Volunteers
Thank you very much for considering volunteering with us. There are several ways you can get involved in helping refugee families resettle in our area.
Family teams
These informal teams of about 8-10 volunteers build supportive long-term relationships with a family. They make occasional drop-in visits to say hello, pick up small tasks and arrange social outings. They are coordinated by the family's lead volunteer and work closely with their professional care worker.
Language support
Good English language skills are essential to enable the families to gain work and integrate into the community. We therefore offer language sessions, aiming to reinforce and amplify what the refugees have been covering in their sessions with KCC Adult Education. Some of our volunteers have teaching experience however most do not.
Fundraising & events
SWR makes grants to refugee families to assist in their long term resettlement and improve their quality of life. From warm clothes and children’s swimming lessons, to laptops and English language books. Our volunteers arrange events and initiatives, large and small, to finance these grants. This team also manages our digital and social media communications.
Landlord recruitment
An alliance of central government, local government and community volunteers is standing by to receive, welcome and support additional refugee families. All we need is more private landlords willing to rent to a refugee family. Therefore, we are promoting the scheme and its benefits to local landlords, estate agents and other relevant networks.
Finance & admin
As a small and growing charity we need experienced volunteers to help us manage our accounts and the increasing volume of important administration that is required of a registered charity. This includes managing DBS registrations, GDPR and data security requirements, and coordinating our pool of volunteer drivers.
Finding job opportunities
We try to help the refugees find work and training opportunities. For each refugee looking for work we build a good understanding of their previous skills, experience and the kind of work they are looking for. We help them prepare a CV and then reach out through our network of supporters and friends to identify leads and possible opportunities.
Please get in touch
Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees is an entirely voluntary group; there are no paid employees. We can only make a difference through our combined efforts and teamwork as volunteers and supporters. All contributions, great or small – whether of time, money or donated items - are valuable and highly appreciated, and everyone is welcome to play a part in our work.
All our strands of activity need extra people to help – please let us know how you’d like to get involved and feel free to signup using the form below.