Volunteering opportunities

Besides being incredibly sociable and personally rewarding, volunteering is fantastic for giving a CV standout. And the training opportunities will impress prospective employers too. Our roles enable people to:

• Learn to process donations (invaluable to charity retail)
• Build customer service skills and experience
• Train to use an EPOS system; till training is an incredibly transferable skill for people wanting to work in any retail capacity.
• Understand Gift Aid, which an increasing number of charities are signed up to.
• Train on safeguarding, which is really valuable for understanding how organisations look after each other.
• Benefit from online training in subjects like IT, retail and management skills, which we’re offering as part of our volunteering roles.

Explore volunteering roles

If you have any time you can spare and are looking to do something sociable and rewarding, this is the place. Our huge team of volunteers across London are a social lot, who love the sense of purpose Fight for Sight Volunteering offers.

• Meet new people
• Mix with volunteers and staff of different ages
• Learn new skills, such as till training, pricing and merchandising
• Take an active role in your community
• Embrace the flexibility we offer, to work around existing interests and commitments

Apply here

Our corporate volunteering opportunities will give you and your colleagues a chance to get out of your usual working routines and enter a stretch zone together! Unlike some corporate team-building activities, this will give everyone involved a genuine sense of purpose and achievement. You will be helping us to Save Sight. Change Lives.

• ENGAGE - Behind-the-scenes insights into the workings of a charity shop
• UPSKILL - Learn new skills; processing, pricing and styling our incredible donations
• ENJOY - We pride ourselves on the fun atmosphere in our friendly, stylish shops
• SHARE - Interact with customers about our mission to Save Sight. Change Lives.
• COMPETE - Undertake 'Shop Wars' challenges against your colleagues
• IMPACT - See how your efforts actually increase the shop's profits

Email our team to get things rolling

We're supportive of anyone who's keen to acquire work experience, whether you're a teenager looking for school work experience an adult looking looking to try something new.

Please do take a look at the volunteering roles available or get in touch directly via volunteering@fightforsight.org.uk to talk through the type of experience you're looking to get.

Volunteer here

We love hosting young people for the volunteering section of their Duke of Edinburgh Award. Volunteer at a Fight for Sight charity shop to:

• Play to your strengths
• Build your skills
• Do something new
• Complete your award
• Have a good time

You can hear our Volunteering Manager talking about doing DofE volunteering at Fight for Sight in this handy Duke of Edinburgh volunteering video >

Find a role local to you

Are you a natural treasure-hunter? We have roles available with our fashion-forward eCommerce Team in West Norwood, who run our online shops.

If you have a love of rare, high value and collectable fashion and homeware pieces, this is the role for you. Volunteers can help to spot special donations in our shops and Donations Hub then help us to photograph and list them for sale on our different eCommerce platforms:

Our eBay shop >

Our Depop shop >

Our Vestiaire Collective shop >

Absolutely. We'll gladly accept any time you can offer us. Our friendly team can always find jobs that work around your availability. 

When young people volunteer with us as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award they spend an hour a week with us and can make a huge difference in that time.

Whatever you can offer will help us Save Sight. Change Lives.

Get stuck in

Most, though not all, of our volunteering roles are in our charity shops across London. In a shop no two days are the same, but the types of things you'll be asked to do include:

• Customer service on the till
• Greeting and helping our customers and supporters
• Replenishing the stock on the shop floor
• Sorting donations
• Merchandising the stock and displaying accordingly
• Housekeeping on the shop floor and in the stock room

We like to play to the strengths and interests of our volunteers. For example, we have a volunteer in our Hampton Hill charity shop who is an expert on old books, he keeps our incredible reading section in good order, as well as spotting the occasional rare or collectable book that we can sell on our popular eBay shop.

