Volunteering in Nottingham

Nottingham has a compact centre, two large universities and a strong network of neighbourhood organisations, which together make it one of the easier cities in the Midlands to start volunteering in.

Popular causes in Nottingham

• Youth work and mentoring, with sustained demand across the city’s estates
• Food poverty, through community pantries and food banks in most wards
• Homelessness and rough sleeping support, including outreach and day services
• Conservation and green space, in the city’s parks, allotments and river corridor
• Older people and befriending, particularly telephone and home visiting schemes

Browse every cause on the impact areas page, or start from a skill you want to build.

How to start volunteering in Nottingham

1. Browse the live roles on this page and open anything that looks like your kind of thing.
2. Apply in a couple of minutes. There is no CV stage and no interview for most roles.
3. Log your hours as you go, so your contribution becomes a record you can show.
4. Earn verified badges and certificates for your CV, your UCAS application, or your LinkedIn profile.

About volunteering in Nottingham

Nottingham’s community sector is neighbourhood shaped. St Ann’s, Sneinton, Bulwell and Clifton each have their own centres, projects and long running groups, and the people who run them have usually lived there for years. That makes for good volunteering: small organisations, visible results, and a straightforward route from turning up to being trusted with something.

The student population is a big part of the city’s volunteering picture. Both universities have substantial volunteering programmes and a lot of local organisations have built term time roles around them, particularly in tutoring, mentoring and youth clubs. Those roles are open to anyone, not only students, and they are among the most reliably available in the city.

Nottingham’s green space is underrated. The city has extensive parks, allotment sites and the Trent corridor running through it, and the friends groups and conservation volunteers who maintain them are always short of hands. If you want something outdoors, low commitment and sociable, that is the easiest first step here.

Common questions about volunteering in Nottingham

What volunteering suits someone new to Nottingham?

Start with a neighbourhood organisation near where you live, or with a park or conservation friends group. Both are informal, take beginners, and are the fastest way to meet people locally. Once you know the city better, more specialised roles are easy to find.

Do I need experience to start volunteering?

Almost never. Most organisations are looking for reliability and interest rather than a background in the work, and they will show you what to do. If a role does need a specific skill or a DBS check, it says so on the listing.

How much time do I have to give?

As much or as little as suits you. Some roles are a single afternoon, some are a couple of hours a week, and some are one off events. You can filter by how much time you have before you apply.