Retail South England

Upcycling Workshop Volunteer

Role summary

Do you have a passion for renovation or reinvention? Are you creative and ready to give preloved furniture a new lease of life? Do you want to learn new skills in upcycling? Your background might be in professional furniture restoration, or you could be a pro at upcycling. Whatever your skill in this area, or whether you’d simply like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you! Join our newly established upcycling team in our Erdington shop. We can’t wait to see what you can do!

• Suggested hours of support: 7 hours per week (can be more & can be flexible around your commitments)
• Availability: This volunteering opportunity can take place anytime within our shop-opening hours, Monday-Friday, 9-5.
• Location: Above the Shelter Furniture Shop, Erdington 
• Supervised by: Community Shop Manager/ Upcycling Workshop Manager

Why volunteer with Shelter?

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help.

Our shops raise vital funds for our fight against homelessness and bad housing. At the heart of local communities, our shops are powered by our volunteers. We’re passionate about what we do and love giving second hand clothing a chance of going to a good home. Shelter Shops won 'Outstanding Charity Retailer of the year' 2019 and we couldn't be prouder of our achievement. Our shop teams ensure fighting the housing emergency never felt so fun.

Main tasks

You’ll be volunteering alongside, Brian, our Upcycling Workshop Manager, and will be involved in each stage of the process, such as:

• Brainstorming ideas about what to do with the furniture
• Preparing furniture for renovation
• Painting and design

Who can volunteer?

At Shelter, we take pride in being inclusive, fair, equitable and transparent. We’re committed to including volunteers from diverse backgrounds. We value the knowledge and experience of volunteers with lived experience of homelessness and bad housing. We also welcome applications from people with criminal records, refugee status, or 'exceptional leave to remain' in the UK.

Please note, as part of the application you will be asked to declare any unspent convictions. Having a criminal record does not mean that you cannot volunteer with us. It may limit the different ways that you can get involved, but please contact us at volunteering@shelter.org.uk if you require more information.

This role will require some manual handling, which training will be provided for. You should be mindful that this role is based in a busy workshop environment, and therefore may not be suitable for those with respiratory conditions.

Skills and Experiences Required

Full support and training will be provided and therefore previous experience of upcycling is not necessary. What’s really important to us is that you’re enthusiastic, want to be part of a team and are ready to share your own skills and experiences.

Learning & Development

To enable you to take part in this opportunity Shelter will:

• Provide you with a Volunteer Handbook
• Provide a local induction into your role
• Provide learning including Health & Safety, Data Protection, Safeguarding, Manual Handing

Benefits of Volunteering with Shelter

• Supporting Shelter in our fight against bad housing and homelessness
• Develop new DIY skills and share existing ones with other volunteers and members of staff
• Gain valuable work experience and enhance your CV
• Be part of a great team
• Build your confidence and develop transferable skills

Next Steps:

• Please complete an application form online. After you have applied, we will invite successful candidates to interview.

This is a voluntary position that supports the work of our services and is not replacing the work of a paid member of staff. This role profile does not form part of any contract of employment.