Our volunteers are the life-blood of our organisation. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to support service users from 10am - 10pm every day of the year.
Our volunteers provide a non-judgemental and non-directive listening service which is open to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as their friends, families and those who support them.
They talk about a wide range of topics which include (but are not limited to)
- Coming out
- Sexual health
- Sexual assault
- Mental health
- Suicide
- Bereavement
- Gender identities
- Faith and religion
Volunteering at Switchboard is both challenging and rewarding in equal measure.
You could speak with someone who has never vocalised their thoughts and feelings before; you could communicate with a service user who has no-one else to talk to.
But at the same time, some of the communications we receive are spam, hoax or abusive. Whilst there is support to deal with these types of communication, we want to ensure you know about this before applying to volunteer with us.
One thing that is guaranteed, however, is that when you volunteer with Switchboard, you will be part of a community that supports and uplifts each other.
What roles are available to volunteers?
When volunteering on our email service, volunteers take the time to review the emails we receive, decipher the messages and themes being communicated and spend time crafting a thorough, personalised response. This response is something service users will often keep with them for a long time.
We’re looking for people who can read between the lines, write long-form communications and who have a strong attention to detail.
Chat
If you choose to support our chat service, you’ll communicate with users in real-time, via our web chat tool.
Chat volunteers are typically people who like to use instant messaging tools in their day-to-day lives, can speak with a number of people at the same time, and who are able to create space for others to share their questions, thoughts and feelings.
Phone and Chat
Our phone and chat role equips volunteers with the skills needed to support both services.
It requires people to be able to listen to others, create space for them to speak, ask open questions and remain calm under pressure.
It can be a challenge, but if you’re someone who can listen actively without passing judgement or telling people what to do, we’d love to hear from you!
What are the next steps?
If you’d like to apply to one of our three volunteer roles, please click on the relevant link above to get started.
We will only consider applications for one role at a time so please do not apply to more than one position.
When applying to one of our roles, applicants will need to:
- Submit an initial application and answer questions that demonstrate your motivations for joining Switchboard
- Complete an online test to showcase your skills
- Attend an in-person or online assessment evening and interview with our volunteers
If you’d like to ask any questions before applying to us, you can do so by emailing [email protected]