A great opportunity for employees to help people in the community.
There are many ways in which small or large groups of colleagues from your workplace can come and volunteer at Kith & Kids.  This is a perfect opportunity to give a little bit of time and make a lasting difference to the community individually or as part of a team.  Helping someone with a disability to have a great day out or learn a new skill is extremely rewarding and can help you utilise the skills you already have in a completely different way to your normal working role.  Many people who volunteer with us leave with a real buzz, having done something new and maybe realising that they have strengths in different areas (communication, creativity, patience) than they thought they had before.  Volunteering as a team of colleagues can really help you get to know each other outside of the workplace and work together to achieve something really special.

We have direct volunteering roles as well as opportunities to fundraise as a group on your own.  We are more than happy to talk to you about what you would like to do then try to create something tailored to those needs so please do contact us to chat through your ideas.

In all cases we provide training that helps our volunteers feel prepared for their role and how they will be helping.  All volunteers who will be working directly with our participants need to complete an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure form (provided by us).

Some ways companies can get involved;

Ongoing volunteering on projects;
Individuals and smaller groups of colleagues may like to fit in with our regular timetable of activities like Social Development Projects or Weekend clubs.  As volunteers are linked in with specific participants (we try to match people according to personalities and interest where possible) we find that on Social Development Projects volunteers need to come along at least three consecutive days.  This provides a fantastic opportunity to get to know someone with a learning disability, connect with them and help them to learn and socialise with others.

A company Kith & Kids day out.
A treat like a group day out together doesn’t happen often at Kith & Kids.  We just don’t have the funds to do it.  Last year however a group of 20 employees from GlaxoSmithKline raised £1600 to take 40 people with disabilities and volunteers to Chessington World of Adventures during our Summer Social Development Project as part of their company Orange Day scheme.  They had an amazing trip, really connecting with the people they supported. By raising money independently they could offer Kith & Kids something really special and out of the ordinary for many of our disabled participants.

Here’s what they had to say…“Just a little note to thank you very much for last week.  I came back in today to everyone talking it, the people they supported and saying what a great day it was.  For me it was a real eye opener and very humbling….the participants are such lovely people….the work the charity does is amazing.  Hopefully, we can get in touch next year to organise another Orange Day!”

Work experience placements
Young adults with mild learning disabilities and autism on our Employment and Life Skills Project are always looking for meaningful real life work experience placements to help practice the skills they learn at Kith & Kids in an actual working environment.  Basic office tasks like filing, databasing, photocopying, archiving are ideal ways to introduce them to the world of work.  The person with a disability would be supported on their placement by a trained Kith & Kids volunteer.

Prime Thinkers
If you would like to share your business expertise and experience, then volunteering for Prime Thinkers is a great opportunity.  Click here for more information.

Please contact Danielle to talk more about your needs and ideas for company volunteering on 0208 885 1517 or danielle@kithandkids.org.uk.