Buckinghamshire Volunteer Matching Service

The Buckinghamshire Volunteer Matching Service matches registered volunteers to roles where they are most needed in the county.

To register as a volunteer,  complete the short registration form and the Volunteer Matching Service team will look for roles which suit your preferences. If a match is found, we will get in contact to find out if you are interested in the identified role(s), and if so, how to proceed. Have a look at a range of examples of current roles below.

Register as a volunteerRegister your organisation’s role(s)

Don’t have time to complete the volunteer registration form?
Click on the clock icon to receive the registration form by email to complete at a time that is convenient for you.

Opportunity Bucks: get involved in Wycombe, Aylesbury and Chesham

Buckinghamshire Council want to make sure that everyone in Buckinghamshire has the same opportunities to reach their potential and live happy, healthy lives. As part of its Opportunity Bucks programme, the Council has identified ten wards across High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Chesham where people are experiencing the most hardship, and where it aims to improve everyday life and generate more opportunities.

Opportunity Bucks roles

  • Do you have new ideas for your areas? Ward partnerships have been established within the 10 wards, bringing together key community partners and residents to identify local challenges and opportunities. No experience or knowledge is required, just the motivation to make a positive impact and collaborate with other residents to plan, organise or support activities, events and projects. If you would like more information, contact communities@buckinghamshire.gov.uk.

More opportunities in Aylesbury Wards (North, North-west, South-west):

There are plenty more ways to help out. To get involved in any of these roles, please register with the Volunteer Matching Service:

  • FoodCycle Aylesbury – Support the Cooking, Hosting, or Project Lead teams providing weekly community meals using donated surplus food.
  • Barbara Bus – Volunteer Demonstrator needed in Aylesbury on an ad-hoc basis to teach users how to safely secure a wheelchair in their specially adapted vehicle.
  • Woodgreen Charity Pet Shop – Various shifts are available at the new pet shop in Ayelsbury.
  • Aylesbury Vale Child Contact Centre – support parents and children who come to visit the centre on Saturdays.
  • Spark2life – volunteer as a mentor to support young people transitioning from primary to secondary school.

More opportunities in Chesham Ward:

There are plenty more ways to help out. To get involved in any of these roles, please register with the Volunteer Matching Service:

  • Calibre Audio – A volunteer driver is needed to transport a member of the monthly book group to and from the session.
  • Chesham Leys (Fremantle Trust) – Gardeners willing to spend 3-4 hours a week on weekdays looking after the gardens at the Chesham Leys Care Home.
  • Chesham in Bloom – Improve the way that Chesham looks and how people feel about their town by undertaking various gardening and clean-up projects.
  • National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) – Support and befriend a young person under Local Authority Care, arranging activities and outings, as part of the Independent Visitors Service.

More opportunities in High Wycombe Wards (Abbey, Booker Cressex & Castlefield, Ryemead & Micklefield, Terriers & Amersham Hill, Totteridge & Bowerdean, West Wycombe):

There are plenty more ways to help out. To get involved in any of these roles, please register with the Volunteer Matching Service:

  • T&T News – Volunteers to help distribute the magazine around the Totteridge and Terriers area of High Wycombe four times a year.
  • Wycombe Arts Centre – A volunteer co-ordinator is needed to support the management team with recruiting and training volunteers across various projects.
  • High Wycombe Shopmobility – Various shifts during the week to help operate its service loaning out mobility scooters at the Eden Centre
  • Horizons Sports Club – Provide one to one support during various sports classes.
  • Action for Children – Various roles to support the Bucks Activity Project. They are looking for: Disability Support volunteers to take children aged 0-19 on outings and Office Support to assist with admin tasks; Disability Support volunteers, gardening volunteers, and minibus drivers at their Residential Short-Break Services in High Wycombe.
  • Wycombe Youth Action – Session support volunteers to work with project officers to deliver various activities across groups.
  • Hills Café – help provide the local community a space to meet and socialise by volunteering as a server.
  • St Andrews Lunch Club – help serve lunch and refreshments for retired people every Wednesday.

