We work closely with local universities, colleges, and Lancaster District Community & Voluntary Solutions to recruit and train volunteers who help with our work. Volunteers are crucial to the day-to-day operations of our charity, taking on roles that range from client-facing work to administrative support and general responsibilities.
Volunteering with us is a fantastic opportunity for anyone looking to expand their work experience. We particularly welcome volunteers who bring lived experience, as their understanding and empathy can greatly enhance the quality of support we provide to our service users. However, we welcome volunteers from all walks of life. Our induction includes extensive sensitivity training to ensure that all volunteers are well-prepared to support our diverse community. This makes volunteering with us not only a chance to give back, but also an opportunity to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community and broaden your own knowledge.
Our staff and volunteers adhere to strict codes of conduct, best practices, and confidentiality. Potential volunteers are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, although this does not necessarily exclude you from working with us.
If you’re interested in volunteering, please get in touch for more information, or submit an application here.
To learn more about the government’s guidelines on volunteering, click here, or, if you’re on Jobseeker’s Allowance or a similar benefits scheme, talk to your advisor about how volunteering with us can fit into your obligations.
Student Feedback
My Experience With Out In The Bay
Out in the Bay (OITB) is an organisation that supports members of the LGBT community, supports with drug and alcohol misuse and those living with long term sexual health conditions. The support is offered in a range of ways such as one to one support, drop-in sessions, social groups and awareness training. OITB is an all-inclusive organisation that doesn’t exclude anyone who may need help and support tailoring this to the person seeking help. OITB offers volunteering opportunities which include an in-depth training programme which students start their placement with.
It is hard to really pinpoint what you, as a student will be doing at OITB as every day is different. The first week as a student you will be looking at the organisation’s policies and procedures, completing e-training, and reading the service users’ files. I found this to be interesting as it gave an insight onto the work that you will be doing, gave background information on the people you will be supporting and helped you to understand the OITB way of doing things. The idea behind asking a student to read a large folder of policies is to high light that there is some reasons why OITB do things the way they do and to inform you and is professional. I however, did find this to be tedious and I would rather have spent the first morning meeting the team and shadowing other workers and breaking down the policy reading into smaller chunks. The e-training is a great chance to refresh your mind on important topics while working in this sector. I enjoyed the e-training and felt quite proud to have the number of development certificates so early on in my placement.
After you have settled in completed the training you will start to meet the service users. I have learnt a lot from the people that I have worked with. They are a diverse mix of people. I key day was when I spent the morning working with a young person who is going through transition and then spent the afternoon talking to an adult about their identity. You will gain a high understanding of risk and how to manage possible risks safely for the person or for yourself. I had to learn quickly about de-escalation, reasons behind addiction, issues that the LGBT community may face and why they need specialist support from OITB.
At OITB you are given a lot of opportunities to meet other organisations that offer other support to people within the local area. I have recently attended a forum for ‘users’ where professionals are not normally allowed into. This gave me some great insight into what my potential service users may need from me in the future. This also allowed me to challenge my own values and perceptions about this service user group. I feel that you need to be ready for being challenged.
Although OITB does some serious work, I feel that it is important to mention that you can laugh here and not a day goes by without us laughing about something which is a welcome break from the seriousness of the work we do. There is an open atmosphere in the office where I have felt that you can ask about anything, where no question is ever seen as a stupid one and any issues, personal or professional, can be talked about. I have felt so supported at OITB by the whole team.
I have enjoyed my time at OITB although I haven’t been here that long. I now leave with a lot more knowledge than I started with and I know that I can ring whenever I need specialist support in the future.
Thank you everyone at OITB (including the amazing PEs)