people’s lives can be improved or even saved, but this service depends on volunteers to function. The volunteer team in Newcastle runs into the hundreds of members, and tens of thousand of unpaid hours every year, but always needs more. There are always specific spaces that need to be filled on their volunteer pages, or you can register your interest to get involved here.
The Lit & Phil is full of history, knowledge, ghosts and – you might be surprised to learn – volunteers. There are volunteers involved all aspects of the Lit & Phil’s daily life, from serving on the Board Of Trustees to helping out at the hundreds of events that take place each year, from working as a bookbinder maintaining the priceless stock of books to greeting visitors and leading tours. They welcome all the help they can get so drop them a line and get involved.
Volunteer Centre Newcastle was founded to promote and support volunteering in the area, and is funded by Newcastle City Council. The organisation acts as a central resource for volunteers and the organisations that use them, providing contacts, advice and support, and helping ensure the efforts and needs of volunteers are recognised. VCN are passionate advocates for the benefits of volunteering for the community and for the volunteers themselves, and they provide a database of volunteering opportunities if you want to get involved.
Active since 1929, Connected Voice offers advice and support for people and organisations, campaigning and working in the community on their behalf, with events, networking and volunteering. Their new volunteering project – run in conjunction with Volunteer Centre Newcastle and the North of Tyne Combined Authority - aims to increase involvement in the city by increasing the volunteering roles, creating new ones, championing the voluntary sector in the area and increasing the available support. If you’d like to get involved, drop them a line!
There are so many pluses to being a volunteer: it can be rewarding, it can be a great way to socialise, to learn new skills, to put something back into the community and even improve your CV. Plus there’s a feeling of doing something for others, which is a very good feeling indeed. There’s a vast array of volunteering opportunities in Newcastle to suit everybody, why not find one that works for you and give a little bit back to this amazing city?
