Since Donald Watson founded The Vegan Society in 1944, volunteers have played a vital role in getting us to where we are today.
In the beginning, The Vegan Society was entirely volunteer-run and volunteers have continued to be a part of our work for the past 80 years.
Volunteers add so much value to our work, bringing with them a fresh perspective and a range of valuable skills and abilities. Because of volunteers, we are often able to be more creative, more responsive and more ambitious in what we do.
The way that volunteers support The Vegan Society has shifted in recent years, particularly following the move to remote working instigated by the pandemic. We now have a fantastic team of around 40 remote volunteers who live all around the world. These skilled individuals give us the gift of their time and expertise which enables our staff to work more effectively.
The results of a recent volunteering survey showed that 96% of our volunteers feel highly valued by their main point of contact while volunteering with us.
Volunteering with The Vegan Society can be a wonderful opportunity to meet new vegans, practice your skills, gain experience and get that sense of satisfaction from knowing you are helping more people to go vegan and stay vegan.
“The Vegan Society is a great environment to work in – people are always recommending places to eat and new foods to try. I’ve met some lovely people.”
Alice Wibberly, Archiving Project Support Volunteer
“I figured out my whole future here! I became a digital marketing nerd after learning about marketing campaigns and how you can make advertising feel welcome and helpful online rather than intrusive. It inspired me to study more and I have since done multiple online courses. I’m now working towards a marketing qualification.”
Charis Collier, Social Media and Visual Content Volunteer
“I’ve enjoyed meeting other members of The Vegan Society and learning more about what the organisation does to help current and prospective vegans. The society genuinely feels like it has its finger on the pulse of the movement in the UK.”
Chris Stidwill, Events Support Volunteer
“I enjoy the feeling that I'm doing something to support The Vegan Society. I'm quite happy to give back. Honestly, I have experienced nothing but positives. The entire team is very friendly and very flexible, as well as respectful. It's also nice to be in an office where I know everything is vegan!”
Ian Hoeck, Specialist Volunteer
“I especially enjoy being able to read a range of different documents, from academic papers to website content. It piqued my interest in areas related to veganism that I may have otherwise not spent much time reading about. I have volunteered with several different institutions in the past and I can safely say that The Vegan Society has the best volunteering culture of them all. I feel that the work of volunteers is genuinely valued. That appreciation is shown at every turn. Thank you!”
Eva Lauenstein, Proofreading Volunteer
“When people make requests for leaflets to distribute at events or stalls, I package them up and send them out. It’s a pretty simple job but when you can see so many of thousands of leaflets going out into the world, it’s quite rewarding.”
Anna Darke, Outreach Programme Volunteer
“We in the international team felt incredibly fortunate when Kaya found us a volunteer who could not only speak Japanese but who also had a deep understanding of veganism. The volunteer offered their linguistic skills to assist our Japan team with translations, and their presence has been such a help! Thanks to their invaluable contribution, content that would have otherwise demanded significant time and effort to translate is now efficiently handled, allowing the Japan team to focus on their day-to-day responsibilities.
The seamless collaboration between the Japan team and the volunteer has exceeded the initial expectations, and the team has enthusiastically decided to hire the volunteer. This decision is a testament to the harmonious working relationship established during their time as a volunteer.”
Katharina Eist
Business Development Manager
“Working with volunteers has been an integral support for my work. Knowing there is a bank of proofreaders for me to call upon enables me to create a greater amount of content with a quicker turnaround. The volunteers bring fantastic skills and knowledge with them which means I am able to hand over tasks to them with the trust that they will produce high-quality work.”
Katie Grant
B2B Marketing Officer
What type of volunteering opportunities are there?
Office volunteers
Office volunteers help out across different teams in our office in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. They are either fixed-term work placements or volunteers doing a 4–6-hour session on a weekly basis.
Examples of office volunteer roles include our leaflets volunteer, responsible for coordinating our outreach programme and getting those all-important resources out to supporters. We also have an archive volunteer who looks after our historical archive, a collection of Vegan Society-related artefacts dating back to the 1940s.
Specialist Volunteers
Specialist volunteers have a specific skillset that they would like to share with us. They are often working professionals, retired people, students or recent graduates. The skills we regularly recruit for are research and admin, web editing, proofreading and translation.
Usually, specialist volunteers help us remotely and the hours they volunteer for vary from 4–6 hours per week to a couple of hours a month. These roles are great for people with busier schedules. We want volunteering to be accessible to people from all types of backgrounds and lifestyles so if you want to get involved even though you’re a busy parent or you work shifts, we can still make this work.
The Community Network
The Community Network involves volunteers from across the United Kingdom, supporting us remotely or within their communities to help promote Vegan Society work and campaigns to local people. Activities may involve running stalls at events, lobbying MPs or giving talks to the public. The Community Network is made up of two types of volunteers: Organisers and Advocates.
The time commitment is variable but requires around four hours per month from Organisers, and a more flexible arrangement for Advocates. They have a varied skillset but tend to be good at engaging with the public and communicating with non-vegans about animal exploitation.
How do I become a volunteer?
If you see a role that you're interested in, you can submit your application via our online forms. We can’t accept applications over email so it’s important you complete the form through the website.
From there, we will aim to review your application within 10 working days and get back to you to explain any next steps. These may include a telephone or in-person interview with our friendly Volunteering Officer.
Lots of our roles are remote, so wherever you live in the world, we would love to hear from you.