Volunteering

You don’t have to donate money to make a vital, life-changing difference to the lives of thousands of disabled children and their families across the UK – you can volunteer for us too. 

Our volunteering opportunities

By Your Side hospitals team volunteers 

Our By Your Side team are not currently going into hospitals due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When things open up we’ll be looking for volunteers.

Office volunteers 

We’re looking for keen and reliable volunteers to help support our work with families of disabled children. In return, you will be able to develop your skills for the workplace, meet new people and work as part of a team. 

Find your nearest office to find out more about volunteer opportunities in your area. 

Fundraising and events volunteers 

We are always looking for support to help us organise fundraising events or help steward or support our fundraisers at various events throughout the UK.

Email fundraising@contact.org.uk to find out what events are coming up in your area. 

Media volunteers 

We’re always looking for volunteers who are happy to talk to the media about their experiences as a parent carer. By sharing your story in this way you’ll help us highlight the issues families with disabled children face and bring our campaigns to life so we can push for change and improve services. 

We need people from all backgrounds with a variety of stories to tell – and we don’t need you to be a polished media performer – we’ll talk you through any likely interview questions, and can help you think about your answers, so you’ll always be properly prepared. Please rest assured that we will always check with you before passing your details onto a journalist, and we’ll never push you into an interview if the time isn’t right – there will always be other opportunities. 

You may also be interested in telling your story via our website, through video or podcast, so that you can share your experiences with other parents. If you would like to know more, or to join our panel of media-friendly parents please email press@contact.org.uk

Campaign volunteers 

Visit our campaign pages to read about our current campaigns and to see how you can get involved.

That could be by attending an event, telling us your experiences, writing a letter to your MP or helping us get our campaign messages out there.

Other ways to volunteer

Join your local parent carer forum

There are 151 parent carer forums across England who need volunteers to help run them.

Parent carer forums are organised groups of parents and carers of disabled children from a local area who help make sure that services in their area meet the needs of disabled children and their families.