Maintenance​/Gardener Volunteer; RSPCA Woodside LEUQ

We are the RSPCA and it’s our vision to live in a world where all animals are respected and treated with compassion. Our volunteers are incredible, they play an essential role in helping us carry out our important animal welfare work every day.

Much of our direct animal welfare work is carried out through our branches. These separately registered charities across England and Wales are run by volunteers who are unstinting in their work for animal welfare.

This volunteer opportunity is provided by an RSPCA branch, which is a separate registered charity to the RSPCA National Society. Please visit the Branch’s  for more info and to view a copy of the branch’s privacy policy.

We are looking for volunteers who can help us with general maintenance and gardening tasks around our site and at our charity shops. Tasks include painting, carpentry, grounds work and basic health and safety checks, and general maintenance of centre and garden areas. If you have plumbing experience it would be beneficial but not essential. You will also help us set up for open days and other events on site.

You will be interacting with visitors where appropriate, while promoting the RSPCA and supporting other ad‑hoc events when necessary. You must abide by all health and safety guidelines as some heavy lifting will be involved. So before you can start, you’ll need to attend the appropriate training courses as directed by the Centre if required.

You’ll be part of a team who likes to get stuck in and has a willingness to help out and get their hands dirty. You should be happy to work outdoors in unpredictable weather.

If you want to keep active, make new friends, or use your skills to help others, this role might be perfect for you. We are happy to reimburse you for any agreed travel costs that you may incur whilst volunteering with us.

Our Volunteer maintenance team plays an important role in keeping our Animal Centres looking smart, and this gives a great impression to members of the public visiting our site. Your time will free up the time of our staff, who can focus on looking after the animals in our care.

Maintenance / Gardener Volunteer

Your local volunteer coordinator/manager

Community

Our Maintenance and Gardener volunteers play an important role in keeping our centre safe and our grounds looking spick and span, helping our teams to focus on looking after the animals in our care.

• A wide range of interior and exterior maintenance tasks
• Painting, carpentry and other DIY jobs around the centre
• Lawn mowing and strimming
• Weeding, pruning and general maintenance of the gardens
• Helping with any new projects (e.g. planting a wildlife garden)
• Preparing the site for open days and other events

• Volunteers must be aged 18 or over
• Willingness to pitch in, help out, and get your hands dirty
• Experience in a relevant trade is desirable but not essential as full training will be given
• Some heavy lifting will be involved but full H&S training will be given
• Enjoy gardening and being outdoors

• Meet new people and make new friends
• Learn great new skills to add to your CV
• A great induction and training relevant to your role
• Volunteer in a fun environment at the heart of the local community
• You’ll be making a huge difference to the welfare of animals

Before you can start volunteering you’ll need to complete our simple online Health & Safety course and any associated training required for your role. Tetanus is a life‑threatening bacterial disease caused by an infection in an open wound. All volunteers must be suitably protected. We recommend that volunteers check their vaccination history with their GP. If a volunteer has not had the required doses, the GP should offer them free of charge as part of the UK vaccination schedule.