Explore our volunteering roles

You don't need any specific skills to volunteer with Fight for Sight; we can always find a role to suit your interests and experience. However, it's always advantageous for volunteers to have:

• An interest in our shops, and an enthusiasm for raising funds for the projects we support
• The ability to work as part of a team and get on with other volunteers in the shop
• To be able to provide a friendly, high-quality service to customers and supporters
• A willingness to help with a range of tasks in the shop
• Reliability and punctuality are always helpful

Apply to volunteer with Fight for Sight

Once you've submitted your application, one of two things will happen:

• EITHER - You'll hear from the manager at shop you've applied to, who will arrange a time for you to come in.
• OR - You'll hear from the Fight for Sight Volunteer Team, who will schedule a meeting about your application.

We'll ensure you're fully trained up as soon as we can, so that within a couple of days you can be in the mix helping us to Save Sight. Change Lives.  

Apply now

Absolutely, the volunteers across our London charity shops all love how sociable it is. Different reasons people volunteer in our shops include:

• They're new to the area
• They're recently retired and miss the sociable nature of work
• They're stuck in a rut and looking to meet people outside their usual circles
• They enjoy the fact that the shops are sociable places with people coming and going from the local area

And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Many of our volunteers have struck up long-term friendships with the people they volunteer alongside. One example is Sheila and Christine in Hampton - read the story of their volunteering friendship here > 

Get involved

The more the merrier! Volunteering in our shops and hubs is a really sociable thing to do. Take a look at the volunteering roles on offer so you can apply. 

You can even set up a family volunteering day, where you all get stuck in together!

Get involved

We're grateful for any time you can offer us, and we understand that people have busy lives!

We can always work around the commitments and plans you have outside your role as a Fight for Sight volunteer. 

Get involved

Absolutely. And we've found that people who volunteer with us have a greater chance of finding employment thanks to the boost volunteering gives your CV. 

Any time you can offer is appreciated and we'll always understand if you can't come in because you have an interview (and wish you good luck too!).

It's also worth highlighting that a sizeable number of people who have volunteered with Fight for Sight have gone on to have paid roles within the charity. 

It's worth adding that we're happy to provide our volunteers with a reference for prospective employers. 

Get involved

We believe no-one should be out of pocket as a result of volunteering with us, as such we look where we can support with travel expenses if needed.

Everyone's situation is different and we work on a case by case basis, but please do get in touch if the cost of travel is preventing you from taking up a volunteering role with Fight for Sight. We're here to help.

Find your perfect role

We have lots of opportunities for people to help support our mission at one-off events. Being a cheerleader for our runners at The London Marathon is just one way. We also run pop-ups and donations drives, where extra hands are always welcome.

You can register your interest for one-off volunteering opportunities by emailing volunteering@fightforsight.org.uk.

And if your workplace is ever looking for a team-building activity that has a positive impact on society, as well as your organisation, please do keep our charity shop team building events in mind! Email volunteering@fightforsight.org.uk to find out more.

Find the perfect way to volunteer

Absolutely. We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and we're proud of the diversity of our volunteering team. Our values are all about inclusion so please rest assured that you'll get a warm welcome from our shop teams.

Under current Home Office guidelines, those on a Section 4 under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 are free to volunteer and have expenses reimbursed.  

If you have any questions please get in touch via volunteering@fightforsight.org.uk

Apply now

Yes, you can apply for as many volunteering roles as you like, including those in different locations (across two shops for example). Some volunteers choose to do this to get experience in different departments and bring a bit of variety to their week. 

If you already volunteer with another charity, you're welcome to volunteer at Fight for Sight too. We appreciate people have connections to different causes and shops. 

Take a look at our volunteering roles

If you already volunteer with another charity, you're welcome to volunteer at Fight for Sight too. We appreciate people have connections to different causes and shops. Any time you can give us will be hugely appreciated.

Get involved

Fight for Sight volunteers must not:

• have unspent criminal convictions 
• be subject to any criminal registers or orders.

You must tell us of any convictions that arise while volunteering for us.