Barnardo’s Volunteer HELP !

Hey, I volunteered at a charity shop for several years (not Barnardo's - BHF) - usually the people reviewing your application are the same ones working on shop floor so it's probably just that they're busy. It's very unlikely you'll get rejected unless they have too many new volunteers recently (that can make it difficult to train new ones).
Usually you have to supply some contact details for someone that can provide a personal reference about you. Was that something you were asked for? It might be worth asking that person if they've been contacted by Barnardo's yet. Maybe they have been slow to reply or they have missed the calls.

Hi , thank you so much for your reply. Yes I had to give two references and I emailed Barnardo’s today and they said that the manger isn’t at work and when she comes back she’ll contact me straight away. So I’m quite excited now. I hope it’s good and I can make friends and i applied for the stockroom and customer service position, but I’m leaning more to stockroom and I’ll tell them say if I can half my day on stockroom and the other half doing tills and stuff. Idk if they’ll agree but worth a try.

Probably they will. They usually are very flexible with volunteers since you're doing them a favour (they rely on volunteers) and if you're a safe pair of hands they'd rather you were doing something you wanted to do (generally in the hopes you'll pick up more shifts). I hated doing the till lol so I always asked to do stockroom and they were pretty chill about it. In general till is more social and more varied and stockroom is quite quiet and repetitive so it's a bit dependent on what sort of person you are. I loved the stockroom but some of the other volunteers found it desperately boring and would rather be on the till - I found the till really stressful and I liked being able to hide upstairs and listen to the radio!
I did make friends but they were mostly people older than me! (there weren't many other teenage volunteers at my shop) Don't be afraid to chat to everyone, even if it's intimidating at first.

Probably they will. They usually are very flexible with volunteers since you're doing them a favour (they rely on volunteers) and if you're a safe pair of hands they'd rather you were doing something you wanted to do (generally in the hopes you'll pick up more shifts). I hated doing the till lol so I always asked to do stockroom and they were pretty chill about it. In general till is more social and more varied and stockroom is quite quiet and repetitive so it's a bit dependent on what sort of person you are. I loved the stockroom but some of the other volunteers found it desperately boring and would rather be on the till - I found the till really stressful and I liked being able to hide upstairs and listen to the radio!
I did make friends but they were mostly people older than me! (there weren't many other teenage volunteers at my shop) Don't be afraid to chat to everyone, even if it's intimidating at first.

Thank you , let’s hope for my employees next week even tho it’s not actually employment. Also do you get to sit down in the stockroom or do u always have to stand ? Also it’s there like a break room to put my stuff in or do u not really bring anything? I’m quite an introvert but I can speak a lot so I’m thinking of telling them if I can do a split shift , maybe half on tills and the last half in the stockroom. I hope the manager gets back soon since really want to start a new chapter in my life. FIRST TIME BEING IN RETAIL OR JUST DOING ANYTHING!!! Also I hope the management is good , I heard a lot of people say the management is so bad a Barnardo’s!! I’ll let you know when my acceptance email comes , I might have to go to an induction , a lot of people had to go to one.

Also are there a lot of volunteers or only a little bit ? I heard people just having to work in short teams of like 2-4 for the whole store or does it depend on how the store is managed?

At my shop, i'm pretty sure you could sit in the stockroom, but I usuallly was standing as you generally have to move stuff around a lot anyway (so you'd be getting up and down a lot). We had a break room with a sink, kettle, fridge - some teabags, milk and biscuits anyone could have. I would usually leave my bag there, I often came straight from college so i often had stuff with me but it was always fine.
I'm excited for you! I was in a similar position, I had done some Christmas temp work but never had a consistent role anywhere. I often went to visit my dad on weekends so I couldn't do a classic saturday job either. It was a good compromise for me and I had a good experience doing it!
Likely you will do an induction yeah, but it's often pretty relaxed and gives you a chance to chat to the other volunteers.
It was rare we had more than 4 (mixture of paid employees and volunteers) at any one time, usually there were 3-4 - but I usually did weekdays, i think weekends they had a couple more. I was in a small shop on a city high street, and I think that it will probably depend on the size of the shop/location a bit too. Usually it was someone on till, someone organising stock on shop floor, and then two people in stockroom - one on steaming, one on tagging/donation auditing. At my shop you had to be 18 to be on till or use the steamer, so I primarily did the other two until I turned 18 in my second year there. I would ask about that in your induction

