Your support is vital for the running of Body & Soul. By contributing your time and skills you are increasing our capacity, developing our skill base and ensuring we are cost effective. Most of all, you are part of changing the lives of our members.
So, whether you want to share your knowledge and expertise, give the Children’s Centre a magical makeover, or take part in a sponsored event, Body & Soul has a wide range of opportunities for you and your colleagues:
Painting
Keeping Body & Soul’s building looking beautiful is a big task. Every week over 300 people come through the doors of all ages, so your help in painting is an essential part of Body & Soul.
Ideas Days
If you and your colleagues have experience and expertise that you think could be beneficial to Body & Soul, perhaps an Ideas Day with selected staff from Body & Soul could be the best way to volunteer your time. Recent Ideas Days have focussed on the theme of: Developing a Communication strategy; Establising a social enterprise; and Youth targetted campaigning.
Children’s Centre
Every so often we like to transform the Children’s Centre into a themed wonderland so the children can immerse themselves into an evening’s activities. Recently the Children’s Centre has been transformed into a winter wonderland and a tropical rainforest, and others have been influenced by books such as Narnia and The Jolly Postman.
There are some real advantages to being able to work regularly with Body & Soul. The following roles are just some of the opportunities that we offer in addition to the main team activities:
Youth Mentoring
The Teen Spirit Youth Mentoring Programme aims to improve the lives of young people living with or affected by HIV through the creation of one-to-one mentoring relationships. With access to the tools to make positive choices and achieve academic success, young people can break the cycle of disadvantage and overcome the barrier of HIV related stigma to develop their full potential.
Launch Pad Tutors
Many of our young members need that extra time, help and organisation to
achieve their best. We are looking for graduates from a range of academic or professional backgrounds to work 1:1 as tutors/teachers. We particularly welcome volunteers with A-level or higher in Maths, English and Science.
Get Ahead Session Leaders
Launch Pad hosts workshop sessions that are designed to address the demands of school, college and work at particular times of the year. Whether it be basic organisational and time management skills, revision skills, or applying for work, we would welcome employee volunteers to share their experience and wisdom.
Placement Co-ordinators
We welcome the opportunity to work with our partners to design a number of work experience opportunities. Having the right insights and experience at the
right time is key to developing goals for the future. We have developed a structure and guidelines to ensure that these placements are managed with you and provide the best experience for the young person and host company.
Donating Skills
Many of Body & Soul’s most valued partnerships have arisen out of companies wishing to share their talents with our members on a longer-term basis. A great example is our work with ITV and Hogan Lovells in providing a highly valued monthly Law Clinic for our members. Other opportunities include:
- Social Enterprise Working Group – requiring the input from a wide range of business professionals to steer the launch of Body & Soul’s new business.
- Launch Yourself Evenings – sharing an inside knowledge of a particular job/profession with groups of young people.
Charity of the Year
Many larger companies have “Charity of the Year” schemes in place, which allow one or two charities to be the primary beneficiaries of any fundraising events throughout the year. Nominating Body & Soul as one such charity could not only help us raise much needed funds, but would also help us to raise awareness about how HIV affects children, young people and families in the UK.
Event Sponsorship
Body & Soul hosts a number of events throughout the year. For many of these events, there is scope for a corporate sponsor, either to offer financial support or in-kind support. Whether this be a donation of a PA system, food and drink or printing services, this kind of support is always very welcome at Body & Soul and is a great way to support us publicly.
Team Sponsored Events
We love it when a team comes together, and with an ever-increasing number of exciting activities to get involved with in the country (and beyond), we’re happy to support any idea you may have. Whether it’s running 10K through London, hurling yourself out of an aeroplane at 10,000 feet or even running a marathon, team events are not only a great way to make money, they really help a team of colleagues pull together.
Matched Giving
Many companies offer to match any funds an individual employee raises for charity. Don’t forget to ask if you’re getting involved with fundraising for Body & Soul!
