Projects and Opportunities

View our project booklet

How to sign up:

When you sign up as a volunteer you can opt to get access to our bulletin, where we will update you on the projects we currently have available.

A note on travel:

All our projects take place within walking or cycling distance of Central Cambridge (4 miles from the Market Square). However, we are able to reimburse bus travel to and from your volunteering placement. For those who have relevant accessibility requirements we are also able to reimburse your taxi fare. Please do email mail@cambridgesca.org.uk if you would like to make an enquiry.

Our Current Projects:

Our most popular project, Big Sibs aims to provide volunteer befrienders to children aged between 5 and 11 who are vulnerable in some way. Examples of such vulnerabilities include (but are not limited to) bereavement, social exclusion, disability, learning difficulties, issues with behaviour, or having family members who have disabilities or learning difficulties. Our volunteers act as an “adopted” older brother or sister to the child, visiting the child around once a week during term time. Big Sibs can take their Little Sib out to the local playground, go bike riding, to the cinema, do arts and crafts, cooking, or even just watch TV with them. The important thing is that the sessions provide some well-needed down-time for the child, giving them the chance to explore their own interests, have fun, and form a connection with a young person. We have a budget of ~£25 per term/per child for you to use for organising sessions.

Taskforce

Taskforce is a projects offering one to one support to adults for a variety of reasons. Examples include providing company and conversation for lonely elderly people, helping physically disabled people get out of their homes to go shopping/ for a walk etc, helping adults with mental health problems or disabilities with specific tasks, life skills and organisational help.

The aim of this project is to help children from mainstream primary schools who are having difficulty with their academic work in the form of an after school club. This is a great project if you are looking for experience of working with children in an educational environment. Teaching can be in small groups or on a one-to-one basis. This project usually runs at St. Matthews Primary School on Fridays starting from 3.15.

Homework Help – Individuals

Homework Help is a one-to-one scheme for children who need extra support with their homework. This may be because of learning difficulties, family upheaval, or simply because they are behind in one or two subjects. All clients have been referred to us by their school because they are significantly behind their peers.Volunteers usually visit their child at home once a week during term-time and concentrate on helping with the homework set each week by the school. However, the volunteer can come up with their own activities to help the child achieve the outcomes e.g. writing stories with the child, developing practical maths puzzles or reading their favourite books with them.

Friday Fun

A group for female volunteers only, Friday Fun involves engaging disadvantaged children in activities, playing games and generally having fun! We need volunteers who are able to commit to come every other week.

Helping with English as an Additional Language (HEAL)

HEAL is a study group for Ukrainian refugee children who need help with their English and is held on a Saturday morning in a city centre location. Our volunteers will work one-to-one or in small groups with the children, either helping them with School set work or with general reading, writing and communication skills.
We do not require our HEAL volunteers to have any specific training, it is mainly about providing support and encouragement, however we do run (unofficial) HEAL sessions in conjunction with a TEFL teacher trainer to aid with this project. Of course if you do already have experience or training in TEFL, or have knowledge of Ukrainian or Russian, we would particularly welcome your help.

Bounce

Bounce is SCA’s very own Saturday afternoon kids-club for vulnerable and disadvantaged children. An hour and a half of high-energy, fun-filled sports games, arts and crafts and board games – prepare to be exhausted! This is an opportunity for the children (aged 5-10) to let off some steam and have fun with our enthusiastic volunteers. Some of the children who participate may have learning difficulties, behavioural issues or physical disabilities so we do our best to get lots of volunteers involved to offer one-to-one support where necessary. You don’t need any experience or training, just a willingness to get involved! Bounce takes place in the East Chesterton area of Cambridge.

Betty’s Musical Entertainment Group meets during term-time to provide up-beat, informal music performances to residents of local Cambridge care-homes. Volunteers entertain in the form of sing-alongs, group performances, solos and occasional readings. There is also a chance to enjoy refreshments and chat with the residents during the evening. Volunteers of all musical standards are welcome and. although this project’s aim is to deliver musical performances, we also welcome volunteers who simply want to befriend the elderly. Many of the residents look forward to chatting with students as much as listening to a few classic songs.

Other Ways to Get Involved

Steering Group (student committee)

The SCA student Steering Group has a key role in managing SCA from year to year. Get involved in everything from planning large events and our budget to our recruitment strategy and HR. Elections take place at our Annual General Meeting in March each year. If you are interested in joining the Steering Group, contact mail@cambridgesca.org.uk or email current SG members directly using the details on the ‘Contact Us’ page.

SCA College Reps

Looking for a project that you can work on when it suits you? Could you promote SCA in your college, run college events and recruit people to volunteer with us? Email our College Rep Officer about being a rep for your college or university and help other students find out about SCA and the value of volunteering within the Cambridge community.

Become a Project Leader

All SCA’s internal projects have Project Leaders to coordinate volunteers and make decisions on how your project is run. If you are interested in gaining some fab leadership experience, email mail@cambridgesca.org.uk for more information.

Organise a Fundraiser

Whether it’s on a small scale or a large scale it doesn’t matter, we’re always on the lookout for new fundraising ideas. Why not organise a charity run or a bake sale? A few years ago there even was an SCA Leg Wax. Ouch!

New Project Ideas

Do you have an idea of a project that will help the most disadvantaged in Cambridge? Whether that project be a physical in person or an online project please get in touch to find out how SCA can help.

External Opportunities

We also offer several other opportunities offered by a range of external organisations which we recruit for via our regular bulletin emails. If you would like to sign up to the bulletin, please email mail@cambridgesca.org.uk with your request.

One-off Opportunities

We understand that not everyone feels able to commit to a regular project so we also offer one-off opportunities that require you to commit to a chunk of between 2 and 8 hours to support an event or opportunity. Examples include volunteering for our annual Summer and Christmas parties for our younger clients, one-off garden or house clearances
In addition, we advertise a wide range of one-off events via our bulletin, so do sign up if you are interested.