Volunteering 

Volunteering with SeeAbility is about helping change people's lives. We are a leading charity with over 200 years expertise in working with people who are blind or partially sighted who have additional and often complex disabilities.

Founded by four 'volunteers' in 1799 our heritage of volunteering is as strong today as it ever was.

Your help can make a real difference to the lives of people with visual impairment and additional disabilities. Everyone that we support has aspirations and dreams, ideas and goals. Help us enhance the work of our dedicated and professional staff.

There are opportunities to volunteer at each of our 15 centres across England with a range of tasks looking for volunteer support. Whatever you do and however much time you can give; it will be appreciated and will make a difference. To read our latest Volunteer Spring Newsletter 2008 please click the link.

What Do People Get From Volunteering With SeeAbility?

All our volunteers are provided with information and training to support them in their role and get a sense of pride from what they do, together with:

• A chance to meet new faces, make friends and gain confidence.
• An opportunity to use their skills and experience to help make a difference.
• The knowledge that their support can benefit someone's life.
• The reward of helping someone to achieve their full potential.

Roles for volunteers

Please click on the roles below to find out more about them.

Friendship Volunteer
Escort
Driver
Activity Supporter
Fundraiser
Gardener

Meet some of our volunteers by clicking here

Contact Us

We would also welcome volunteers to help us with administrative tasks like preparing mailings, and are always looking for occasional volunteers at our Epsom office to help with fundraising events such as the London Marathon. If you would like to discuss any volunteering opportunities with SeeAbility, please contact us: enquiries@seeability.org.

Your gift of time could grow into something really special
Come and join us!

Friendship Volunteer - making the connection with the wider community is vital for many of the people living at our residential centres. Creating friendships builds confidence and provides continuity. Many of our befrienders visit someone once a week, just to chat and have coffee. Some of our befrienders help by taking people on trips to the shops or places of interest. Others spend some time reading or even playing piano.

Escort - many of the people who live at our residential centres go out to access day activity in the community. We provide staff support for this but volunteers can help by assisting and you might find yourself taking someone to the gym, swimming, shopping, day trips, holidays or adult education classes.

Driver - we have a range of transport at our centres, from minibuses to people carriers and small adapted cars. You could be able to drive (subject to meeting certain requirements) one of these vehicles in support of our work. We also rely on volunteers to use their own cars on occasions to take people on trips out.

Activity Support - We have three activity and resource centres, at Seaford in East Sussex, Wellington in Somerset and Tadley in Hampshire. These provide a base for supporting people to participate in a wide range of activities, with opportunity for learning and leisure. Activities include sensory, creative, therapeutic, physical, recreational, communication, education and life skills. Volunteers to support our staff in running these activities are always welcome.

Fundraiser - We rely on a steady stream of income to keep all or projects moving forward. We would welcome help from volunteers to support events such as the London Marathon, cycle challenges, local fetes, village fairs, street collections, Christmas card sales and concerts. We also need occasional admin help at our main Epsom office within our fundraising team.

Gardener - Several of our sites have large grounds and several have both sensory gardens and horticulture plots with small greenhouses. Volunteers are vital to keep our gardens looking lovely and bring a sense of individuality to each centre which is of course someone's home. Our horticulture plots and greenhouses need a different approach. You could help people with a visual impairment understand how to plant, nurture, harvest and ultimately cook vegetables in a 'field to fork' learning experience.