Find opportunities

Would you like to help people with learning disabilities to socialise in their local community and make friends? Dates-n-Mates is a friendship and dating agency for adults with learning disabilities. We run lots of social events and activities, helping people to meet others and to build friendships and relationships. As an Events Volunteer, your role is to help our members enjoy socialising in safe and friendly environments. Our events include going to restaurants, pubs, cinema, tenpin bowling, day trips and walks. The events are sociable, great fun and your role is very rewarding. You will initially shadow a volunteer or member of staff to help you get to know everyone and see what is involved. Events take place afternoons and evenings and usually last 2 hours. We ask our volunteers to commit to a minimum of 1 event per month. Dates-n-Mates offer a variety of training and support to our volunteers. We require our volunteers to join the PVG scheme but there is no cost to yourself. All expenses including travel will also be covered. For further information or to apply please contact Raynor McCulloch, Volunteer Co-ordinator at E Mail: volunteering@c-change.org.uk or tel. 07720 591229. Organisation aims and objectives Our work is underpinned by a human rights-based approach. We believe it is people’s right to live life free of discrimination and to develop friendships and relationships of their choosing, to love and be loved. Dates-n-Mates empower our members to live their life to its fullest potential whilst being active citizens within their community.

Become a Volunteer Befriender Want to make a difference to the lives of disabled people in your community? Discover new interests? Meet new people? Look no further than our fantastic volunteer befriending opportunity! Equal Futures creates connections for people with a learning disability or Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and their family carers through Circles of Support, befriending and social events. By joining our caring and knowledgeable team you will support someone to build their confidence and access opportunities they might previously have been isolated from. You will benefit from training and on-going skills development. You will also receive friendly and professional support from our Project Coordinators. Our Befrienders play a crucial role within society. They can improve the self-esteem of someone with a learning disability who is lonely and isolated within their community. Befrienders also take the burden off other community services by simply providing someone with a friend to connect with. What will you do as a Volunteer Befriender? As part of the Circle of Support, Befrienders help a person we support build their confidence and participate in social activities within their community. This may include going for walks, participating in clubs or classes together, or attending Equal Future’s social events. Befrienders meet one-on-one with the person we support weekly or fortnightly. As a volunteer you may sometimes also offer kind and friendly support to not only the individual, but their family as well, depending on the circumstance. An Equal Futures Project Co-ordinator will be there for you throughout your entire volunteering experience. You’ll enjoy lots of benefits being a Volunteer Befriender, such as: Learning from an experienced and knowledgeable team Meeting new people and sharing insights Volunteering on a flexible basis that fits in with your life Access to free training and regular support Social opportunities with other volunteers Improved self-esteem and confidence Improved communication skills Advantageous for relevant careers Reduced loneliness and better mental health Feeling valued in our friendly team Seeing the difference that you’re making We welcome applicants from all sections of the community. We will work flexibly with you to ensure your volunteering journey is a positive and satisfying experience.

Disability Equality Scotland is a national charity working to make life more accessible, equal and inclusive for disabled people in Scotland. We are the umbrella organisation for all local disability Access Panels in Scotland, providing them with support and guidance to improve the lives of disabled people at a local level throughout Scotland. Our Nairn panel is currently operating in Moray and would welcome new volunteers to support their work. What is an Access Panel? Access Panels are groups of volunteers who work to improve access and inclusion for disabled people in their local community. They do this by raising awareness and helping to change attitudes among the general public about the need for inclusive access. Access Panels are made up of people of all ages and abilities who share a passion for the issues faced by disabled people. With the help of Disability Equality Scotland as the national umbrella body, Access Panels support their communities to become as accessible as possible, particularly in relation to the built environment, healthcare, employment, education, and transport.

Real Life Options offer services across the country such as Day Centres, Outreach and supported living to support people within our care to live their lives as full as possible. We are currently looking for volunteers to join our Real Life Volunteers programme. We also are looking for anyone with an interest in enhancing the lives of the people we support to get in touch, as although we are a social care company, we are seeking both individuals interested in social care and also other individuals who have some other skill set and would like to use this within our services. This could be from playing musical instruments to gardening or taking service users into the community. The main tasks of community volunteers will vary but may include; chatting or befriending people or practical tasks such as going on a social outing or assisting with shopping. During these difficult and unsettling times, more than ever the people we support would benefit from any time and commitment you could give.

