Support us by volunteering!

As a registered charity we rely on volunteers to support our work. Without our charity volunteers we simply wouldn't survive! We welcome the assistance of volunteers. No experience is necessary - just an interest in communication and bags of enthusiasm. All volunteers whose help might bring them into potential client contact will get training in advance and support throughout.

Giving regular support as a voluntary worker

We usually have several voluntary vacancies suited to people who are community and/or care minded, and sometimes a couple of vacancies for work behind the scenes (away from client contact) in administration, finance or media assistance. These are detailed separately in our About Us! section for easier reading. There you can also read about our organisational structure and our in-house training courses for Helpline volunteers.

Giving support through occasional assistance

If you only have intermittent free time but our charity nevertheless interests you, then there are many ways that you can still assist us without having to make a regular commitment. Perhaps you could (for example) design an occasional event poster for us, or help us to shift furniture when we relocate offices in the summer. Contact our office to discuss the skills you can offer and how you'd like to be kept in touch with our charity's progress so as help in small ways from time to time. Every little bit really helps!

Volunteering for fundraising projects

As a volunteer you're likely to find it also brings surprisingly interesting and varied involvement in realms quite removed from "issues of sexual abuse". For example, with our recent Recipe Book and evening Cookery Demonstration:

• Helpline volunteer Terry came up with the initial Recipe Book idea to help our fundraising efforts.
• Office staff soon put the idea into an e-mail circular sent out to RASASC's friends and supporters!
• Over 40 volunteers and supporters replied with a host of varied recipe ideas.
• Events helper Jan then assisted Terry to collate and unify the 140 recipe descriptions and correct any small errors, to produce an eventual 150 page draft.
• Voluntary webmaster Peter then offered to typeset the whole, reducing it to a stylish 104 pages and also sourcing or creating illustrations for it.
• Corporate supporter JTI Ltd then offered to print an initial 150 copies of the resulting finished book for free.
• Office volunteer Lizzie then suggested an idea for a souvenir bookmark for the book's launch day.
• Print company Arrow Offset Ltd then donated the entire run of souvenir bookmarks.
• Trustees and other volunteers then pitched in to help sell the book all day at our 2010 Winter Fair.
• Guildford's Mayor and RASASC's patron both gave time, despite their busy schedules, to attend the Fair and help the booklaunch publicity.
• Helpline volunteer Taryn then offered to organise a follow-up fundraiser: a ticketed evening cookery demonstration using examples from the Recipe Book.
• More friends, volunteers and supporters generously bought tickets for the demonstration, making it a great success - and enjoyed great food too!
• Staff assistant Vivien helped Taryn on the evening of the demonstration by hosting and presenting.
• All in all, over 100 different people gained new and interesting experiences helping these two projects.
• As a result of which, some £2,500 was fundraised - much-needed extra funding that has now helped more survivors of sexual violence.