Almost anyone! St Luke’s is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for everyone who would like to volunteer with us. Our volunteers are students, job seekers, retired workers and full-time employees. All St Luke’s staff and volunteers are expected to be committed to St Luke’s values and behaviours.

It can take a few weeks for your application to go through the recruitment process as we have to contact your referees and also some roles require a Disclosure and Barring Service check to be completed. Once these have been received, you will be contacted by the manager of the relevant department.

Yes, all of our volunteer roles require a face to face informal chat with the manager of the team that you wish to be a part of.  This gives the opportunity for both parties to ask any questions, see the environment where you will be volunteering and of course meet the team.

It depends on the volunteer role – some of our opportunities involve dedicated time each week, and other roles are on a more ad hoc basis, such as our one-off events. We will advise you on what we are looking for and you can advise us of your availability – a typical shift would be 3-4 hours per week.

Each of our volunteer role task profiles will state the time commitment for the role. As a volunteer, you agree how much time you are able to give, which will help us determine which opportunities would be suitable for you and enable us to add you to our rota. If your circumstances change, please talk to your manager or mentor.

Yes you can, volunteering is recognised as giving you a better chance of finding paid work. It is a good idea to discuss your volunteering with your contact at the benefit agency so they are in the picture.

Many people start volunteering when they are unemployed as a way to learn new skills and gain experience to help them find a job.

We welcome applications from anyone interested in volunteering with St Luke’s, including if you are living with a disability. We will discuss with you extra support that you might need.

You can and many people with criminal convictions do. It depends on the nature of your conviction, how recent it was, and the kind of voluntary role you are interested in. If you have a criminal record and would like to volunteer in a role where a criminal records check is required, we will need to speak with you about this and a decision will be made on a case-by-case basis.

There is no guarantee that volunteering will lead to paid employment.  It is likely that you will benefit from volunteering by learning new skills and gaining experience and confidence, all of which can help with job prospects.

Everyone is different, but if you have been recently bereaved you may find it difficult to be in an environment supporting individuals living with a terminal or incurable illness.

This is something to consider before you apply and you can discuss this with the Volunteering Team.  There are a range of roles available at St Luke’s and you may want to think about volunteering in a different environment initially, for example volunteering at one of our charity shops or at a fundraising event.