Volunteering FAQs

Many of our volunteering roles are home-based or in and around your local community which means that, wherever you are in the UK, you can get involved in volunteering with us. We often have roles available at our Head Office in Fleet, Hampshire so, if you are local to the area, there may be an opportunity to come in to the office to volunteer.

We want as many people as possible to be able to get involved in volunteering with The Charity. In line with our Equal Opportunities policy, we welcome anyone over the age of 18 to apply for our volunteer roles. We try to make our recruitment processes as transparent and inclusive as we can.

If you aren’t yet 18 but would still like to get involved and make a difference, we want to hear from you! We have other opportunities for you to get involved, so please email volunteering@thebraintumourcharity.org or take a look at our ideas generator for some inspiration.

The Brain Tumour Charity will reimburse reasonable out of pocket expenses for volunteers’ travel and food where appropriate. Expenses paid must be with prior agreement. Find out more in our Volunteer Expenses Policy.

We take up two references for everyone who applies to one of our regular volunteering roles. At least one should be a person who knows you through a professional capacity such as an employer, teacher etc. Personal references, such as friends, are accepted but they must not be a direct family member. We will not contact these references unless your initial application is successful and will advise you before we get in touch.

If you are unable to provide a professional reference but are keen to apply for a role, let one of our volunteering team know by emailing volunteering@thebraintumourcharity.org and we will be happy to help. 

We set up an initial meeting with all volunteer applicants who will be volunteering on a regular basis, which is a chance to get to know you better, understand your skills and motivations for volunteering with us and gives you an opportunity to get to know the team better, as well as to ask any questions you may have. The majority of these meetings take place over video call, to enable applicants to join from a location that suits them. If a volunteer role will be based at our Head Office in Fleet, this meeting will take place with members of our team in our office.

Having a criminal record doesn’t automatically mean that you won’t be able to volunteer with us so please do not let this put you off applying. 
The Charity works on the assumption that people apply for voluntary positions do so for positive reasons (i.e. to meet new people, to develop new skills, to make a difference) and that they have no ulterior motive in seeking such work. The Charity will wherever possible provide opportunities for people, and do so in ways that will not put volunteers or our service users at risk. Find out more in our Equal Opportunities Policy. 

All new volunteers are given an induction to The Charity, which contains lots of useful information about The Charity and joining the team. Volunteers are provided with sufficient training that is specific to the role they will be are carrying out. All volunteers will also be assigned a staff member as a key point of contact, who is there to support and to answer any queries or concerns.

Each role is different, but how much time you choose to give is entirely up to you and your availability. We appreciate that all volunteers have other priorities and demands on their time, so we try to be as flexible as possible when developing opportunities to get involved. 

We will provide an expected time commitment for each volunteer role, to help you decide if it’s right for you. Some of our roles ask for a regular commitment, whether it be an hour a week or a day a week, but many are more flexible and can fit in around other commitments.