Volunteering in Plymouth: Build skills, gain experience

Volunteering is a brilliant way to explore different career paths, build your confidence, and gain valuable experience. It helps you develop essential soft skills — such as communication, teamwork and problem‑solving — that are useful in every career. Many people also choose to volunteer as a way to give back to their community and share their skills and experience with others.

Plymouth offers a wide range of fantastic volunteering opportunities with organisations including Citizens Advice Plymouth, Shekinah, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust / NHS Cadets, St John Ambulance, Age UK Plymouth, Elder Tree Befriending, Trevi, Plymouth City Council, The Box, Barnardo’s, Devon Mind, The Zone, Devon Wildlife Trust, Gables, Devon and Cornwall Police, Ocean Discovery Rangers, the National Marine Aquarium, Clean Our Patch, Nature Plymouth and Moor Trees.

You can also explore volunteering opportunities more broadly by visiting Volunteering | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK or GoVolunteering.

Roles are incredibly varied — from supporting people, children or animals, to admin, retail and customer service. There are outdoor environmental opportunities, including nature conservation and gardening, as well as options in media, history, fundraising and more. Volunteering is a great way to build new skills, gain experience, and meet new people along the way.

For anyone aged 18 and over, Plymouth City Council is currently encouraging people to get involved as Good Neighbour Support Volunteers. Further details are available here.

If you’re aged 19+, you can also benefit from Plymouth’s Volunteering Passport, which is recognised by many organisations across the city. As part of this, you can access On Course South West’s monthly training sessions, held on the last Friday of every month. These sessions allow volunteers to earn a digital badge that recognises training and skills gained through volunteering. To find out more, click here.

From trying out new skills to meeting inspiring people, volunteering opens the door to so many opportunities. Whatever your interests or experience, there’s a role waiting for you — why not get involved and see where it could take you?