Voluntary Action South West Surrey

The Artventure Trust enables people with learning difficulties,physical & mental disabilities to explore the visual arts.  We aim to help vunerable people integrate into the community.  Working alongside practising artists & others with a variety of skills & experience, we combine to give a flexible & fun approach to the creative process.

We are one Parish with welcoming and inclusive Churches.
Our vision is for the growth of God's Kingdom so we aim to:

  Grow in Spiritual Maturity
  Grow in Numbers
  Grow Younger
  Grow in Community Engagement 

Catalyst is a non-profit organisation working with people who are dealing with issues stemming from drug and alcohol misuse and mental health.

Guildford-based for over 30 years, we work throughout Surrey and its borders in partnership with a wide variety of statutory and non-statutory organisations and bodies to provide support.

Kindness Integrity, Commitment

Dyscover is a charity providing long-term support and opportunities to people with aphasia and their families. Daily sessions are led by professional speech and language therapists and are designed to help people to adjust to living with aphasia. We help our members to develop strategies for communicating, maximise abilities and provide help and support for partners, carers and other family members.

The Green Hub Project for Teens is a local community project serving Surrey & Hampshire and surrounding areas. It supports young people (11-18) facing social, emotional and mental health challenges, along with their families and carers. In addition, Green Hub works to promote awareness and understanding of mental health and emotional wellbeing for young people in the broader community.

Green Hub’s purpose is to achieve positive, measurable outcomes for teen mental health, including self-love, active lifestyles, social interaction and inclusion, as well as the development and application of a range of learned skills. Green Hub achieves this through its Teen Garden  social prescribing programme, talks and support groups within the local community, along with sharing useful information via the website.

Do you love gardening? Do you like helping those in your community? Then we have the perfect project for you!

We are looking for volunteers to help those in their local community, who are not able to upkeep their gardens. We are aiming to start the project in Merrow during the Springtime. This is a pilot project and in the future, we would love for it to be rolled out across all the wards of Guildford.

Who are we?

We are a group of a dozen residents in the Guildford area with a passion for growing food and gardening in a sustainable and self-renewing way. The seed bank was set up to involve more local people in seed-saving for using in the next growing season. Each autumn, after the growing season we will pool and share our seed to get more people growing.

Guildford Seed Bank was formed in 2021, and this winter, we announced our arrival with a fantastic community seed swap event, attended by over 150 people. 

We are hoping to bring together people of all ages who are interested in growing their own food (or flowers) and strengthening biodiversity. We also need people to help with social media, and also tending to the Seed Bank beds up at Rosamund Community Garden, where we are growing various crops for seed this year, and of course help with fundraising ideas.

To make a difference

About us

The halow project is a growing community-based charity, situated in Guildford, Surrey. We support young people, aged 16+, with a learning disability on their journey into adult life.

The young people we work with want the opportunity to:

• Build relationships
• Become part of the community
• Find meaningful employment
• Have a home of their own

We believe that the young people we support have the right to be part of and respected in their communities and are entitled to a life they choose in ways which best suit them. halow is committed to developing creative opportunities and removing social barriers.

Pewley Down is a Local Nature Reserve, owned and managed by Guildford Borough Council. Pewley Down is chalk grassland, renowned for its unusual flowers, and the butterflies which depend on these. Pewley Down Volunteers have been conserving the Down for wildlife for over twenty years.

Volunteers work under the guidance of Pewley Down Volunteers Group Leaders.

We meet on the first Saturday of every month throughout the year, at 10am by the Pewley Hill entrance to the Down. Work parties go on until 2pm. Drinks & biscuits are provided. Volunteers should wear strong boots as the ground is uneven, with lots of rabbit holes. Participation by Duke of Edinburgh Award Candidates is encouraged. The main work is to keep the scrub under control, using saws, rakes and loppers. We also monitor plants and insects on site.

Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) is a disability charity based in Surrey, with national reach. With more than 85 years’ experience of developing innovative services which support almost 10,000 disabled people a year to achieve their potential and increase their independence.

QEF works with children and adults with physical and learning disabilities or acquired brain injuries. They offer a wide range of expert services, whether it’s providing expert neuro rehabilitation to rebuild a life affected by brain injury, providing assistive equipment and specialist advice to increase independent mobility, or acquiring the skills to drive a specially adapted car.

Receive a warm welcome at Rosamund Guildford Community Garden, where a vibrant community of volunteers comes together. Our mission is to create a nurturing natural space, inviting both novice and passionate gardeners to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors and wildlife.

We grow produce in tune with nature, using no-dig methods, slow natural enrichment and non-mechanisation. The Garden has many environmental features including a Roundhouse crafted through traditional methods, a pond fed by rainwater, two polytunnels, beds for growing, wildlife havens and a diverse orchard with a variety of trees.

Our volunteers can visit on a flexible basis and there are different ongoing projects that might appeal. Once signed up, our doors are open for volunteers to explore anytime, and we host regular volunteer groups on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Additionally, join us for our monthly 'big job' days over the weekends.

The Surrey Hills Society is an independent charity formed 15 years ago.  It promotes the positive enjoyment and care of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is in the course of being rebranded as one of the UK’s National Landscapes. We encourage those who live, work in, or visit the area to explore and learn about the special qualities and distinctiveness of the area.  The Society also uses its extensive network to actively promote the conservation and enjoyment of the Surrey Hills.

In June 2019 the Society was presented with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service which is the highest award for volunteer groups to recognise outstanding work done in their communities and is the equivalent of an MBE for voluntary organisations.

Our mission is summarised by four words: Conserve, Inspire, Educate and Enjoy.

For further information visit our website.

The Therapy Garden is a registered charity based in Normandy Village, consisting of one acre of community garden which is managed by a team of horticulturalists, staff and volunteers to provide gardening and horticulture therapy to the more vulnerable members of society. We provide practical horticulture therapy to adults and young people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and physical disabilities.

Our ‘Green School’, enables young people aged 14-19 with learning difficulties such as autism, Down’s Syndrome and Asperger’s to achieve a City & Guilds qualification “Skills for Working Life: Horticulture” in a safe and structured environment. Students are referred to us and funded by mainstream and specialist schools in Surrey and Hampshire and many have gone on to achieve a college place or ongoing employment.

The Therapy Garden is currently organising ‘taster days’ for other groups in the local community such as brain injury and stroke victims and Dementia sufferers and we are able to plan bespoke activities that are tailored to individual client needs.

Whitmore Vale Housing Association offers services to people with learning disabilities and we work alongside them to achieve the most out of their life. Through supported living and residential care we can meet a wide range of needs, supporting people with a mild learning disability, to those who have profound and complex disabilities.