Supporting people with disabilities to lead independent and fulfilling lives.

Our Creative Arts and Pottery Studios are dynamic, innovative spaces, filled with exciting projects, colour and events. They are calm spaces where you’ll be surrounded by creativity and fresh ideas. You'll have the chance to contribute to something truly special, get to know people and make a difference to their lives. We also have offsite visits to art galleries and exhibitions.
 
We're looking for volunteers to support the tutors in morning sessions, 09:15 am to 12:15 pm or afternoon sessions 1:15 pm to 4:15 pm. Duties include helping the tutor with diverse projects, encouraging the people we support with their artwork and projects and helping to set up and clear away.
 
Interested? Want to know more, or know someone who’d be perfect for this role?

Get in touch, and we’d be happy to arrange a tour of our Creative Arts and Pottery Studios, and you can even have a taster session!
What skills do I need?

You don’t need amazing artistic or pottery skills, but a love of creativity and arts and crafts would be fantastic.  Patience, enthusiasm and a good sense of humour is also a big plus.

Do you have a good eye for detail and a love of capturing great images? We are looking for a product photographer to help bring our Grange Made products to life.

The photos will help us showcase the skills, creativity and hard work of the adults we support.

Volunteer drivers are like gold dust to us at The Grange Centre!

They save staff a huge amount of time by taking people we support to their daily activities, for example horse riding, offsite activities, or work experience placements.

You can choose to drive people we support on a regular weekly basis, or help out with ad hoc trips, for example, to cover other volunteer holidays, depending on how much spare time you have.

This role will be subject to an Enhanced DBS with barred list check, driving licence check and may also be subject to a Grange Centre approved driving test.

FAQ's

• Can I drive my own vehicle?
  • Yes, or you can drive a vehicle belonging to The Grange.
• Do I get a mileage allowance?
  • Yes, if you are using your own car.
• What about insurance?
  • You will need to inform your insurance about your volunteer driving.  If you incur any extra costs for insurance, we will pay this for you.

There is always something to do in our award winning walled garden. You can help a person with disabilities get more out of their training session. Use your gardening experience to be the tutor’s ‘extra pair of hands’, help someone with limited dexterity plant seeds, or assist someone as they work on their personal flower and vegetable plot. Volunteers work side by side with the people we support, guiding and encouraging them whilst the group leader is supporting other members of the team.

We also need volunteers to join our offsite gardening team and tutors, who undertake paid gardening and visit lots of interesting places and gardens in nearby locations.

Alternatively, you can work individually within the grounds, helping our Groundsman keep our 8 acre estate in order and tackling general garden maintenance jobs like mowing, weeding or pruning.

There are horticulture vacancies on all days of the week – morning or afternoon. 

Do you enjoy Woodwork? 

We're on the lookout for a volunteer to support our friendly Woodwork Tutor. Our Woodwork Studio is located in our stunning 8-acre grounds. Projects range from bird boxes and planters to shelf units and bird tables - there’s always something creative to get involved with! 

This is a great opportunity to share your love for woodworking while helping people with learning disabilities learn valuable new skills in a safe, supportive environment. The sessions are relaxed and fun, with a mid-morning cuppa. 

What skills do I need? 

No formal qualifications are needed. Ideally, you'll bring some basic woodwork knowledge, patience, a good eye for safety, and a great sense of humour. 

We’re looking for a volunteer on Tuesday afternoons (1:15 pm – 4:15 pm). 

Taster sessions are available. 

We all enjoy having friends come round to visit us and the people we support are no different. We are currently looking for volunteer buddies to chat, play board/computer games, go for a walk, visit a special place or simply have a coffee.  This can be arranged during the day, evening or weekends. It does not have to be a weekly commitment, but whatever time you can spare will be of great benefit to the people we support and we can guarantee to you too! 

How does it work?
We will introduce you to someone we support who perhaps has similar interests to you – sports, arts, shopping, cycling, playing board games and crafts, etc. and see how you get along.  We take things slowly and offer support from staff.

Do I need special training? 
There is no specific training to be a buddy. What you do need is patience, kindness, a sense of humour and a desire to make a difference in the life of another person. If having a buddy sounds just what you’re looking for, we would love to hear from you.

Do you enjoy being part of a team?

We are setting up a new Volunteer Events Team, who will work alongside our Enterprise and Fundraising departments.

This is an exciting new project and a great way to become involved with The Grange, especially for people who cannot commit to volunteering on a regular basis. You will be notified of events coming up and can pick and choose which events you would like to help out at The Grange and also offsite within the local area.

It will be a sociable group and you will get to know each other and feel part of a team which will make it fun, (t-shirts provided!).

Training on selected areas will be provided, for example getting to know our merchandise, a visit to our Shop@No. 5.