Volunteer FAQ

Yes. We believe that lived experience is a valuable tool in supporting others, so we encourage those who have experience with a mental health condition to apply to volunteer. However, we also believe that your own wellbeing should always be the priority, so we’ll make sure you’re well yourself before you commit to volunteering, as well as supporting you throughout the placement.

Yes. We actively encourage current service users to get involved with volunteering. We may ask you to volunteer in a different area to the one you are accessing, but we’ll always support you to find a suitable placement.

Training varies depending on the role. Most prospective volunteers will come to a volunteer induction training session. First and foremost this is a chance to get to know Oxfordshire Mind, and meet some fellow volunteers. You’ll learn about a range of topics including:

• An overview of Oxfordshire Mind

• Mental Health Awareness

• Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Equality

• Confidentiality

• Wellbeing

Depending on the type of volunteering you’ll be doing, you’ll then be provided with additional role-specific training. Take a look at our volunteer roles to see what further training is required.

To volunteer for Oxfordshire Mind you must be over 18.

Unfortunately we do not currently offer student placements or work experience placements.

A criminal record won’t necessarily prevent you from volunteering with us, and we encourage anybody who is interested to apply. We carry out a DBS check for most volunteer roles, and require criminal convictions to be disclosed at interview stage. We may need to discuss the nature of your conviction when we’re deciding whether a placement is suitable.

In our application form, we ask whether you have lived outside of the UK for more than 3 months in the past 5 years. This is part of our DBS (criminal record) check process for most of our volunteer roles, and helps us to deploy volunteers safely. If there are gaps in a DBS check due to time spent living overseas, we will carry out a short risk assessment before you start volunteering, and may make some adjustments to your role to ensure you are covered. We welcome applicants who have lived overseas, and encourage you to apply!

Yes. Each of our roles have different schedules and time commitments, and we have several roles that take place during evenings and weekends. However, most of our roles take place during the daytime. To see when each role takes place, please visit our page on volunteer roles.

Peer support volunteers are people with lived experience of mental health conditions who want to support others in a group setting as part of their recovery. They volunteer within our peer support groups, supporting people by offering empathy, understanding and encouragement. As a peer supporter you are also a member of the group, which means that as well as giving support you can also receive support when you need it. Some peer support groups are based around a specific activity like music, art, cooking, gardening or reading whilst other groups will simply involve chatting and listening to people over a cup of tea.

At its core, peer support is about using your own experience in a meaningful, positive way by supporting others. Find out more about Peer Support here. 

Each role varies in terms of minimum time commitment though generally it is between 1-4 hours a week. Please read the role descriptions for full details. View our volunteer roles.

Some roles require a regular weekly commitment, whilst others are more flexible and ad hoc. Please read the role descriptions for full details. For most of our volunteer roles we ask for a commitment of at least three months once you have completed your training with us. Click here to view our volunteer roles.

People come to volunteering for different reasons. Here are just some of the benefits you may get from volunteering for Oxfordshire Mind:

• Learn new skills

• Give back to your local community

• Build structure into your week as part of your recovery

• Use your hobbies and interests

• Gain experience to add to your CV when applying for jobs

• Meet new people

• Build up your confidence about going back into the workplace after a break from employment.

• Induction Training and specialist training for your role

• Ongoing one-to-one supervision

• Group Supervision every month with the Volunteering and Peer Support team. This includes a chance to share and reflect on how your placement is going with other volunteers, as well as receive ongoing training and wellbeing activities

• A fortnightly volunteer and peer support newsletter with details of upcoming events, jobs, news and top tips.

We run training sessions for our different volunteer roles throughout the year. Get in touch to hear more about upcoming training dates.

If you’ve read our role descriptions and are still not sure which role would suit you best, please get in touch with our friendly volunteering team. We will be happy to give you more details and answer any questions you may have. Click here to get in touch.