We launched in Clay Cross in March 1996 before moving to Chesterfield in 1999 and are the leading Volunteer Development Agency covering the area. We have 15 years experience of recruiting volunteers for Volunteer Involving Organisations and developing our direct services.

Our main office, and the hub of all activity, is in Chesterfield but we continue to offer outreach to hard to reach parts of North East Derbyshire, highlighting our commitment to working effectively across both service areas.  We currently also currently offer two direct services across our region, a befriending project and a mentoring scheme and both these scheme’s have The Mentoring and Befriending Approved Provider standard. 

The Volunteer Centre is a member of The Derbyshire Volunteer Centre’s Network and through this has recently been awarded (for the third time) The Volunteering England Quality Accreditation.  We continue to work to the 6 core functions of a Volunteer Centre as outlined by Volunteering England. These are:

       Brokerage Role

       Marketing Volunteering

       Good Practice Development

       Develop Volunteering Opportunities

       Policy Response and campaigning

       Strategic Development of Volunteering

Publicity and outreach work is carried out at venues in the Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire area as we make our service accessible to everyone. We provide extra support to those volunteers who need it for whatever reason and ensure our service is accessible for people with disabilities. We are working to recognised quality standards and an equal opportunities policy underpins all our work.

As well as recruiting Volunteers for Volunteer Involving Organisations across Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire we also recruit volunteers for our own Direct Services.

Types of Services

As well as our core work The Volunteer Centre also offers the following direct services:

Elderfriends and Making Time

A befriending project aimed at reducing social isolation among elderly people and people with disabilities. We also receive many referrals for people with mental health problems and learning difficulties as well as people who are the primary carer in the home.

Derbyshire Youth Mentoring Scheme

This project recruits volunteers to work on a one to one basis with young people who on the verge of exclusion from school. It is a preventative measure and young people are mentored for up to 9 months. Their mentees introduce them to other social activities and address any issues the young person wishes to disclose.

3.5 FTE paid staff