Introduction

Suffolk County Council recognises that one of its key roles is to increase the resilience of communities in meeting their own needs through building community capacity.

Volunteers can have a significant impact in terms of building the capacity of community groups and voluntary organisations. We encourage staff to utilise the skills, knowledge and interests they have within their communities. If there is a need to undertake some of this activity in work time managers are encouraged to be flexible with staff so that where possible this is allowed to take place.

If you have volunteering opportunities that you would like to promote to SCC staff please contact stephen.watt2@suffolk.gov.uk

Volunteering opportunities

Volunteering brings many benefits to the individual volunteer as well as making a huge difference in your community.  Below are some opportunities to volunteer with charities which operate in the county:

• St Elizabeth Hospice
  St Elizabeth Hospice has a huge requirement for volunteers in a number of roles including, retail, fundraising, care, reception etc. Please click here (PDF, 202Kb) for a list of some of the opportunities that only require you to give them a day of your time.
• Suffolk YMCA
  Two of Suffolk's YMCA organisations are merging and the joint chief executive needs some support to successfully deliver the merger. This volunteering role will primarily be an administrative function but there will be opportunities for some personal development. Parts of this role will be required during normal working hours so you will need to discuss this with your manager (see volunteer policy above). Please click here for more information and if you are interested please contact Rowena Kerslake, CEO Suffolk YMCAs on Rowena.Kerslake@YMCASuffolk.org.uk

Here are contact details for local volunteer centres:

 

Volunteer Centre	Contact
Babergh Volunteer Centre (Sudbury, Hadleigh and Shotley) The Christopher Centre, 10 Gainsborough Street Sudbury CO10 2EU	Jo Travis-Shelton Telephone: 0845 370 6340 Email: info@bctsuffolk.org.uk
Bury St Edmunds Volunteer Centre 86 Whiting Street Bury St Edmunds IP33 1NX	Sandra Nicotera Telephone: 01284 766126 Email: volcoordinator@volunteercentre.co.uk
Framlingham Volunteer Centre 10a Riverside Framlingham IP13 9AG	Jan Wright Telephone: 01728 621210 Email: framvc@btconnect.com
Haverhill Volunteer Centre Lower Downs Slade Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 9HB	Elaine Hewes Telephone: 01440 708444 Email: info@hvc.org.uk
Lowestoft Volunteer Centre Milton Road East Lowestoft NR32 1NT	Linda Mason Telephone: 01502 562299 Email: lowestoftvb@tiscali.co.uk
Mid Suffolk Volunteer Centre 5 Poplar Hill Stowmarket IP14 2AS	Helen Fairweather Telephone: 01449 612486 Email: volunteer.centre@optua.org.uk
The Voluntary Network (Forest Heath) The Old Courts, 147 All Saints Road Newmarket CB8 8DE	Jane Carter Telephone: 01638 608048 Email: jane@thevoluntarynetwork.org
Volunteer Ipswich 1 Cornhill Ipswich IP1 1DD	Kirk Jackson Telephone: 01473 261116 Email: wendy.herber@ipswich-cvs.co.uk
Volunteer Suffolk Coastal	Lorraine Stiff Telephone: 07540 855980 Email: coastal@volunteeringsuffolk.org.uk

You can find out more about the types of volunteering available in your area by looking at the http://www.do-it.org web site.

 

'Volunteer SCC'

Suffolk County Council have a number of volunteering opportunities available within social care, countryside services, schools etc.  There is something for most interests. A new service has been launched that can support you and make it easier for you to find volunteer opportunities within the County Council.

Volunteer SCC is a flexible service that can be utilised for free by any manager in the county council who would like support to find and or recruit volunteers

The service can be tailored to the managers and volunteers needs as we recognise that volunteering is so often built on personal relationships and we do not want to erode these.

And it really is easy. There is one (local rate) number and one email address, see below,

08452 235 335 or email volunteerscc@volunteeringsuffolk.org.uk