Steps to Volunteer course gives people meaning and changes lives in the process

On National Volunteers Week, we're shining a spotlight on our Steps to Volunteer course, which has seen lives change on completion.

Steps to Volunteer helps equip young people with the skills to volunteer and work. The course enables trainees to complete a Level 2 qualification in customer service and hospitality skills before embarking on a volunteering role at Strawberry Field. 

In total, more than 60 people have completed Steps to Volunteer since its launch in early 2021, which provides people with an eight-week training course followed by a volunteering role onsite. Applications for the next course due to start in September are currently being accepted.

Alan Triggs, Programme Manager of Steps at Strawberry Field said: “We want to help people achieve their volunteering goals and find an area that they are passionate about and Steps to Volunteer is a course that allows everybody to reach their volunteering potential, making a difference to our work, and all of our volunteers really do make such a big difference to the work we do.

“For some people volunteering is a way to escape boredom and give something back, for others it is a way of getting themselves ready for the working world, whether getting back into work or taking that first step, but for all it gives them meaning whilst boosting their CV and gaining a qualification at the same time. Volunteering can help change lives and we hope our volunteers are positively impacted in their life too by giving their time so generously. Volunteering can be so rewarding with new skills and friendships made along the way.” 

The free training course, which is one day a week for eight weeks, looks at the structure and responsibilities of a volunteering role as well as providing skills in customer service and hospitality through practical and theory-based activities. On completion of the course people are given a volunteering role at Strawberry Field which includes opportunities in the shop, café, visitor attraction, gardening and administration. 

For anyone looking to join the Steps to Volunteer course, the next cohort starts in September and applications can be made here.