Volunteering FAQs

Here are answers to some of your frequently asked questions about volunteering with Victim Support.

Do you have volunteering opportunities in my local area?

All of our current volunteer roles are listed online. See our current opportunities to apply.

If you have any questions before applying for a specific role, you can contact your local Victim Support team.

What if my local area isn’t listed as having roles available?

If your local area isn’t listed, then we don’t currently have opportunities in that area, and there may also be other organisations providing victims’ services in that area. Visit our local pages to find details of available services in each county.

If we don’t provide core support services in your area, there are still other ways you can volunteer, or otherwise, you may want to look into volunteering with similar local organisations.

Are there roles available if I don’t want to directly support people affected by crime?

Yes — as well as supporting people affected by crime, our volunteers also carry out vital work supporting our teams with administration, building local awareness and fundraising. Find out more information about our range of volunteer roles.

Do you offer counselling placements or work experience opportunities?

We offer lots of services to clients including emotional support, however, we do not offer a counselling service to the people we support. We are therefore unable to offer counselling placements or support counselling hours towards a particular course.

Due to the nature of our work and extensive training needed, we are unable to offer work experience placements to under 18s. We may be able to consider offering student placements of six months or more.

What sort of training is available for volunteers, and what does the training involve?

Volunteers who work in roles directly supporting people will complete comprehensive training through a mix of workshops, eLearning and one-to-one discussions. This will also involve a four-day training course at one of our local offices or another suitable location.

Once you’ve completed your basic training and gained experience in your role, there may be more specialist training opportunities available in your area, including supporting victims of sexual and domestic abuse, hate crime, restorative justice, and for work with families of homicide victims.

For other volunteering opportunities, your manager will organise all the training and support you need for your specific role. All our volunteers also have access to our eLearning website, which has a wide range of resources to help you develop skills to deliver your role.

Find out more about volunteer training at Victim Support.

Do I have enough time to volunteer?

In order to provide the best possible service to the communities we work with, we normally ask our volunteers to commit to a minimum of around two hours per week for a minimum of 12 months.

Due to the nature of the services they provide, some areas may be looking for people who can contribute more than two hours per week, which will normally be specified on the role profile. We do ask that you give serious consideration to this when applying for a role that directly supports people affected by crime.

Do I need to be able to drive to volunteer at Victim Support?

No. We ask whether you can drive on our application form as a number of our volunteer roles may require you to carry out visits to areas not well served by public transport. Knowing if you can drive helps us to plan which clients you may be able to visit. However, if you don’t drive or don’t have access to a car please don’t let that put you off applying!

Why do you need to know where else I volunteer?

In some circumstances other volunteering opportunities, as worthwhile as they are, may represent a conflict of interest when working with victims of crime. This would include roles where you may be working with perpetrators of crime in the same geography as those who may have been affected by their actions. We’d ask that you share this information on your application so we can discuss this with you and establish how we may be able to progress your application in a different role should a conflict of interest arise.

What does eligibility to volunteer in the UK mean?

We welcome volunteers from outside the UK, however some visas may not permit volunteering in the UK or are unclear — if you’re unsure what your visa permits, we recommend contacting the UK Border Agency to check volunteering with us doesn’t breach any conditions of your stay here.

I would like to volunteer — what now?

If you’re considering a support role with us, think carefully about how you want to be involved, why you want to volunteer for Victim Support in particular and whether you can meet the time commitment.

See our current opportunities to apply for a role online.

If your application is successful, you’ll be invited to an interview either on the phone, at your local Victim Support office or at another suitable location on a one-to-one or group basis. Depending on the role you’ve applied for, you can either start your volunteering journey once your reference checks have been completed, or you may also need to undergo a DBS check. During this time, your manager will be able to answer any questions you have about volunteering for Victim Support.