Volunteering opportunities for children as young as 11?

[Colleger]

I can't find any, how do I go about looking and asking when HE'ers are already perceived as nutters?! :(

use your local community. If you already know your local veg shop, and they are used to you and your children popping in, they might well be receptive to the idea of one of your children staying and helping for an hour one day, and take it from there. That sort of thing.

Just moved county unfortunately. :(

What sort of volunteering?

At 11 you could join St John Ambulbance and as well as getting involved in the wide choice of activites could go out on public duties (certain ones and obviously well supervised)

The above interests him but I was hoping for some day time activities - conservation, animals.

Do you have an local animal sanctuaries or the schemes which do riding for the disabled or similar he could help at?

I think you'll struggle to find openings for children under the age of 14, mainly because of overlap with youth employment regs and supervision and "light work." If you put the name of your town + volunteering into a search engine, you might find a site with FAQ or search facility. (If you put "children volunteering opportunities" you'll just get stuff for adults to volunteer kids activities in my experience)

For example, this is what I got from my local area
www.sheffieldvolunteercentre.org.uk/faqs#faq2

To clarify what Fiona is saying, many types of volunteer work are classed as "work" with respect to child employment laws. This greatly restricts what the young person can legally be allowed to do.

Just between you and me and don't tell anyone, but if I were in your shoes I would be looking at small organisations which don't realise that this is the case. All of the very young volunteers I have known are working for tiny local organisations.

in our village ( and yours may not be the same , I know) I'd start looking at
Could they help out with the regular "tea and cakes social Afternoon" in the community hall, washing up, setting tables, doing a jigsaw with someone with learning disabilities...
Could they help out by being a young member of the rec ground committee, maybe doing a skate park safety check regularly, or a playground litter pick.

Could they grow plants for the annual plant sale in aid of village hall.
Could they help on church "polish a pew" days or with the gravestone recording project.
Could they help with some of the pre work making items to be decorated in the summer holiday craft workshops.
Could they deliver the village magazine on a regular ( monthly ) round.

Some of these ideas are things I see kids doing now, some are based on what I did as a guide working for my community service award some years ago age 10-14.

What about things which are done from home, so that you can be the one officially volunteering but you could actually hand it over to him with a bit of supervision as required?

Here are some examples my dd considered, none of which she actually tried!

A local soup kitchen wants volunteers to join a rota to prepare a mountain of sandwiches at home or make a stew to bring in.

You could foster animals from a sanctuary which need some time separate from other animals before they are ready for adoption. My mum used to foster young kittens at home. Or be a "puppy walker", who looks after potential guide dogs for their first year of life.

Look out for a frail elderly neighbour with an energetic dog and offer to take the dog out for some extra exercise.

Recording newspapers for the blind, or reading books aloud for Librivox.

What are your son's thoughts about volunteering? And do you think it will do him good or give you a break?

Sorry pressed send too soon! I may be projecting, but I was keen for my son to accept an invitation to be a volunteer at the local digital media lab because I thought it would do him good and also give me a break. The opportunity came about when he was 14 because the people in charge had seen him being knowledgeable during some training sessions we had organised for the home education group.

How about sweeping your street? Keeping gutters cleans reduces the risk of floods. Or asking each neighbour if they'd mind if you chopped all the weeds that were growing along thier front fence to tidy up the street? Or litter picking in a local park. Volunteering needn't be with an organisation. If those sound too embaressing/mundane. Try clearing up a beach or wildlife area by just taking a bag to fill each time you go. Our town has a junior wardens scheme specifically for children once a month to help the community.

Fantastic suggestions! I'd never force my son to do any voluntary work but I'd encourage him to try. He loves helping people but more on a practical level so carrying shopping bags, holding doors open, putting sports equipment away after his gym class when all the other boys have gone. He does hate excessively hard work though and I'm not sure he'd want to spend an hour with an elderly person each week which I think would be a wonderful thing to do for a lonely member of society. I may do it anyway and bring him along. Loads to think about!

My HE 13yr old starts her new voluntary job on Tuesday - she'll be doing two hours, after school hours, on a Tuesday and Thursday - working in a charity shop. She is so keen to do this and loves sorting through donations of items for the shop and it'll be good for her to have time away from home and mixing with others.

Having said that it took two weeks to get organised - we had to apply for a permit for her to work, even though it was voluntary, because she is under age.

We just decided to find something else she could do and the first charity shop she chose (its one that raises money for terminally ill children living in hospices - a charity she supports anyway) took her straight away.

I have warned her though that whilst I'm happy for her to donate anything she wishes to donate to sell in the shop she's not to come home with anything etiher!

Good luck with that! Lol!

colleger...she has a tendency to come home with more than she took...car boots being a fine example.

If she is already a guide, once you've been there a year (so in theory from 11) you can be a 'pack leader' which means helping out with rainbows and brownies once a week.

Unfortunately she is a he! Lol!

Ah, ignore me then.

Although get on the scouts website, I bet they have a similar system?

Colleger: for conservation try your local Wildlife Trust. When DD did it somewhat older (for DofE) there were younger children there as well. Child under (?)16 needs to be accompanied by an adult. Our centre has volunteering opps during week and at weekend. Real hands on stuff too!

PS If you're in/near the big city, London Zoo also takes volunteers including opps for children, but that may just be the weekend

PPS Lunch got brain in gear...The UK Mammal Society do public participation conservation monitoring (water voles e.g.) and also run v good training courses - DD went on some along with her dad when she was v young, e.g. dissecting owl pellets to get an idea of local rodent population - she was youngest there by a long way but that seemed fine. Vague recollection of some restrictions through elfnsafety for some river-based course but there was plenty she could do. Also bird groups - RSPB and BTO - reserve near you might give opps? Or running a moth trap - National Moth Trapping Scheme, basically you have a light trap in your garden and ID and record what you get; a big commitment as I think you do it regularly if not daily. There's a national ladybird survey (esp. the harlequin ladybird) which might offer possibilities.