Under 18? Volunteering options for 13-17 year olds

Buckinghamshire’s Volunteer Matching Service: the Buckinghamshire Volunteer Matching Service matches registered volunteers to roles where they are most needed in the county. If you are 16+ years, you can register with the Volunteer Matching Service. (If you are under 16 please register with us when you have turned 16.)

Aylesbury Youth Action:  a place where young people can further develop their skills. Volunteers can register interest on their online form.

Wycombe Youth Action: many of Wycombe Youth Action’s current volunteers have been involved with Wycombe Youth Action (WYA) and are committed to helping young people just like them. By encouraging development of their natural skills, these volunteers are now the leaders and confidantes of WYA’s young people. Find out more on WYA’s website.

Duke of Edinburgh: you can find a list of volunteering ideas and opportunities for young people on the Duke of Edinburgh website:

VInspired: you can find general volunteer roles suitable for young people (aged 16 – 30) on the VInspired website.

Do-IT: Do-IT is a national online database of volunteer opportunities. If you see a role you like but it is for those 18 or over, it is worth contacting them to see if they would be happy for you to do it if a parent/ guardian accompanies you.

Other ideas:

Examples of volunteer roles currently available

The Volunteer Matching Service matches registered volunteers to the most suitable role for you. Below is a list of some of the current roles on offer. This list does not include all roles but is updated regularly.

If you are interested in any of these types of roles, please register as a volunteer using the Volunteer Matching Service registration form. A member of the Volunteer Matching Service team will then be in touch to tell you more about the role and how to proceed or, if that role is not suitable, let you know about other current opportunities.

Example roles:

Frontline/ Emergency Response 

  • South Central Ambulance Service – Community First Responders –

Join the local Bourne End scheme and attend medical and trauma emergencies, often providing vital intervention and support before the arrival of the ambulance crew. 

Befriending and Mentoring: 

  • Brinkhurst – Looking for a male Buddy for an elderly resident. 
  • Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDs) – Team members needed across the county to support disabled people as home-based admin volunteers as well as volunteers to support their Enquiries Team in a remote role. 
  • Caudwell Youth – Mentoring support to young people aged 11 to 24 who may be at risk. 
  • Macmillan Cancer Support – Buddy volunteers are needed to either provide remote emotional support (Telephone Buddying) or to visit service users in the local community (Community Buddying). 
  • Age Concern Flackwell Heath & Loudwater – Care Assistance volunteers are needed to support the Nancie Ross Centre, and volunteer Minibus drivers are needed to transport clients to and from their homes to the centre. 
  • Thames Valley Police – Volunteer Custody Navigators are needed to engage with detained persons at Aylesbury Police Station to help them make better life choices. 
  • POhWER – Community Advocacy volunteers to support the Community Advocacy team with various tasks involved with referrals that come through. 
  • St Andrew Lunch Club – Support with serving meals for retired people 
  • Disabled Friendship Club in High Wycombe & District – Volunteers to support with food and entertainment, as well as new members welcome.   
  • Bucks Vision – Befrienders in person or by call; walking guides; activity support with social groups and/or activities for blind and partially sighted people. 

Involving Young People: 

  • Mama Bee Group – Support with the running of the Zone Youth Café, located in High Wycombe, on a Monday evening. 
  • 1st Radnage Scout Group – Volunteers to lead the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers sections. 
  • Girlguiding – General support for Marlow Girlguide Group and Leaders or Assistant Leaders for Amersham Girlguides. 
  • Autism Early Support – Part time and lunchtime Nursery Assistants to support the staff at the Circle Centre to carry out their roles. 
  • Horizon Sports Club – Volunteers are needed for one-to-one support during sports classes in High Wycombe. 
  • Project Street Life – Volunteers supporting activity sessions for 10-16yr olds. 