At my shop, i'm pretty sure you could sit in the stockroom, but I usuallly was standing as you generally have to move stuff around a lot anyway (so you'd be getting up and down a lot). We had a break room with a sink, kettle, fridge - some teabags, milk and biscuits anyone could have. I would usually leave my bag there, I often came straight from college so i often had stuff with me but it was always fine.
I'm excited for you! I was in a similar position, I had done some Christmas temp work but never had a consistent role anywhere. I often went to visit my dad on weekends so I couldn't do a classic saturday job either. It was a good compromise for me and I had a good experience doing it!
Likely you will do an induction yeah, but it's often pretty relaxed and gives you a chance to chat to the other volunteers.
It was rare we had more than 4 (mixture of paid employees and volunteers) at any one time, usually there were 3-4 - but I usually did weekdays, i think weekends they had a couple more. I was in a small shop on a city high street, and I think that it will probably depend on the size of the shop/location a bit too. Usually it was someone on till, someone organising stock on shop floor, and then two people in stockroom - one on steaming, one on tagging/donation auditing. At my shop you had to be 18 to be on till or use the steamer, so I primarily did the other two until I turned 18 in my second year there. I would ask about that in your induction

Thank you for all the advice ! I’ll let you know when my EMPLOYMENT ARRIVES. I want the manager to come back to work rn and get me in the shop because I’m on gcse summer and I want to experience the work life and also I wanna go out more so SHE BETTER HURRY (not in a rude way) but yeah I’m just so excited , it’ll keep me busy from spoiling myself from the movie I’ve been waiting so long for (infinity castle) I got spoiled a little already and we want to be more social so this job will help me .

Do I have to lift heavy things or just light things like clothes and toys

course, yeah no worries! Haha, it'll come around soon. I hope you enjoy it when you're there, and you get a chance to see the film soon!
I'm in my early 20s now but I volunteered when I was 16-18 all the way through sixth form I found I met loads of interesting people doing it - we had volunteers from all different walks of life (people getting back on their feet after hard times, people with intellectual disabilities, young people looking for work experience, older people looking to fill their time) and there was so much to learn from listening to their perspectives.
Just clothes and toys mostly, occasionally you might be asked to lift stacks of books or chairs at the heaviest - don't worry about that

Hey, I volunteered at a charity shop for several years (not Barnardo's - BHF) - usually the people reviewing your application are the same ones working on shop floor so it's probably just that they're busy. It's very unlikely you'll get rejected unless they have too many new volunteers recently (that can make it difficult to train new ones).
Usually you have to supply some contact details for someone that can provide a personal reference about you. Was that something you were asked for? It might be worth asking that person if they've been contacted by Barnardo's yet. Maybe they have been slow to reply or they have missed the calls.

Guess what , I got a reply and the owner of the store is going to contact me for an intro meeting tomorrow. DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE GOTTEN IT ?

Also I have a meeting at my local museum and an induction !!!

I can maybe to 2 days barnardo’s and two days museum , would they mind or be fussed ? I’ll aim for 2-3 hours

Good luck! It sounds like you've got a good plan. As long as you're clear with both of them about your availability i can't imagine you'll have any issues.

Hey, I volunteered at a charity shop for several years (not Barnardo's - BHF) - usually the people reviewing your application are the same ones working on shop floor so it's probably just that they're busy. It's very unlikely you'll get rejected unless they have too many new volunteers recently (that can make it difficult to train new ones).
Usually you have to supply some contact details for someone that can provide a personal reference about you. Was that something you were asked for? It might be worth asking that person if they've been contacted by Barnardo's yet. Maybe they have been slow to reply or they have missed the calls.

I GOT IT !! , now they are just waiting for my references !! Also he showed me the stockroom and it looks quite hectic and messy but YEAH !

congrats! hope you have a great time