Placement Team Support (International Policy & Advocacy Assistant - London (Hybrid))

The British Red Cross is a volunteer-led humanitarian organisation that helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We enable vulnerable people at home and overseas to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their own communities. And when the crisis is over, we help people recover and move on with their lives.

Our placement volunteers will help make a great contribution to the work of the British Red Cross and will be responsible for achieving specific agreed objectives within one of our various departments.

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.

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.

Want to learn how the British Red Cross help people in crisis around the world? Join our Humanitarian Policy team for work experience and discover how we influence decision-makers to make positive changes for people affected by disasters and conflicts.

You'll get hands-on experience in how policy and advocacy work really happens.

This is a great opportunity if you're:

• Interested in humanitarian policy or international affairs,
• Keen to learn how organisations like the British Red Cross work,
• Looking to gain office experience,
• Wanting to understand more about working in policy.

Typical tasks may involve:

• Administrative support; taking notes in team meetings, helping organise files and documents, supporting with calendar management and scheduling, assisting with meeting preparations.
• Research and monitoring; helping track humanitarian news and updates, supporting basic research tasks.
• Team support; joining team meetings and learning about our work, supporting with day-to-day tasks, contributing ideas to team discussions.
• Learning and development; understanding how humanitarian policy and diplomacy work, learning about the Red Cross Movement, developing professional office skills, building knowledge of humanitarian issues.

We are looking for volunteers who:

• Are enthusiastic about humanitarian issues and want to learn more,
• Are organised,
• Enjoy working with others and are happy to help out where needed,
• Are keen to learn new skills,
• Can take clear notes in meetings,
• Have good attention to detail,
• Are reliable and can commit to the placement dates.

The start date for this placement will be 20 January 2025 and the placement will run for 12 weeks, Mondays to Fridays 9am to 5pm.

The placement location is flexible between the successful volunteer's home and the British Red Cross office, 44 Moorfields, London, EC2Y 9AL.

You don't need any previous experience - we're looking for someone eager to learn. If you're interested in how the British Red Cross works internationally to influence humanitarian policy, we'd love to hear from you!

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.