Get involved

Give an hour, give a fiver, or give a Saturday

Brightside runs on 316 volunteers, a few thousand generous pounds a month and an awful lot of tea. However much time or money you have, there’s a way to help that fits – and every bit of it stays in Croydon.

Volunteer Donate Partner with us

Volunteer with us

Pick a role, any role

Every role comes with full training, a buddy for your first month and travel and lunch expenses covered. Where a DBS check is needed, we arrange it and pay for it. Most people start within two weeks of applying.

Food bank shelf & welcome team

Stock shelves, pack parcels and pour the teas that make a first visit feel normal. The busiest, chattiest role we have – you’ll learn every regular’s name by week three.

  • Tue or Fri, 9.30am–1.30pm · weekly or fortnightly
  • No DBS check needed
Great first role

Bright Sparks youth mentor

Help run games, homework corner or the studio, and be a steady adult in a young person’s week. Youth-work training provided over two evenings.

  • Mon or Thu, 5.45–9.15pm · weekly, term time
  • Enhanced DBS – arranged & paid by us
Ages 18+

Golden Hours visitor

One hour a week with the same older neighbour – a cuppa, a crossword, a walk to the postbox. The most personal volunteering we offer, and the most missed when someone’s away.

  • 1 hour a week, arranged around you both
  • Enhanced DBS – arranged & paid by us
6-month commitment asked

Minibus driver

Drive our tail-lift minibus for the Wednesday lunch club run – door to door, front seat saved for Derek. We put every driver through MIDAS training at our cost.

  • Wednesdays, 10.30am–2.30pm
  • Full licence held 2+ years · DBS paid by us
Urgently needed

ESOL classroom assistant

Sit with learners, run small practice groups and celebrate every breakthrough. You don’t need a second language or teaching experience – just patience and a warm manner.

  • Tue eve or Sat morning · 2 hrs + 20 min prep
  • Basic DBS – arranged & paid by us
Term time only

Events & fundraising crew

Marshal the sponsored walk, run the tombola, shake a bucket, set out 200 chairs and take them down again. Perfect if your weeks are unpredictable but your heart’s in it.

  • Ad hoc – four to six weekends a year
  • No DBS check needed
Flexible

How it works

  1. Apply belowTwo minutes, no CV. Tell us where you’d like to help and when you’re free.
  2. Cuppa & chatCome in and meet the team – informal, no interview questions, biscuits provided.
  3. Training & startWe sort your training (and DBS where needed, at our cost). Most people start within two weeks.

Join the team

Give an hour. Get a lot back.

Our 316 volunteers stack shelves, coach football, teach English and pour a frankly heroic amount of tea. You’d fit right in.

  • No experience neededFull training for every role, plus a buddy for your first month.
  • Give what you canOne hour a week or one Saturday a month – every bit genuinely helps.
  • Expenses coveredWe reimburse travel and lunch. Volunteering should never cost you.
  • DBS checks sortedFor youth and elder-care roles we arrange (and pay for) the check.

Volunteer sign-up

Tell us a little about yourself and we’ll invite you in for a cuppa and a chat – no commitment yet.

Please tell us your name.

We need a valid email to reply to you.

Please pick a role (or “wherever I’m most useful”).

When are you usually free?

We only use your details to reply about volunteering. No newsletters unless you ask.

Application received

Thanks – we reply within one working day.

For businesses

Partner with Brightside

Local firms keep our shelves stocked and our minibus fuelled – and their teams tell us it’s the best day of the quarter. Here’s what a partnership can look like.

Charity of the year

Make Brightside your team’s cause for twelve months: a fundraising target, staff events, impact updates for your newsletter and a proper thank-you at our Volunteers’ Tea.

12-month partnership

Team volunteering days

Bring 4–12 colleagues to sort stock, deep-clean the kitchen, paint a classroom or marshal an event. We provide the plan, the training and the lunch; you provide the elbow grease.

Half or full day

Payroll giving

Pennies from payslips add up: £5 a month from ten colleagues stocks eight family food parcels a year – before tax, so it costs your team less than it gives.

Set up in a week

Sponsor an event

Put your name on the Summer Fun Day main stage, the quiz night or the 10K water stations. Local goodwill you genuinely can’t buy – except, well, this way you can.

From £250

Talk to Grace. Our fundraising and partnerships lead replies within the week: partners@brightsidetrust.org.uk, or choose “Partnerships” on the contact form.

Still deciding?

Come and see where it all happens

Ten minutes at the Hub tells you more than any web page. Pop in Monday to Saturday, 9am–5pm – ask for Priya and mention you’re thinking of helping.

Plan a visit See the programmes