Inspiration

"You meet so many different people every time you turn up for a shift, whether you’re working with them or helping them and every day is another great experience." Read about the experiences of one our Nonsuch Vaccine Site volunteers

Joan and Alice, one of our Sutton Befrienders pairs

Rosina and Alex, one of our Sutton Befrienders pairs

We could not be more proud of Pete Jemson, winner of the "Oustanding Volunteer" award at the 2020 Sutton Community Awards, and now nominated by Sutton Council for BBC Radio London's "Make a Difference Hero" awards

From managing 150 volunteers to managing 733 volunteers during Covid-19: #SmallCharityBigImpactDay 19^th June 2020

We celebrated the impact of volunteering in Sutton with a public event at the Sutton Central Library

Sutton’s Community Awards 2020 celebrates the people who make Sutton a great place to live, work and bring up a family and who have gone above and beyond in the face of COVID-19.

This is a live Zoom recording of an event which took place on Wednesday 14th October 2020 at 4pm. This event was joined by staff, volunteers and supporters from voluntary and community organisations across Sutton, to thank all volunteers in Sutton for their amazing and ongoing contribution.

With lockdown easing and shielding guidance changing, you may have concerns about the kind of support you'll be able to access in the next few months. We wanted to assure you that there will continue to be support available for you, no matter what your circumstances. 

Today we are launching a Covid-19 appeal to support the ongoing work of Sutton’s Voluntary and Community Sector in response to the impact of the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak.

Congratulations to one of our longest standing MAPS Mentors, Derek Terrell, who was awarded Outstanding Volunteer at the 2019 Sutton Community Awards

Read Edina's story about her volunteering journey into full time employment

Pat Stanley, Volunteering Development Manager, shares the key take-aways from our July Volunteering Forum

Throughout Volunteers' Week we're sharing 'thank you' messages to volunteers from organisations in Sutton. Home-Start Sutton would like to thank Sue Elson

Throughout Volunteers' Week we're sharing 'thank you' messages to volunteers from organisations in Sutton. Sutton Carers Centre would like to thank Jean Sharpington. 

Throughout Volunteers' Week we're sharing 'thank you' messages to volunteers from organisations in Sutton. The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity would like to thank Valerie Allsopp.

Throughout Volunteers' Week we're sharing 'thank you' messages to volunteers from organisations in Sutton. Sutton Community Works would like to thank Vicki. 

Throughout Volunteers' Week we're sharing 'thank you' messages to volunteers from organisations in Sutton and beyond. Jigsaw4u would like to thank Jacqui O'Connor

Throughout Volunteers' Week we're sharing 'thank you' messages to volunteers from organisations in Sutton. Age UK Sutton would like to thank Sue

Throughout Volunteers' Week we're sharing 'thank you' messages to volunteers from organisations in Sutton. Our MAPS team would like to thank Caroline Magin

There are currently around 850,000 people in the UK with dementia. Dementia Friends is a programme led by the Alzheimer’s Society to change people’s perceptions of dementia and to create dementia-friendly communities.

Spending time in green space or bringing nature into your everyday life can benefit both your mental and physical wellbeing. And doing these things as a volunteer will benefit you even more!

Our Young Commissioners help shape Healthwatch Sutton's recent survey into young people and mental health

Tuesday 27th November is #GivingTuesday and to celebrate we want to share with you some very festive volunteering opportunities in Sutton this Christmas as well as ways you can support local giving initiatives. 

With this funding, our two organisations will work together to deliver a programme across Sutton’s voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector. We will build and develop the capacity, skills, knowledge and experience of the sector, helping to transform Sutton’s communities.

Afraid of leaving the house and struggled to cope with the demands of school life, he turned to MAPS for support

But a love of fast cars and a mentor helped him find a way forward

A brief summary of some of the findings from our recent research pilot looking into the effects of volunteering on health and wellbeing

Guest blogger Sorrel Parsons of Superhighways shares her top 5 free and easy-to-use apps to help small charities better demonstrate their impact. Part of our new Digital resources blog series!

Pat, our Volunteering Development Manager, relates the story of Patrick, one of the participants in our prescribed volunteering project, who said that volunteering is the connection between his old world and his new world.

We asked Judith Smith, Pastor of Horizon Church Sutton to write a guest blog about the positive experiences her church has had hosting Employer-Supported Volunteer teams at her church building, from which several community projects are run. She shares about the impact of ESV, some of the challenges and her top tips for any organisation thinking of hosting an ESV team.

Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) has great potential for growth. Volunteer Centre Sutton hosted its most recent Volunteering Forum around the topic, hearing from the experiences of a charity who has accessed ESV support and a business who has empowered its staff to provide it, and discussing the way forward for ESV in the London Borough of Sutton.

Volunteer Centre Sutton’s Citizens Commissioners are excited to welcome former members of the Sutton Youth Parliament to join them to represent the voice of young residents in the commissioning decisions of Sutton Council.

VCS's Volunteering Development Manager, Pat Stanley, has 15 years' experience training in the voluntary sector and advising organisations in developing Good Practice in Volunteer Management, Here, she asks some important questions of those managing volunteers.