Volunteering

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a speakout volunteerWe Are Recruiting Now!

Speak Out has a fantastic team of Volunteer Advocates. They help people to express their views, be informed, uphold their rights, make choices, resolve problems and be active citizens in the community. We are always on the hunt for more volunteers so have a read of the information below and get in contact with us if you think you’d be the right fit for one of our volunteer roles, we’d love to hear from you! 

  • Are you supportive, a good listener and non-judgmental? 
  • Are you a good communicator? 
  • Can you give some time to vulnerable people who need help to speak up for themselves? 

Speak Out supports local adults with learning disabilities, to have their voices heard, their rights upheld, and to feel included and valued in our community. 

Volunteers make this happen... 

  • by advocating for one person to help sort out a problem
  • by supporting a self-advocacy group to speak up about important issues 
  • or by joining our management committee to help steer the work we do 

About You

You should feel confident in your ability to communicate with all sorts of people, be non-judgmental, have patience and initiative and treat people with respect. 

Volunteers can also support our fundraising activities and we encourage people to get involved with our inclusive social activities. 

The work is very rewarding and provides opportunity to develop skills and expertise in advocacy. Many volunteers have gone on to secure work in related fields. 

Volunteer Opportunities

Drop-in Volunteer 

We have weekly and bi-weekly drop-ins in central Brighton and Kempton. As a drop-in Volunteer, you can help people at our drop-in sessions to build connections and discuss difficulties they are facing. 

You may be assisting individual members to communicate with each other, support phone calls, emails or letter writing. 

You should also be prepared to sit, listen and simply be alongside someone to help them feel reassured, respected and more confident. 

Citizen and Community Advocate

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You will be making a commitment to one person over a period of time who may find it difficult to express their own views and wishes.  

Your role will be to enable and empower that person to self-advocate if possible or to represent their views when they are not able to do so themselves. You will also support your partner to be active in their community if they wish. This is an evolving advocacy partnership built on mutual trust that Speak Out will support over its course. You will be expected to contribute around 4-6 hours fortnightly and make a commitment of 

All advocates get initial training and ongoing supervision and support. You do not need any previous experience or specific skills, but you do need to be a person who believes that people with learning disabilities should have the same rights and choices to do everyday things as everyone else. 

Advocacy Groups

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Working with a member of staff, you will help facilitate one of our well-established self-advocacy groups. Volunteer Advocacy Group Supporters enable people with learning difficulties to play an influential part as local citizens. 

You will need to be available at a regular time each week or fortnight to support group members to speak up about things going on in their lives that they want to share.   

Group supporters also assist people to attend external meetings and activities.  

Find out more about the Advocacy Groups we support here: Speaking Up Groups

Applying to be a Volunteer with Speak Out

We are always happy to receive applications for volunteering roles and these are reviewed as and when they come in but do also check out our Work with Us page for specific volunteering vacancies. 

To be involved, and to help make a difference to people's lives, please contact us on 01273 421921 or click on the link below, fill in an application form and email it to: 

[email protected] 

Download a Volunteer Application Form

All volunteer DBS checks will be paid for by Speak Out.