Staff Volunteering Scheme - 2025
Building stronger engagement with our communities
Overview
The University is piloting a new Staff Volunteering Scheme that gives employees up to 21 paid hours to volunteer with local and community organisations. The pilot will run in two waves (June-September 2025 and October-December 2025). The pilot will then be evaluated before going through the governance process to decide on a University-wide rollout.
This page explains how the scheme works, differs from our existing Volunteering policy, and how you can get involved.
Why do we want staff to volunteer?
- Oxford is one of the UK’s most unequal cities, with life expectancy varying by more than 10 years within a three-mile radius.
- Our Local Engagement Report 2024 commits the University to bridging the town-gown divide through sustained community partnerships.
- Staff have asked for broader opportunities to contribute their skills and time locally; this pilot answers that call.
Defining what it means to volunteer
The current policy on volunteering:
Presently, staff are given 3 days’ paid leave for Public Service, defined in the Staff Handbook (See 4.4.5 Voluntary public service) as “service to the community, especially under the direction of the government or other official agency.” Examples of what is currently permissible under this scheme include being a local councillor, a school governor, a magistrate, a volunteer firefighter or similar.
Proposed definition under the pilot:
“The University understands volunteering as the provision of time, expertise, or effort, without financial gain, to a UK registered charity, community group, social enterprise or public-service body, where the activity delivers demonstrable social, educational, cultural, or environmental benefit.”
How the Pilot works
Wave 1 is open to staff in departments currently using People XD’s absence module. Wave 2 will be broadened to include those who are using TeamSeer.
Once selected as a participant, you may bring your opportunity, or work with our volunteering partner, The Oxford Hub, to find a suitable volunteer opportunity that meets your needs. Once you have a volunteering project or opportunity in place, you will need to agree with your line manager on the time away (much as you would do for annual leave) and manage your workload accordingly.
As you undertake your volunteering, you will need to record the hours you volunteer. This gives the university a better understanding of how many hours staff engage with the pilot. Throughout the pilot, participants will be given opportunities for feedback.
Volunteer opportunities with Oxford Hub
Schools Plus is a programme run by the Oxford Hub which offers free after-school tutoring for children in the Oxfordshire area between the ages of 7-17 in any school subject. Tutoring is entirely online, and sessions can be as flexible as both parties like.
The programme asks for a minimum commitment of three 3 months, though often tutoring pairs exceed that, and pairs are able to take breaks in their tutoring as long as it is agreed to by both parties.
Schools Plus also has quite a low barrier to entry. It requires tutors to take a short safeguarding course and undergo an equally short training course. Since volunteers would be working with children, they are also required to undergo an advanced DBS check, paid for by the Oxford Hub. So, depending on whether the volunteer has a pre-existing DBS check, a volunteer may begin tutoring within a day or within a few months of signing up to tutor with Schools Plus.
For more information, see Oxford Hub: Schools Plus
The Hinksey Park Community Larder is supported by Oxford City Council, South Oxford Community Centre and charity organisations SOFEA and FareTrade and provides a weekly hub for members to attend and access surplus food and goods at a fraction of the price.
The Larder occurs once a week, on Thursdays between 2-4pm, and requires little to no training and previous experience in order to volunteer, with no expectations surrounding duration or regularity of volunteering.
For more information, please see the Hinksey Par Community Larder website.
BFYC arrange several respite trips and activity events each year for our Young Carers in South Oxfordshire, the Vale of White Horse and Oxford City. Be Free Young Carers provides vital supervision to ensure that the young carers are safe whilst on the trip.
For their Ad Hoc chaperone volunteer roles, volunteers need not have any prior experience, just patience and dedication. They must complete an enhanced DBS check for the role and at least Level 1 OSCB Safeguarding Training. These happen only a few times a year, so they require minimal regular dedication.
For more information, see the Be Free Young Carers website.
Oxford Poetry Library seeks to make poetry as accessible as possible, hosting chill workshops and open mic nights frequently, as well as hosting a literal poetry library in Lula’s restaurant near Oxford train station, which always needs volunteers.
