Youth Volunteer Opportunities

There are plenty of opportunities for the twins to experience some volunteering in Greater Manchester when they come of age. This will give them a taste of the working environment along with providing them with a good way to showcase their learned skills for their CV amongst many other things like fun and friendships. 

There are some conditions that can limit opportunities for under 16's due to legal limitations but opportunities are available if those conditions are met. Some of those conditions include:-

• Children under the age of 15 are allowed to volunteer for 2 hours per day on a school day and 12 hours per week during school term. On a non-school a day they are allowed to volunteer 5 hours per day and 25 hours a week during school holidays. Under 15's are allowed to volunteer for 2 hours on Sundays.

• Children aged 15 and over, but under school leaving age, are allowed to volunteer for 2 hours per a day on a school day or 12 hours per a week during school term. They are allowed to volunteer 8 hours per a day on a non school day and 35 hours per week during school holidays. They are allowed to volunteer 2 hours on Sundays.

• These hours must be between 7am and 7pm and must be generally in school hours. They need to be given an hour break if volunteering for more than 4 hours. Also, a child under the school leaving age must have at least a two week break form any form of activities a year. Volunteering cannot be a reason for being absent from school.

• Consent from a parent or a guardian should be obtained before a person under the age of 18 starts volunteering.

• Under 16s cannot have a DBS check carried out on them and are prohibited from making house to house collection for charities.

• 16-17 years old have no restrictions on the number of hours they volunteer, as long as they remain in part time training or education until they are 17.

There is an increasing number of providers of volunteering opportunities which can have some surprising added benefits around Greater Manchester, I will highlight some I have found below, of course I will keep updating as I find more.

•  Kooth recruit Ambassadors for their helpline from ages 14-25, they run training events in Manchester to provide the ambassador with the skills to prove support in exchange for around 2 hours a week volunteering time.

• British Exploring leads scientific expeditions to remote wild environments to encourage the personal development of young people.  British Exploring have a scheme for collecting explorer miles so that Explorers will be able to reduce the cost of their expeditions by contributing to social action in their local area by Volunteering For ages 16-25 Years of age. So volunteering can really pay off.

• Banardos Recruits volunteers from the age of 14, they are usually stockroom volunteering positions for around 2 hours a week.

• VInspired provide regular updates on youth volunteering opportunities from the age of 14. 

• Greater Manchester Youth Network Their main focus is on youth volunteering and social action. This includes supporting young people to volunteer locally and abroad. Their services are for children from age 13.

• Manchester FA Young Leaders Academy, the young volunteers aged from 16+ undertake a variety of roles within local football from coaching and refereeing, to finance and marketing.

• Duke Of Edinburgh is a programme of personal development for 14-25 year olds, although not strictly just volunteering it does play a key part.

• Challenge Offer opportunities for 15-17 year old's. NCS helps build skills for work and life whilst taking on new challenges and meeting new friends. The programme involves a short time away from home, trying new things as well as taking part in a team project in the local community and much more.