 

Charity Shop Support: 

  • South Bucks Hospice – Hazlemere and Bourne End shop volunteers and volunteers with experience in catering services to support the running of their Bistro on Wednesdays. South Bucks Hospice are also looking for volunteers to support their online selling, and to support patients with various activities throughout the week. 
  • Oxfam – Roles are available in various shops across Buckinghamshire. The roles include general shop support, online selling activities, and drivers to make collections. 
  • Scannappeal – Bookshop volunteers to sort and sell books from the shop located in Stoke Mandeville Hospital. 
  • Florence Nightingale Hospice – Volunteer support required for various shops across Buckinghamshire, especially the Aylesbury Furniture Store, as well as Head Office roles such as being part of the online sales team, and patient transport drivers. 
  • Shaw Trust Charity Shop – Shop Assistant volunteers are needed for the charity shop located in Chesham Town Centre.  

Other Community-based Roles: 

  • Careers Springboard – Admin support or Social Media marketing volunteers. These roles require a long-term commitment and are hybrid models, with time split between home-working and at the office in Gerrards Cross. 
  • Marlow Museum – Stewards to help run the museum, which is open Wednesday afternoons and weekends. Volunteers would take on a 2-hour session every other week. 
  • Wheelpower – Communications volunteers to support with creating content for newsletters and social media.  
  • South Central Ambulance Service – Help raise the profile of SCAS in your local community via events and social media by joining the Community Support team. 
  • Amersham Memory Café – Co-ordinators are needed to help set up and run a new dementia support café for the community of Amersham and surrounding villages.  
  • Sustainable Amersham – Help Sustainable Amersham to increase their online presence by monitoring and posting on social media accounts and writing blog posts and articles on various areas of sustainability. 
  • Sexual Assault and Abuse Support Service – Volunteers are needed to support the various fundraising projects across Buckinghamshire. This could include holding a tin outside a shop, running, and organising fundraising events, or even calling local businesses for support.  
  • Marie Curie – become a Community Fundraising volunteer and support Marie Curie by organising various methods of funding in your local community. 
  • Hector’s House – help raise awareness of the charity’s services and fundraise by manning stalls at local supermarkets and events. 
  • The Education Appeals Team, as part of the Buckinghamshire Council – volunteers interested in education, to serve on Independent Admission Appeal panels. 
  • Friends of the University of Buckingham – service for students, are looking for Media Officers or Leader volunteers to help with their media and promotion. 
  • TalkBack – Various support with groups doing Woodwork, Drama and theatre, Choir leadership, sports and wellbeing, accounting and general support or working with a group o able autistic young man.   
  • Guide Dogs – Puppy Raiser Volunteers providing a puppy with the vital foundation for its future role as a guide dog. Looking after a puppy for 12-16 months in own home.  

Community Impact Bucks also posts volunteer vacancies which are not registered with Volunteer Matching Service on our Vacancies and Opportunities webpage. If you are interested in any of these roles, please contact those organisations directly.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is the Buckinghamshire Volunteer Matching Service (VMS)?

A: The Buckinghamshire Volunteer Matching Service (VMS) helps people who want to volunteer in Buckinghamshire find the right role for them and helps organisations find the volunteers that they need.

Q: How does the VMS work?

A: Volunteers register with the service on the Community Impact Bucks website, providing some basic information about their location, availability and volunteering preferences.

One of the VMS team (who are all volunteers themselves) then telephones each volunteer to talk through current volunteering opportunities, which organisations have asked the VMS to help them fill. If the team member can’t reach the volunteer by phone, they will try to contact the volunteer by email.

If one of those opportunities is suitable, the VMS emails the volunteer with the contact details of the organisation that they are matched with. The volunteer then contacts the organisation direct to find out what the next steps are to volunteering in the role.

If there is no current volunteering opportunity that is suitable for the volunteer, the VMS will keep the volunteer’s details on record and bear them in mind as new requests for volunteers come in.

Q: What kinds of volunteer roles are available?

A: The range of opportunities available through the VMS changes all the time.

Here are some examples recent volunteering opportunities:

  • Volunteer Drivers
  • Shop Volunteers
  • Volunteer befrienders
  • Volunteer mentors
  • Gardening volunteers
  • Administration volunteers
  • Youth Club volunteer helpers
  • Volunteer museum stewards
  • Hospital volunteers

You can see many of the current opportunities listed on the Examples of volunteer roles currently available.

 Q: Does the VMS have any age restrictions?