Volunteering to help out at events requires no training, and for the library, you just need to undergo a casual training session, which serves to teach you all about the library’s goings-on.
They also take social media and admin volunteers, which requires similarly small amounts of training and is remote and semi-regular.
For more information, see Oxford Poetry Library.
The Swans hold swimming classes for disabled people of all ages, for which they are always seeking volunteers. They provide your DBS check, and only a small amount of training is required, generally provided by shadowing another teacher during a class. Teachers can help at Tuesday classes at the Leys leisure centre from 6-7 pm, or on Saturdays from 10 am-12 pm at Summertown’s Ferry Leisure Centre. They also require volunteers to complete behind-the-scenes admin work semi-regularly.
For more information, please see the Oxford Swans Disabled Swimming Club website.
FELLOW provides free, friendly English language support for Oxford residents who'd like to improve their English skills as an additional language.
1:1 language sharing: Two people are matched together to share the English language through conversation and activities. Learners are connected with a volunteer peer mentor who will meet weekly, ideally in person, for approximately 3 months.
Group classes: The Oxford Hub recruits volunteer teachers who deliver classes in community settings such as community centres, their Hub in the Leys, and in schools. This offer allows adult learners who might otherwise struggle to access English courses to learn English together for free in a familiar, friendly space.
Volunteering with FELLOW requires an advanced DBS check, but no excessive training or any minimum required commitment.
For more information, please see the FELLOW website
Asylum Welcome offers information, advice, and practical support to asylum seekers, refugees, and vulnerable migrants living in Oxfordshire.
Most roles require extensive training and relevant prior experience, as well as an extended time commitment.
Advocacy and Comms Volunteer:
Help with events, campaigning, social media, their website, writing/proof-reading, admin and research skills. Can be flexible and remote. Events often happen at weekends.
Fundraising and Bid-Writing:
Help them to research suitable trusts and foundations, and write funding proposals and reports. One day a week. Can be flexible and remote.
For more information on Asylum Welcome, please see their website.
Oxford Mutual Aid source, pack, and deliver regular and emergency parcels to households across Oxford with food, toiletries, and baby supplies, supporting around 800 of our neighbours with essential items every month.
Hall Volunteer:
Hall Volunteers help pack resource boxes to be distributed. The Hall is open for in-person volunteering from 9 am to 7 pm every day except Saturdays. Shifts can be regular weekly times or on an ad hoc basis, and they encourage a minimum commitment of two shifts of two hours a month. They provide training for all the tasks required, and no volunteer will be on shift alone.
Logistics and Admin:
Provide support in coordinating and organising our many deliveries, as well as keeping on top of the administrative tasks – rotas, packing lists, etc. Guidance is provided. Continuous rather than shift-based task, so very flexible.
Phone Volunteer:
Volunteers call 5-15 regular parcel recipients every week. They can do this on their own phone, remotely, any time between 10 am-8 pm. Volunteers can sign up for a regular shift or sign up ad-hoc each week. They provide training for volunteers, but basic knowledge of spreadsheets is required.
Case Manager:
A point of contact for the person they are supporting, providing support and signposting, and helping organise food deliveries as needed. Experience providing this type of support is essential. Depending on how many cases one is helping with, this would take 3+ hours a week at times to suit the volunteer/the people they are supporting, as well as a monthly team meeting.
Volunteer Driver or Biker:
Drivers and bikers deliver food parcels to households across Oxford, both during the day and in the evenings. Volunteers can sign up for a regular route or respond to requests whenever available. Routes and consistent support are provided.
For more information on Oxford Mutual Aid, please see their website.
How to participate?
- If you are eligible to participate, you will receive an email from your department with a link to a digital application form.
- The pilot has a limited number of participation spaces. We expect there to be more interest than we have room for. If you apply and aren’t successful, we will keep your details on file for the next round of participation.
- Once selected, you will receive an onboarding email from the Local Engagement team, advising you of the next steps.
- Start volunteering and logging your hours!
If your department isn’t eligible to participate, but you would still be interested in volunteering, please let us know, and we will keep you updated as the scheme evolves.
For queries relating to the pilot, please reach out to the Local Engagement Team directly
