"We are extremely grateful to all of our volunteers at The Brunswick Centre, for the huge amount of time and hard work they contribute towards the organisation. They are an essential part of what we do and how we work, having contributed 796 hours over the past year allowing us to further build our social value and deliver better outcomes for the people and communities we serve."
Tom Mapplethorpe, Chair of Trustees
We offer a variety of volunteering roles right across the charity including:
- Trustee roles
- Admin and office support roles
- Condom packing
- HIV prevention outreach
- Information stalls at community events
- Group work including assisting at our LGBTQ+ youth group, supporting or trans young people & parents’ group and/or helping out at children and family’s group
Youth Work
yOUTh has great opportunities for anyone who would like to volunteer with LGBTQ+ young people age 24 and under.
We have six youth groups that run weekly across Kirklees and Calderdale as well as 1 monthly primary group and a quarterly Trans workshop for parents and carers. In the summer, our volunteers also have the opportunity to be involved with supporting our organisation at local Pride’s.
Our sessions are relaxed, informal and fun and volunteers are supported by our team of qualified youth workers.
If you choose to volunteer with yOUTh, you will help to set up each session, participate in activities, engage with our young people and help with the tidying up afterwards. After the session you will join in with our team debrief.
Some volunteers have gone on to complete youth work qualifications and change their careers and some have become paid employees at the Brunswick Centre. Whether you wish to volunteer a few hours in your spare time or aim to gain experience towards a career in youth work, volunteering with Brunswick yOUTh is a great way to do so.
"It has been a pleasure and a learning experience volunteering for Brunswick. There are real benefits for service users from interacting with volunteers as well as supporting building my own skills and confidence. The team provide lots of support and encouragement for volunteers, working with you on how you can best benefit the charity and service users."
Gary
HIV Prevention & Support
We offer casual and more formal volunteering roles within our HIV Prevention team.
Casual volunteering includes condom packing, this is a vital role as supports safer sex and helps reduce HIV and STI transmission at Public Sex Environments (PSEs).
If you want to volunteer in short convenient chunks up to a day at a time, then you can also help at our information stalls such as local Prides and other community-based events. This would involve giving out information and talking to people about the work we do at the Brunswick Centre.
More formal volunteering includes Outreach at Public Sex Environments, raising awareness with site users around good sexual health and HIV prevention, enabling access to services delivering sexual health screenings and HIV testing. Some litter picking would also be expected to help keep the site clean and tidy which then helps stop attracting attention to the area.
HIV testing volunteering can be anything from running a reception area at a PoCT (Point of Care HIV testing) session, providing Service Users with information around testing, HIV and STI transmission and prevention tools. There would also be opportunities to deliver tests yourself.
More Information
We offer training and ongoing support and we will pay out-of-pocket expenses.
We welcome volunteering from organisations too and have welcomed colleagues from Kirklees Council’s Young Employee’s Network and groups of young people from the National Citizens Service.
If your employer allows you or your colleagues time to give back to the community, we may be able to offer you opportunities so please get in touch.
"Volunteering at the Brunswick Centre is great. It is a fun and friendly place where I feel valued and part of the team."
John Young - HIV Prevention Volunteer
Get in touch to express your interest in volunteering.
