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At NYAS, we are fortunate enough to have a dedicated team of volunteers who help us to change young lives on a daily basis. We could not deliver the level of service that we do without the commitment of our volunteers. 

NYAS works with local authorities across England and Wales, allowing us to offer child services volunteer work in a variety of locations. Our volunteer opportunities vary by location, and are constantly being updated. 

If you don’t see a suitable volunteering opportunity near you then keep an eye on our listings, or sign up for alerts to ensure that you’re the first to know when we’re looking for volunteers in your area.

If you’re looking for a professional career with NYAS, you can explore our full list of current vacancies.

Independent Visitor

An Independent Visitor (IV) is an adult volunteer who befriends a young person in care. Often, an IV is the only adult who is not paid to spend time with the young person, which often leads to long lasting friendships. 

Activities can involve developing new skills or practising new hobbies, or outings such as bowling, cinema trips or a walk in the park.

Each volunteer is carefully matched with a child or young person in care in their local area who shares similar interests. This volunteer work is available across England and Wales. 

You can find browse our current Independent Visitor vacancies, or email volunteering@nyas.net.

Side by Side Mentor

Side by Side is NYAS’ care leaver support programme, which aims to reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation for young people when they leave the care system.

Most young people in care just need someone to talk to, so this volunteer opportunity can be really varied. The activities in this role can range from helping young people to understand their bills, to supporting job applications and just being a friendly face.

This volunteering opportunity is only available in specific locations, so check our volunteering listings to see if it’s available in your area. If not, but you’re still interested, sign up for an email alert so that you’re the first to know when Side by Side comes to your local area.

Peer Mentor

Peer Mentors are individuals aged 18-29 who live in Wales that can offer advice and a listening ear to young people in care. These volunteers are usually care-experienced themselves, or have an understanding of the issues young people in care can face.

Our Peer Mentors can work 1-to-1 with young people, or in a larger group. As part of this volunteer opportunity, people also have the opportunity to gain their OCN Level 2 in Understanding Peer Mentoring and Peer Mentoring Skills. 

If you are interested in having or becoming a Peer Mentor, please contact us.

Peer Advocate

A Peer Advocate is a young person who wants to help other young people make a change. In this volunteering role, Peer Advocates can help other young people to stop, start or change something in their lives. 

NYAS offers accredited training through the Open College Network to support young people to understand the role and responsibilities of being a peer advocate.

For more information about becoming a Peer Advocate, or to apply, please email us.

Parent Peer Champions

Parent Peer Champions aim to befriend parents who need a little extra support. They also encourage involvement with Parent Support Groups which already exist in their local community, in the hope of this having a positive impact on the parents wellbeing.

NYAS Cymru will provide training opportunities to upskill the Parent Peer Champions. For further information, please contact tobia.harty@nyas.net to support you in your query.

Find the Right Volunteering Opportunity

If you’re unsure about committing to a volunteering opportunity at this time, you can email volunteering@nyas.net with any questions or queries. You can also support NYAS by fundraising for us, allowing us to offer more opportunities to children, young people and vulnerable adults across England and Wales.

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