Volunteer Centre Newcastle is pleased to work with anyone supporting individuals who are potentially interested in finding out about volunteering. If you, your team or your organisation are likely to refer people to us on a regular basis we will ask you to register with our service.

If you think someone from your organisation may already have registered with our Centre please call us to check. Registration is quick and free and can be done electronically. If your organisation doesn't normally involve volunteers in the day to day running of your organisation we will register you as a 'referral agency'.

What you can expect from us

If the person you are referring lives in Newcastle we will be able to arrange to speak to them about their volunteering options in a booked appointment. If the person you are referring lives outside Newcastle we may still be able to arrange an appointment to talk about their volunteering options if they are specifically interested in volunteering within Newcastle.

To refer an individual to another Volunteer Centre please see other local Volunteer Centre contact details. We do not arrange volunteering opportunities or placements for prospective volunteers. We are able to offer advice and guidance on what voluntary roles might appeal to prospective volunteers based on information they tell us.

 

The decision on whether an individual starts volunteering is made by the volunteer involving organisation and the individual volunteer. It is based on a number of factors such as the skills and attributes required of a particular role, the time constraints of the role and any restrictions for legal reasons. These factors should be clear and transparent to all prospective volunteers making an application.

There is a high demand for certain types of volunteer roles such as counselling roles and health and social care type roles, and most volunteer involving organisations we work with prefer a regular volunteering committment of half a day to a day per week over a longer period of time.

We will talk through the advantages and disadvantages of a particular role or roles from the viewpoint of the prospective volunteer, and we will explore any barriers that may hinder or prevent that individual volunteering for a particular role. This service is confidential and we will not discuss anything disclosed to us to either referring organisations or organisations offering the volunteering role unless we have the direct permission from the prospective volunteer.

We will only ever break confidentiality if we feel a person is a danger to either themselves or to other people.