Start your day knowing that you’re making a real difference to people’s lives and volunteer with a great team of people who are working to support greater independence and opportunity for people with learning disabilities and autism. Real Life Options is looking for an volunteer who is enthusiastic about gardening and willing to share their enthusiasm with residents and staff. Currently, they would like to create a space for residents to enjoy and grow their own vegetables but also want to look at expanding the garden in more creative ways. Do you think you may be able to help? Some of the main gardening tasks can include: • Planting Pruning Sowing Seeds Weeding • Edging Borders, Digging Ground Clearance Grass Cutting The Volunteer Gardener role offers: • Opportunities to learn new gardening skills and gain more gardening experience. • Creating a haven for residents that have learning disabilities. • Opportunities to make new friends. • Satisfaction of helping to maintain the gardens. • Assisting staff and becoming part of care friendly team that help vulnerable people.

Moray Reach Out offers a quality embroidery service with a difference providing excellent quality goods whilst delivering a successful training programme for people with learning disabilities. Moray Reach Out's Embroidery & Fine Gifts is a social enterprise and one of several Moray Reach Out projects, which offers adults with learning disabilities and individuals recovering from health issues a supportive and safe working environment. Moray Reach Out's Embroidery and Fine Gifts Shop in Elgin is looking for volunteers to help support this project. If you have knowledge of needlework, embroidery or craft work, and would enjoy sharing your skill with our trainees, then please get in touch. We are a friendly and welcoming team and look forward to hearing from you.

Ability Net's network of volunteers provide free tech support to enable older and disabled people to make full use of their home technology. They are seeking volunteers in Moray to join their IT Can Help network to support people with their IT or computer needs. This role involves contacting and supporting clients, feeding back on progress, and supporting the local Co-ordinator with promoting the IT Can Help service in the local area. Volunteers will take all necessary precautions to ensure that both volunteer and client stay as safe as possible, and volunteers and clients will wear face coverings and social distance where possible. If you like to help others, have good IT and computing skills, knowledge of standard operating systems and software and the ability to communicate well, please consider volunteering with our growing in Moray! Roles are flexible and can fit around your schedule, too.

Real Life Options is a charity which has services located throughout the UK , including Moray. They offer services such as Day Centres, Outreach and supported living to support people within their care to live their lives as full as possible. Currently, they are looking for people to join their Real Life Volunteers programme and specifically for people who would like to get involved with some creative activities such as Arts and Crafts, Baking/Cooking and/or Music. These activities bring such a huge positive impact to the people they support...and it is fun and enjoyable for everyone involved! During the last year it has been quite unsettling and now, more than than ever, the people Real Life Options support would really benefit from any time, commitment and kindness a volunteer could give.

Moray Reach Out has a well established recycling team with centres now operating in Buckie and Elgin. In Buckie, for example, we currently offer 50 training places to adults with learning disabilities, providing education and training about recycling cans into aluminium and steel. We offer a van collection service that gives trainees the opportunity to collect and process business' recycling. We currently pick up from over 140 customers in the Buckie area. In Elgin, our team processes your purple bins, contributing both to the environment and the community. We take the contents including cans, tins and plastic containers in order to process them into bales. Volunteers support trainees in the practical elements of the tasks. Our volunteers are people who foster team work, are themselves team players, and are comfortable working with people of all abilities and also have a good sense of humour!

Moray Reach Out is a charity that runs several social enterprises that provide work and training opportunities to vulnerable adults throughout Moray. We are looking for volunteers to help support our vulnerable adults through our projects. Moray Reach Out's Upcycling Project takes discarded wooden pallets from local business and turns them into saleable house and garden items. Pallets are taken apart, the planks sanded, measured, sawn and made up into decorative boxes, shelving and planters for the garden. All carried out using hand tools, suitable for varying skills and ability. To volunteer for this project, it would be preferred if you have basic DIY skills, so these can be transferred to help our vulnerable adults. These would include using a handsaw, hammering nails, and using simple power tools such as cordless drills and sanders. Most importantly, volunteers need to have patience, kindness and empathy. Please bring your own overalls if you can!