Volunteering

It is very important when applying for jobs in the voluntary sector, that applicants can show they have made some commitment to volunteering in the past. With this in mind, we are offering volunteering opportunities in our chain of Card Aid Christmas card shops. These shops are run by the Charities Advisory Trust, a registered charity, and open in churches, theatres and civic buildings around the UK (London, Oxford, Cambridge, York , Guildford, Bromley, Cheltenham, Gloucester) from October until Christmas each year. They are staffed by one of our paid graduate interns but they also need one or two volunteers at any given time, especially in the busy pre-Christmas season.

Card Aid shops stock cards from a wide range of charities, and ensures that at least one third of the price of every card goes direct to the charity, which is about 3 times more than in high street shops. Volunteers would be welcome to volunteer as often as possible, but we would expect people to offer at least 3 hours volunteering a week, at a set time.

Volunteering with Card Aid is great fun. Volunteers serve customers, label stock, help out with signage and possibly even some PR, and generally help the shop manager where required. Each shop has some information on the charities represented, so it's also a good way to learn about a wide range of organisations. Check the shops section of the Card Aid site for details on location and opening hours. Please call or email for further information.

We also offer opportunities for office-based volunteering to help with the Good Gifts Catalogue.