This week’s top five volunteering opportunities

1.Hackney Winter Shelter
Where: St Anne’s Church, Hoxton
When: Every Saturday – 4.30 – 7.30pm 
Category: Food, Homeless, Shelter
Commitment Level: Ad Hoc

Hackney Winter Shelter run a soup kitchen at the back of St Anne’s church in Hoxton every saturday. They serve a three course dinner for up to 60 people a week. You can come along on an ad hoc basis to set up, serve food, wash up and chat to guests. If this is something that interests you, email Leanne: leannegoodchild@hotmail.com

2.Beanstalk Charity
Where: Various 
When: Various
Category: Education, Young People
Commitment Level: Ongoing

Beanstalk is a national literacy charity that supports volunteers to work in primary schools with children who have fallen behind with their reading. As a Beanstalk reading helper you will work with children on a one-to-one basis. You would be working with 3 children and would see each child for two 30-minute sessions a week during term time. For more information see here and to register your interest email: SFeleppa@trust-thamesmead.co.uk

3.Greenwich and Docklands International Festival
Where: Greenwich and Docklands
When: 24^th June – 2^nd July
Category: Festival, Arts, Theatre
Commitment Level: Various

Greenwich and Docklands International Festival is London’s leading festival of free outdoor performing arts. They are looking for enthusiastic and dependable people who can help make the festival happen. There are a variety of roles – to see more and apply, click here.

4.Tottenham Ploughman Riverfest

Where: Lordship Hub, N17
When: 29th May 11am-6pm
Category: Festival, Rivers, Community
Commitment Level: Ad Hoc

Tottenham Ploughman Riverfest are looking for volunteers to film the event, hand out leaflets in advance and to help compere the stage. The RiverFest is an opportunity to bring communities together and to make their rivers better. To find out more, click here. If you are interested in getting involved, please email Cheryl: info@tottenhamploughman.com

5. Play Days

Where: Lordship Rec, near Bruce Grove
When: 26th June
Category: Community, arts, 
Commitment Level: Ad Hoc

Play Days is a festival of (child’s) play for adults. It’s about communities coming together and having a good time. There are a variety of opportunities in event production, event management, games facilitation and craft workshop leaders. To find out more about the day and to express your interest, click here.

Spotlight on Zoe

Zoe has been a guardian with us since the beginning of 2016. She has always gone above and beyond with her volunteering – continually exceeding the 16 hours per month that we ask of our guardians. This is how she describes her experience with Dot Dot Dot so far: 

Doing social work to help and support the community where I live is something I have always found very positive and fulfilling, particularly in such a large and hectic city like London, where it can often be very hard to feel connected to those around us.

Becoming a guardian for Dot Dot Dot was a decision strongly influenced by my desire to make more time in my life to do volunteering work for the community. I felt very inclined to become part of an organisation that encourages volunteering and community work. Guardianship also seems to have become one of the only affordable housing options for people in low incomes or working in industries where competition is hard or pay is uncertain or simply not enough for London’s increasingly high prices.

Thanks to Dot Dot Dot I can afford to sustain my career as an illustrator and printmaker, and do volunteering work for very interesting associations within the creative industries. I have been volunteering for almost a year for the House of Illustration, a very young museum in the heart of London, dedicated to illustration. I volunteer in a range of different roles for the House of Illustration, from gallery invigilation to shop assistant. The one I found most fulfilling has been volunteering as an arts workshop assistant for children with cognitive impairment – deafness or autism. There are
not many arts institutions in London that offer  BSL (British Sign Language) translated art workshops or gallery tours for people, particularly children, and it is highly important that museums start to offer to young people with cognitive difficulties  the opportunity to enjoy art and develop their creativity as children in mainstream education. It has been a beautiful experience for me to be part of such an important initiative, and I strongly encourage anyone interested to get involved.

Get involved

• If you’re interested in volunteering and becoming a guardian with Dot Dot Dot, apply here today
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