Retail Volunteer Lead

Forget Me Not Children's Hospice; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 16,000 - 28,000; Part time

Job summary

A community-focused charity in Huddersfield seeks a Retail Volunteer Lead to recruit and retain volunteers to support operations in charity shops. Candidates should have experience with volunteers, strong communication skills, and organizational abilities. Generous holiday entitlement and benefits are offered. This role is instrumental in making a difference in the lives of local families.

Benefits

Entry into Peoples Pension

Death in service benefit

Generous holiday entitlement

Free on-site parking

Confidential wellbeing support

Qualifications

• Experience of volunteering or working with volunteers.
• Strong skills in influencing and communication.
• Excellent organization and prioritization skills.
• Experience of improving working processes.

Responsibilities

• Work with the trading team to identify volunteer opportunities.
• Research ways to engage potential volunteers.
• Support Shop Managers in promoting volunteer roles.
• Implement retention strategies for volunteers.
• Coordinate training resources for volunteers.

Skills

Influencing skills

Communication skills

Organization skills

Experience with volunteers

Improving ways of working

Education

GCSE level or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

Job description

Salary: £16,290 (FTE £27,150)

Hours: 22.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)

Location: Huddersfield

Responsible to: Head of Retail Operations

Benefits: Entry into Peoples Pension, death in service benefit (3 x salary), out of pocket expenses, free on-site parking, free access to confidential and extensive wellbeing support, generous holiday entitlement (26 days plus bank holidays rising to 31 days after 5 years for a full time employee, pro rata for part time), day off for your birthday!, free tea / coffee, sight tests and flu jabs and excellent learning and development opportunities.

OVERVIEW OF ROLE

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our charity shops. Without them, we simply wouldn't be able to open at all. Generously giving up their time, and bringing their valuable skills and experience, they help us make the most of every donation brought to the shop and every customer who comes looking for a bargain.

It is incredibly important that we continue to recruit new volunteers, that they enjoy their time with us and get the most from their volunteering activity - so that we can do more for local children and families.

And that's where you come in. As retail volunteer lead, you'll work with our shop managers, providing them with the tools and processes they need to recruit and nurture our volunteers. You will also build relationships in the community and with other organisations to reach people who might be interested in volunteering with us.

You don't need to have worked in retail before, but you will have experience of working with volunteers or have volunteered yourself. Organised and self‑motivated, you'll have the confidence to engage with and build relationships with others and enjoy having autonomy over how you work and when you work.

As well as flexible working, we offer a generous holiday allowance, out of pocket expenses and free access to confidential and extensive wellbeing support.

So if you're interested in bringing your skills to this role where you could make a real difference to our organisation's future, then please apply now!

For an early discussion about this role, please contact Andrea Titherington‑Kay on 07741076837

JOB DESCRIPTION

Role Summary

Our vision is to deliver pioneering care through pregnancy, childhood and loss, whenever families need us, whatever the future holds. This role supports our vision by supporting our retail team to attract, recruit, engage and retain a diverse and skilled team of volunteers, without whom we would not be able to keep our charity shops running.

To find out more about working for Forget Me Not Children's Hospice please see our recruitment pack

Main Duties and Key Responsibilities

Attract, recruit and retain

• Work with the trading team to identify opportunities for volunteers.
• Research where our target volunteer audience spends their free time and develop a plan to reach them, increasing our volunteer base.
• Support Shop Managers by promoting volunteer roles through internal channels, social media, job boards, local community boards, and the hospice website.
• Work with the fundraising team to identify opportunities to engage with potential volunteers.
• Partner with the HR team to enhance the diversity of our volunteer network.
• Assist in building a recruitment pipeline to transition volunteers into employees.
• Collaborate with the HR team to establish partnerships with external organisations seeking volunteer placements.
• Ensure managers have access to current induction materials for volunteers.
• Monitor completion of mandatory training and compliance checks (e.g., DBS, references).
• Develop and implement retention strategies to maintain volunteer satisfaction and commitment.

Advice & Support

• Provide guidance on best practices for managing volunteers.
• Deliver training and ongoing support to managers on our volunteer management system.
• Assist managers in addressing volunteer‑related issues (e.g., conduct, capability, wellbeing).
• Keep managers informed of changes to procedures or regulations, including work permits.

Engagement & Recognition

• Promote and help organise initiatives that celebrate volunteer contributions (e.g. monthly service badges, thank‑you events).
• Share feedback and success stories across the trading team and wider organisation including through the volunteer newsletter.
• Encourage inclusive and supportive environments in shops.
• Respond to queries from volunteers and prospective volunteers as required.
• Support the volunteer expenses claim process.

Training & Development

• Coordinate access to training resources for volunteers (e.g. till use, gift aid, safeguarding).
• Support managers in identifying training needs and arranging appropriate sessions.
• Promote and facilitate Level 2 training opportunities.
• Ensure all training is accurately recorded on our volunteer management system.

Data, reporting and compliance

• Maintain accurate, centralised volunteer records (e.g. hours, roles, training).
• Produce reports on volunteer activity to inform operational planning.
• Monitor trends in recruitment, retention and volunteer satisfaction.
• Support audits and quality assurance processes, including checks on starters, leavers and work permits.
• Track compliance with mandatory training requirements.

Person specification

Skills and experience

Essential

• Experience of volunteering or working with volunteers.
• Excellent influencing and communication skills.
• Strong organisation and prioritisation skills.
• Experience of improving ways of working.
• Experience of working with internal IT systems, excel and word.

Desirable

• Experience of working in a retail environment.

Education / qualifications

Essential

• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent.

Desirable

• Volunteer qualification (e.g Level 3 management of Volunteers).
• Customer service qualification.

You will need to have a full, clean driving licence and access to a car for work purposes.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Equality and Diversity

Please note that we are committed to equality and diversity and make the following pledge in relation to our recruitment practices;

• We will actively encourage and support under‑represented groups to join us as employees.
• We will always interview you if you are an applicant with disability who meets the essential requirements of the job and will provide adjustments to the recruitment process if required.
• We are committed to supporting part‑time and flexible working; we will consider part‑time working requests for all our roles.