Placement Team Support (Community Education - Remote)

Placement Volunteers at the British Red Cross are highly valued for the skills and energy they bring. We aim to provide our placement volunteers with an insight into the daily workings of the world’s largest humanitarian organisation. The successful candidate will have access to relevant in-house training and development opportunities during their placement. There may be some ad hoc opportunities to get involved in other areas of activity.

Your role as a placement volunteer will help make a great contribution to the work of the British Red Cross. You will take responsibility for achieving specific objectives that are agreed with you within one of the various departments across the UK. You will have a real responsibility and place in the department, bringing some of your skills and experience to the role; you will also have the chance to develop workplace skills.

The Research Placement Volunteer will join the Community Education team, the primary mission of which is to develop and deliver life-saving and life-changing education to young people and adults in low-resource and high-risk communities. These educational workshops are currently facilitated and promoted by both staff and volunteers.

In 2024, the Service is embarking on an exciting journey to bring together and expand its offer into a Humanitarian Education Programme that seeks to build resilient, kind and welcoming communities and enable target audiences to become humanitarian educators, cascading learning down to next generations and building a growing movement of true humanitarians.

Community Education is keen to ensure that involvement of young people is at the forefront of this endeavour. More specifically, young people from diverse backgrounds will play a critical role in passing humanitarianism sideways and forwards. We know that young people are cause-driven and engaged, and we would like to identify pathways for their further involvement within our Service as volunteers and enlist their support with shaping our Programme.

The primary role of the Research Placement volunteer (x2) is to conduct desk-based and in-person research with current (and prospective) youth volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds with the view to 1) increasing the uptake by young people of our current delivery volunteering offer and/or modifying it in line with needs and motivations of young people; 2) identifying additional entry points and options for young people to meaningfully engage in a volunteer capacity across Community Education; and 3) if possible, future-proofing any recommendations for youth involvement in light of the development of the Humanitarian Education Programme.

This placement will last a maximum of 3 months, volunteering up to 2 days per week. The volunteering hours are negotiable to balance your needs and what can be achieved in the role and can take place during working hours on any weekday, except Fridays.

While we don’t offer voluntary internships, we are happy for you to describe yourself as an intern on your CV, if you feel that would be helpful.

In Community Education our staff and volunteers create, promote and facilitate free educational workshops to individuals and groups across the UK that build kind and resilient communities. As a research placement volunteer, you will help us design pathways to increase the number of young people volunteering across our Service. As a Service, we would like to tap into young volunteer talent and build a movement of humanitarian educators.

This role might be for you if:

• You are enthusiastic about exploring humanitarian issues and the role of young volunteers therein
• You have good analytical skills and a creative mind
• You have good organisation, communication and teamwork skills
• You are responsible, reliable and able to work independently
• You can commit to volunteering for up to 2 days per week for a period of up to 3 months PLEASE ENSURE YOU STATE YOUR EDUCATION, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE IN YOUR APPLICATION.

What you will be doing: Be a member of the Community Education team and participate in volunteering-related or other relevant meetings and activities.

Work closely with the other Research Placement Volunteer and Volunteer Transformation Manager to conceptualise, define, plan and implement the research project. Data collection tools and activities may include desk-based (online, surveys, etc) and in-person research (interviews, focus groups, etc) with current and prospective young volunteers, BRC staff, and/or representatives of other charitable organisations.

Work with the other Research Placement Volunteer and Volunteer Transformation Manager to analyse the data, report the findings, including recommendations for action, and evaluate the project.

If you have any questions before applying, please contact us at redcrosseducation@redcross.org.uk referencing this volunteer placement opportunity.

Bursary Scheme The British Red Cross offers a bursary scheme to those placement volunteers from low-income households. Eligibility will be determined through a separate application process open to all short-listed candidates. All British Red Cross volunteers are entitled to out-of-pocket reasonable expenses.

For this scheme we are defining low-income households as: Inside London: Living with family or partner £25,000 or under. Living independently £22.500 or under Outside London: Living with family or partner £18,500 or under. Living independently £16,500 or under

Young People and this role Our placement volunteer opportunities are open to people at different stages of their career, aged 15 or above. Whether you’re student, a recent graduate or someone with more experience looking for a career change, we would be happy to hear from you.

Anyone can volunteer with the Red Cross from the age of 15. An individual risk assessment, parental consent and safeguarding considerations will be required for those aged 15 – 17. The nature of the activities specific to your intern opportunity may mean that you need to be 18 years or older.

Diversity We welcome applications from people of different backgrounds, experience and circumstances. We seek to ensure that our organisation and our services are relevant and accessible to all, with equality, diversity and fairness at the core of what we do. We invite applications from individuals regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or political belief and are committed to promoting fair participation and equality of opportunity for all of our applicants.

The British Red Cross is committed to being inclusive, with a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from people from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds, cultures and experiences – including disabled and ethnic minority candidates. We value fresh perspectives and insights gained by involving and welcoming people from the widest possible diversity of background, culture and experience. This is to contribute to the breadth of experience we need to respond to people in crisis.