Each of our shops has a creative, fun, and supportive team that loves to showcase the unique range of new and pre-loved clothing, vintage, homeware, bric-a-brac, small electronics and collectibles. Whilst we do have some volunteering opportunities in our head office and warehouse functions, volunteers are most needed in our shops. As a retail volunteer you can be involved in a range of activities including:

chatting to our customers and making them feel welcome
sorting through, pricing, and presenting our donations
serving customers at the till and processing Gift Aid
creating stylish window displays

If this sounds like something that you’d be interested in, then take a look at our current volunteering opportunities. For more information about these, or other volunteering opportunities, please contact our volunteer coordinator Rachael who would be happy to assist you.

Volunteer Shop Assistant

ALL SHOPS

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Please note the minimum age volunteer we are able to take is 16 years. It is the responsibility of the volunteer to ensure that they have the right to volunteer in the UK. ALL ABOARD IS NOT ABLE TO ACT AS A SPONSOR ORGANISATION IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A VISA THAT ALLOWS YOU TO VOLUNTEER.

How You Can Help

Thank you for taking an interest in volunteering with All Aboard Charity Shops. All Aboard would not be able to function properly without the dedication of more than 200 volunteers who give their time sorting items for stores, helping at our Head Office and Warehouse, or collecting donations.

Our shops create hubs in high street locations that provide spaces for people to volunteer their time in the local community. Be it a young person (16+) spending a few hours a week learning workplace skills, a mature person giving something back with their free time, or a non-native speaker looking to improving their English, our volunteers are guaranteed to greet you with a friendly face and a smile whether you come in to donate or shop.

Volunteering

Current Opportunities

Founded by Stella Lucas MBE in 1987, All Aboard Shops are a chain of 24 charity shops that raise funds for UK registered charities.

Through the sale of donated goods in our shops, our grants have supported a wide range of causes from research projects, learning programmes, hospital equipment, to outings and respite for terminally ill children and residential care for the elderly.

All Aboard believes that we can all help create a more sustainable world by allowing pre-loved possessions be enjoyed by others whilst supporting local charities. On average we stop around 6 tonnes of waste ending up in landfill each week. Through our shops, we recycle clothes, homeware and electronics, raising much needed funds for various community projects each year.

Volunteers play crucial roles across our organisation from administration, sales and logistics, to communications and governance. All Aboard is committed to encouraging continued volunteering throughout the organisation.
All Aboard is keen that every volunteer should enjoy and benefit from volunteering with us. We do our best to achieve this by ensuring volunteers:

feel welcome;

enjoy flexibility in their role, so far as practicable, both in the time they give us and the responsibilities they have;

realise they are contributing to our cause in a meaningful way;

learn and practice new skills;

have their volunteering role reviewed on a regular basis and get a reference;

feel connected to All Aboard as a wider charity and not just to their shop, department or line manager;

achieve their stated aim/s on application;

are thanked for their time and efforts.
All Aboard works to create equal access to opportunities for voluntary involvement and is committed to a policy of diversity amongst its voluntary team. All Aboard celebrates our volunteers, recognising that they:

give their time, skills and expertise to achieve our cause;

are at the heart of our team and we would struggle to achieve our aims without them;

can and should be key champions of our cause within the community, speaking to others about the positive impact we make;

help cultivate a sense of community in our shops, positively engaging donors, customers and other stakeholders;

give credibility to us as a charity in helping to reduce our costs;

bring diversity to our team, sharing wider perspectives from which we can all learn and improve.
Our volunteers give different amounts of time, from a few hours per month to several days per week. We offer flexibility and aim to build a worthwhile volunteering programme in line with your skills and around the time commitment you can give.

All Aboard works to create equal access to opportunities for voluntary involvement while continuing to base selection solely on ability to meet the requirements of the post. This is irrespective of age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation, irrelevant offending background, responsibility for dependents, economic status or political values.

If would like to support our work, develop your skills in the workplace and make a difference to the many charities we help, please complete our volunteer application form. Once completed, our volunteer coordinator will review your application and get in touch with you. For more information about our shops or to find out how your skills could best help All Aboard, please contact your local shop manager.

Volunteer Testimonials

Thomas

Mill Hill

Since joining All Aboard I have volunteered with lots of kind people who want to make a difference in the same way that I do. The shops provide a friendly working environment, and you gain incredible work experience. I have become more confident while being at All Aboard because I have been encouraged to talk to new people and to work with others. One of the things that I really like as a student is that I only have to work for a couple of hours a week, I started off doing 4 hours but now I only do 2 hours because of schoolwork which no one had a problem with. I expected that I would be a bit nervous going into a new setting with people I had never met but I quickly settled in due to everyone’s welcoming attitude.

Michael

Prestwich

JVN helped me to secure a fantastic volunteering position at the All Aboard shop in Prestwich. It was a great recommendation which I really appreciated. I work on the shop floor managing the stock, assisting customers and operating the till. My colleagues are professional and welcoming and I enjoy being part of the team. Volunteering is a great way for me to contribute to a charity I believe in and support my wellbeing. I thoroughly recommend connecting with JVN for volunteering opportunities and supporting All Aboard - but don't take my shifts!

Moe

East Barnet

I’ve been volunteering since the shop opened in August 2021. I am a pensioner and wanted to spend my time supporting a local charity whose causes I believed in. My day is always varied. I’m involved in all tasks such as steaming the clothes, sorting, pricing, till work, visual merchandising and helping the customers.

I love the social aspect of the shop and feel appreciated and valued by my team at All Aboard. I enjoy helping people and looking forward to my days working in the shop.

Amal

Cricklewood

Volunteering at All Aboard for just over a year has been an enriching experience where I gained critical retail skills, empowering me with the confidence to apply for a sales assistant role at Zara. Despite being shy when joining the charity, I was supported and encouraged throughout my service, developing my speaking and listening skills to be more professional; with clear guidance from my manager, I even learnt how to handle difficult customers. I would strongly encourage people with free time to volunteer as it helped shape me into a better person and helped to become a steppingstone for my new role at Zara.