Voluntary work can be flexible to fit around your commitments. You can choose to volunteer alongside your course, as part of your study, during vacation periods or in a gap year.

It's also worth bearing in mind that some careers are difficult to get into without previous volunteer experience, for example working in development or the environment.

If you are giving up your free time and wanting to give your best, it is wise to do something you are passionate about.

Further information

Save the Student has a volunteering guide for beginners, which highlights the benefits of volunteering and gives examples of the types of opportunity available.

Prospects offers advice on volunteering, including how to find volunteering opportunities in both the UK and overseas.

Finding opportunities

We've listed below a range of websites to help you find volunteering opportunities in the North East, the UK and overseas.

Newcastle University students and registered eligible graduates can also search for voluntary opportunities on MyCareer, under Vacancies.

Volunteering in the North East

Go Volunteer

Go Volunteer is part of Newcastle University Students' Union (NUSU) and aims to help Newcastle University students find volunteering opportunities.

As well as projects within NUSU and student-led projects, they also have links to over 200 charities and not-for-profit organisations within the local community. They offer one-off as well as regular, long term opportunities, and can even help you start up your own project.

For further information and to get involved, visit Go Volunteer.

Additional opportunities available in the North East:

Career Development Module - gain academic credit while developing skills through volunteering
Volunteer Centre Newcastle - register online for access to opportunities in Newcastle

Volunteering in the UK

The following websites have opportunities for volunteering in the UK:

Do-it
Volunteering Matters
Timebanking UK
Vinspired
Association of Charity Shops: volunteer in a charity shop
Royal Voluntary Service
ProjectScotland
Volunteering Wales
Volunteer Now - volunteering in Northern Ireland
gov.uk - find volunteer placements - sources of voluntary opportunities

National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has news and information about voluntary organisations.

Volunteering overseas

These are examples of some of the organisations that provide volunteering opportunities outside the UK:

WorkingAbroad
AIESEC: Global Volunteer - student-led organisation
InterVol
European Youth Portal - accredited volunteering organisations
Madventurer - non-profit volunteering opportunities in Africa, Asia and South America
POD - non-profit organisation offering one week to six month volunteer projects around the world
Concordia - non-profit organisation offering volunteer projects in over 60 countries
Volunteer World - organisation offering a range of worldwide volunteering opportunities

For more information on organisations offering international voluntary work, see Taking time out and the Development section in Explore Occupations.

Virtual volunteering

Working from home as a volunteer can be a good option if you want experience which is flexible around your study commitments.

Virtual volunteering allows you to contribute your spare time to a good cause, while building up experience and skills in a variety of areas. The work can usually be completed remotely, from home so it's a very flexible way to gain work experience. Virtual volunteering can include: