Volunteer roles at the WHC night shelter

Key info

The shelter is open between 6 Jan and 31 March 2025. It is hosted in one of seven church venues each night of the week. 

We need volunteers to be on an evening, overnight or morning shift at the venues. There are daytime jobs that need doing. If being up late isn’t for you, have a look at our laundry role. 

Shelter volunteers can take on multiple shifts and roles.

  • Shift leaders who oversee each set of volunteers at the venue
  • Cooks and assistant cooks who produce scrummy evening meals
  • Hosts who set up the venues, welcome guests, provide hospitality, help guests with anything they need like laundry, phone charging and more. They also set down the venues, clean and tidy, and some stay overnight to make sure everything is safe.
  • Laundry volunteers, a daytime role where people take away dirty laundry and return it clean!

You can pick a shift

  • Evening shifts (6pm - 10pm)
  • Night shifts (9.30pm - 7am) WE NEED LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS! 
  • Morning shifts (6.30am - 8am)

If you can offer multiple shifts and roles, offer the maximum, and our shift planners will assign you to where we need you the most. We ask that you try to offer two shifts or more a month, but if you really can only do one, please still register!

Please offer, if you can, an occasional night shift as these are very hard to fill!

Mandatory training is provided on important skills and procedures like safeguarding and health and safety. More specific training is offered where it is needed e.g. shift leaders and cooks.

Who can volunteer?

All our volunteers need to be over 18 years old and will complete a criminal record self-disclosure form and depending on the role may undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Volunteers provide relevant references so we can make safe recruitment decisions.

To run safely, we rely on people to manage their availability using email and our online database and to fulfil their commitments to serve as far as possible.

Accessibility

We strive to make sure our volunteering opportunities are accessible but some at our shelter, require the ability to lift and carry. This is outlined as far as possible in the role descriptions but if you have any questions or would like to discuss what we can do to enable your volunteering, contact our Volunteering Coordinator, Peter Tate at volunteer.enquiries@wyhoc.org.uk or 01494 447699.

Click on a role profile to find out more

Shift Leader

Lead a shelter volunteer team at a venue or one of the daytime tasks. 

Find out more

Shelter host

General volunteer team at a venue taking on an evening, night or morning shift.

Find out more

Cook

Cater an evening meal for our guests and team.

Find out more

Assistant Cook

Help the cook with preparation, cooking and cleaning.

Find out more

Laundry volunteer

Daytime role. Wash and dry bedding, collecting from and returning to office on laundry days. 

Find out more

Next steps

Apply to volunteer

If you're not already a WHC volunteer, fill out this form to volunteer at the shelter

Apply now

Already a WHC volunteer?

Visit our new volunteer database, CERVIS to tell us how you want to volunteer. 

Get started on CERVIS

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