A: The VMS is primarily for volunteers who are 16 or over. The Service does not process new registrations from volunteers under 16.

Q: How much time does volunteering take up?

A: The time commitment depends on the volunteering role. VMS team members always try to establish how much time each volunteer can offer and on which days and would only suggest volunteering opportunities that fit with those hours.

Q: Can I be matched to more than one volunteering role?

A: Yes. If you have the time available and like the sound of more than one role suggested by the VMS team, you can be matched to each of them.

If you have come to the end of a volunteering role and would like another, the VMS help find another match – just email us on volunteermatching@communityimpactbucks.org.uk.

Q: What happens once I am matched?

A: You will receive an email from the VMS giving you details of who to contact in the organisation which has requested volunteers for that role. The next step is for you to make contact with the charity direct to say that you are interested in the volunteer role.

Because of data protection rules, the VMS does not provide that organisation with any of your details aside from your name and, in with your permission, what you have told us about any DBS check you may have had i.e. the level of DBS check and who would verify the check.

Q: Can I leave if the role I am matched to isn’t for me?

A: Yes, of course. There’s no obligation to stay in a role if it isn’t right for you. Speak with your volunteer supervisor in the organisation and let them know how you feel.

If you would like the VMS to find you a new role, just email us on volunteermatching@communityimpactbucks.org.uk .

Q: Can the VMS help me find a paid job with a charity or voluntary organisation?

A: No, the VMS only helps people find voluntary, unpaid roles.

Q: Can I volunteer if I have a disability?

A: Yes, many organisations can provide a variety of access and support needs. The VMS can help with initial questions you may have about any particular role, as we are already in contact with the organisation.

Q: Do I need a DBS check?

A: Whether you need a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check or not will depend on the volunteer role. The VMS will tell you whether or not a DBS is required when discussing volunteering opportunities with you, and some organisations will carry out their own DBS checks when you are matched with them. You can find further information on DBS and volunteering on Disclosure & Barring website.

Q: Can I volunteer if I have a criminal conviction?

A: Many people with a criminal conviction do volunteer, however, it may limit the roles you can do depending on the nature of the conviction. The VMS can help you find a suitable volunteering role. 

Do you need volunteers?

If your organisation needs volunteers, please read this information sheet – About the Volunteer Matching Service – and follow the link to the volunteer request form where you can provide details of your volunteer requirements.

If you are looking for a group of volunteers, our Team Volunteering webpage provides information about some of the Bucks-based opportunities that are available.

Community Support for Ukrainian refugees in Buckinghamshire: If your organisation needs volunteers to help deliver a service that supports Ukrainian refugees in Buckinghamshire, complete the volunteer request form and the team will be in contact when suitable volunteers are found.

If you are a charity, voluntary or community group or social enterprise, and need help with your volunteering activities, or know of one who does, Community Impact Bucks can provide tailored advice, guidance and bespoke support. Please complete our support request form and one of our team will contact you to discuss the bespoke help we can provide.

Further support and guidance for your organisation can be found by selecting ‘MENU’ at the top of this webpage, and look under the heading ‘Support for Groups’ for a list of options.

If you would like to the opportunity to network with other organisations in Bucks, Community Impact Bucks is hosting a series of online forums for Bucks-based charities, voluntary and community groups, and social enterprises to share information and collaborate on the local issues that matter most. These free forums – Local Voluntary Sector Networks – provide an informal space where not-for-profit organisations can discuss local needs and explore opportunities for change in their communities. Find out more on our Local Voluntary Sector Network webpage. 

If you would like to receive our regular bulletins, Bucks Charity News, with latest guidance, funding opportunities and useful advice, join Community Impact Bucks’ free membership scheme by registering on our Membership page. 

How data is processed

The purpose of the data collected through the volunteer request form, volunteer registration form, and subsequent email/phone contact is for the provision of the Volunteer Matching Service in supporting voluntary groups and volunteers. We will store this information for the purpose of placing volunteers in volunteer roles where they are most needed in Buckinghamshire. The contact information will not be used for any other purpose than offering support to voluntary groups and volunteers. The full details are in our privacy statement.