Become A Volunteer
Gables Farm is a charity and receives no Government funding so relies completely on the generosity and support of the public through donations and legacies. We only have limited funds to employ staff so totally rely on volunteers to help us not only to care for the animals but to raise vital funds to ensure our future.
Why volunteer?
People volunteer for a wide variety of reasons. Volunteering for a charity helps you not only to develop existing skills and gain new ones, but most importantly gives you a chance to meet new people, socialise and make new friends. If you are looking to gain employment, volunteering can help prepare you for getting back into work and improve your CV. Volunteering will also give you more of an insight to the important work we do and you can be part of a great team which will help build your confidence and self-esteem. Volunteering gives you something to do which is rewarding as well as challenging.
Our volunteer roles
We have a wide range of volunteering roles available at Gables Farm that cover many different areas of our work.
Are you great at organising?
If you are good at organising, then we always need help with administration. We have all sorts of admin tasks we have to complete that the staff would appreciate help with ranging from letter writing and stuffing envelopes to filing and organising.
Are you great with people?
If you are good with people, then these skills can be put to great use in many different areas of our work. We are always looking for people who have the necessary persona to visit the homes of prospective new dog & cat owners. You could also get involved with our regular various fundraising activities & store collections. Alternatively, you could use your skills to get involved with marketing & advertising, contacting local businesses and organisations to help drum up sponsorship and support. We would also be interested in hearing from people who would like to run their own fundraising events for us. Please download our fundraising pack for some great ideas and guidance on how to do this.
Do you love to work outdoors?
Gables farm always needs volunteers to help with general gardening and maintenance duties. This can involve work such as painting, fixing shelves, pruning trees and shrubs, weeding and fertilising. We also need help to distribute leaflets around our local area to let people know who we are and generate more support in our local community.
Are you up for a challenge?
If you want to do something adventurous you could try your nerves by doing an extreme challenge such as a parachute or bungee jump. Or if you don’t fancy putting your life and limb on the line you could try doing a marathon or other sponsored event. There are plenty of less extreme ways to raise funds such as holding a sponsored silence or cake bake. For more fundraising ideas and sponsorship forms, please download our fundraising pack.
Do you just love cats and dogs?
If you really want to get close to the animals in our care, there are two hands-on roles available - Cattery Assistants and Dog Walkers. As we invest a lot of time and training into these positions to ensure volunteers as well as our animals are safe and well looked after, we are only able to recruit for these positions once a year in the Spring - if there are places available. Due to this we are lucky enough to receive a high quality of applicants so there is quite a bit of competition for these roles. Because of this we ask you to think seriously about your time commitment you are able to give to the Home as we do have to turn down many great people and it is very disheartening when people only come in a few times and then we don’t see them again after all our training input.
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 2010
It has been really difficult trying to pick just one volunteer out of over 60, especially as each role is so different. After much deliberation and thought, the Volunteer of the Year 2010 award was given to Mrs Sally Lawrence - Events Assistant.
Sally has been a huge help throughout 2010, there have been a couple of times when she has stepped in at short notice when another volunteers has had to cancel at the last minute. However it has been very hard to choose just one volunteer as all of volunteers are very dedicated and without their help we wouldn't be able to continue our invaluable work.
Sally has been volunteering for nearly 6 years now and she is always at our events helping and supporting Katie Barkell - Marketing and Fundraising Officer. It is always harder to find volunteers for events and fundraising as most people just want hands on work with the animals. Events Assistants and Store Collectors are like gold dust and we really do appreciate all their help and support. Sally is a fine example of how much this volunteer role can make a difference to the charity and we are really proud to have her.
Current Volunteer Vacancies
We are currently looking for volunteers to help with:
If you would like to become a volunteer please complete the volunteer application form and send it to the address above.
Please note we can only take on volunteers who are over 18.
