• Development of skills and experience
• Enhanced CV and employment opportunities
• A sense of pride and achievement
• Personal development, such as self-confidence, improved mental health, physically active, healthier, stronger
• Making a difference
• Feeling part of a team
• Meeting new people
• Sharing skills and experience
• Respect and responsibility
• Opportunity to act as an ambassador within own community
• Taking part in MonLife Volunteer Celebration Events

• Enhance and add value to services and activities
• Motivated and empowered workforce
• Increased flexibility and quality of delivery
• Provision of services which are not funded by the public sector
• More diverse pool of people
• Improved skills and experience across the organisation

• Developing social capital and actively promoting and enhancing community cohesion (inter-generational, cultural) through joint events and activities, improvements to the physical environment, changing perceptions (e.g. older people’s view of young people)
• Leading people into jobs as part of the intermediate labour market
• Volunteers are at the forefront of civic renewal and community leadership
• Building social networks and community cohesion with emerging impact in respect of volunteers showing more appreciation of other cultures
• Increase in health and wellbeing, reducing the impact on the NHS
• Reduced crime rates
• Enhanced social responsibility
• Bigger reach into communities through empowerment and community
• Participation by a diverse range of people
• Increases economic benefit

Volunteers will have full access to a range of support; guidance and training to ensure that their experience is a fulfilling one. Including:

• A volunteer opportunity that meets your needs
• An initial support interview to ensure you have the right opportunities and complete all necessary induction paperwork
• A clear role profile which explains what will be required of you
• A full induction and assigned ‘buddy’
• Access to our on-line Volunteer Kenetic site where you are responsible for uploading the volunteering hours you have done; provide feedback and manage your training and support packages. Your nominated mentor will also be able to provide feedback to you on a regular basis
• Regular opportunity to access 1-2-1 or group support
• A badge, uniform and PPE if required
• *Full training programme delivered at 3 levels from Mandatory; Semi-skilled and Specialist to ensure you are equipped to optimise your volunteer experience
• Invitation annually to celebration event and awards evening

*Volunteering in Monmouthshire is additionally supported by ACTS and BeCommunity who provide a range of services, support and training to volunteers.

Volunteers with MonLife Sports Development

The ambition is to support young people to achieve their full potential as citizens in Monmouthshire and the wider communities. In addition, enable them to influence their own opportunities for their peers using sport as the vehicle.

This journey starts at year 5 with the playmaker award, this creates the starting point for leadership. The next phase is that young people can transition into the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Young Ambassador programme, which is run in conjunction with Youth Sport Trust. Alongside the Ambassador programme there are four Leadership academies established in the comprehensive schools. This platform provides young people to enhance their knowledge via volunteering opportunities managed and mentored by the Sports development team. Within these programmes they will have access to an inclusive and broad variety of courses.  These can include nationally recognised courses such as NPLQ and level 1 Swimming teaching qualifications. Furthermore, there are bespoke and local courses such as safeguarding, challenging behaviour and disability inclusion.

Recent success story – Twenty-nine volunteers within Sports Development and Leisure were taken on as paid MonLife staff in the summer of 2021.

MonLife Museums

Within museums, we have a number of Volunteer opportunities; we have had volunteers supporting our outdoor theatre events maintaining the Victorian gardens at Abergavenny Museum and Castle, The Red Cross Nurses Digital Project for Chepstow Museum and currently a Nelson Collection Digital Project.  Some of these opportunities have allowed Volunteers to work from home using technology.  We also recruit Volunteers to assist us with School Holiday fun days across our Museums.

Sally Davis is currently volunteering from home on the Nelson Collection Digital project:

‘I used to work at the museum but had to retire due to a mixture of health problems, mine and other people’s. Didn’t want to but there you go. I would have liked to return to the museum as an on-site volunteer for the company and for the close contact with artefacts but to be allowed to work-from-home is great because I can fit my hours in around all my other commitments, technology allowing. I can do some work at 6am before people get up or at 11pm after they have gone to bed. I’ve also been loving the exploration of Monmouth’s Nelson collection, something I’d always wanted to fiddle with but never had the opportunity. I think Nelson was the first modern-style celebrity, he and Emma Hamilton were like the Beckhams, and it’s fascinating to see how his life and death was exploited. All those glass eyes! Not that Nelson ever had a glass eye, but people thought he did, which made them a lucrative business for the type of person who, these days, rings you up to offer household appliance insurance at the bargain price of £500 a year. I’m looking forward to doing more practical, hands-on work when I can. There were so many projects that I would have loved to tackle. Maybe now, as a volunteer, I’ll be able to.’

Sally Davis