Swansea University - Volunteering in Wales

Volunteering in Wales

In the University, Discovery - Student Volunteering Swansea offers many opportunities to become involved in student led activities in the local community, and gain lots of experience to put on your CV.

The Egypt Centre on campus is looking for volunteers, not only to look after the galleries on a daily basis but also to help with the many school parties that visit. An interest in Egypt is not essential but it helps!

Other key links are:

  • The Wales Council for Voluntary Action represents and campaigns for voluntary organisations, volunteers and communities.  It also offers a wide range of internship opportunities that are designed to complement course work and provide practical experience. Previous examples of projects include:
    • Research project assistant
    • Event organisation
    • Marketing and business plan development
    • Website development
    • HR process development
    • Promotional film making
    • Media co-ordinator
    • Community consultation project

See the WCVA's current Internship Programme here .  For further information about these opportunities, email help@wcva.org.uk.  Project based placements are also found on the GO Wales website under  under ‘Placements' > 'internships' > 'voluntary’.

  • Volunteering-wales.net - a brokering service funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to provide information on volunteering opportunities throughout Wales.
  • NewLink Wales - substance misuse volunteering and training.
  • Swansea Council for Voluntary Service (SCVS).  To call in and have a look through available opportunities (Monday-Friday, 9.00 am - 4.30 pm), visit the Swansea Volunteer Bureau at:  Voluntary Action Centre, 7 Walter Road, Swansea, SA1 5NF.  Or for a free appointment to discus volunteering and a little help to find the right opportunity, telepone:  01792 544000 .

    SCVS Involve project video:

    high quality (2Mb/s), full screen
    medium quality (500 Kb/s), quarter screen 

  • Involve Social Services Volunteering Project

    Involve Volunteering Project exists as a partnership between Swansea Council for Voluntary Service and the City & County of Swansea Social Services Department.  Involve recruits, vets and trains volunteers to work with vulnerable children, young people, adults and families, and has been providing support to people in Swansea for over 20 years.

    Placements are available in a wide variety of schemes, including Youth Justice (Panel and One-to-one), Looked After Chidren, Mental Health, Learning Disabilities, Singleton Hospital, Families and Elderly.  Once placed, volunteers may take their service user out to do an activity together or meet up for a chat.  Involve encourages involvement in social activities that service users can continue once the volunteer's support eventually finishes.  Volunteers are not expected to undertake practical tasks (such as cooking, cleaning, etc).  There are also some group work opportunities.

    In addition to making a significant difference to the lives of vulnerable individuals, Involve can also offer you many personal development opportunities.  Volunteers receive excellent initial and ongoing training together with reimbursement for any out of pocket expenses incurred through their volunteering.

    For general enquiries please contact involve@scvs.org.uk or telephone 01792 457299.
  • The WRVS is one of the largest voluntary organisations in the UK, and its work includes a number of projects in the local Swansea area.  Many WRVS projects revolve around helping older people, but some help other sections of the community, for example in hospital shops.

SOVA Cymru/Wales - Supporting Others through Volunteer Action

Want to help someone make a fresh start?  Be a SOVA Volunteer with the Newday Project.

Newday provides support for ex-offenders on release from custody with resettlement back into the community, and SOVA volunteer mentors provide support and general advice and guidance to Newday customers on a wide range of issues, including:

  • Motivating and encouraging the customer to address their problems and engage with other services who can provide support.
  • Supporting entry into education, training and employment.
  • Assisting with confidence building.
  • Providing feedback to other agencies.

SOVA ensures that volunteer mentors are provided with all the training and support they need to fulfil their roles.  Please see further information resources:-

Application packs will be available from the Careers and Employability Service.  Please call in our the Helpdesk on Level 3 of the Library.

You can also identify national charities through the reference book "Charities Digest" available in the Library - check if they have projects in South Wales.