01 Jun 2026
By Mystica Burridge, Volunteer Support Lead at The Forward Trust
This Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June), we are celebrating the incredible volunteers who make our work possible every single day. Across our services, volunteers give their time, skills, compassion, and lived experience to support people in communities, prisons, rehabilitation services, and remotely through phone and video support. Their dedication changes lives, and we simply could not do what we do without them.
From listening support and mentoring to administration and peer-led recovery work, our volunteers play a vital role across the organisation. Whether offering reassurance to someone at a difficult point in their life or helping individuals take positive steps towards recovery and independence, the impact they make is truly invaluable.
Volunteers’ Week is an opportunity to recognise, celebrate, and say thank you to people across the country who give their time to support others. Whether volunteering happens every week or once a year, formally or informally, every contribution matters. But this week is also about inspiring others to get involved and highlighting the many benefits volunteering brings, not only to the people and communities being supported, but also to the volunteers themselves.
Volunteering creates opportunities to meet new people and build supportive social networks. Through shared experiences, many of our volunteers form meaningful friendships and connections, helping to strengthen both individual wellbeing and the wider community. We are proud to offer a wide range of both short-term and long-term volunteering opportunities, allowing people to get involved in ways that suit their skills, interests, and availability.
Through our forums, events, and networking opportunities, volunteers have been able to share their experiences and perspectives, helping to influence and shape the development of our services. Their feedback and insights play an important role in helping us continually strengthen the support we provide and improve the experience for both volunteers and the people who access our services.
The positive impact of volunteering extends far beyond the individual volunteer. Every day, volunteers help create supportive, welcoming environments for people accessing our services.
Our counselling volunteers provide support to clients, helping to create safe and supportive spaces for individuals accessing services. Meet and Greet volunteers welcome clients on their first day after release from prison, helping to ease what can often be an overwhelming transition. Our Peer Mentors bring personal lived experience of addiction recovery to support peer mentor groups and provide one-to-one mentoring across the organisation. Their insight, empathy, and encouragement have made life-changing differences to those beginning their own recovery journey.
Community and prison support volunteers work alongside our practitioners and counsellors to assist with service delivery and administrative support. Administration volunteers support teams across our wider services, helping operations run smoothly behind the scenes. We also offer student placement opportunities, giving individuals valuable practical experience within the sector.
Over the past year alone, our volunteers have contributed more than 9,109 hours of support, an extraordinary contribution that has had a lasting impact. Volunteers both bring valuable experience and gain new skills through their roles. Whether through lived experience, previous employment, or education, every volunteer contributes something unique to the organisation.
This Volunteers’ Week, we’d like to invite anyone considering volunteering to take that first step.
Volunteering is a chance to learn new skills, meet new people, and make a genuine difference in someone’s life. Whether you can give a little time or a lot, your support can have a lasting impact, not only on others, but on yourself too.
If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our website to view our current opportunities. If you have any questions about volunteering or would like to know more, please emails us at forwardvolunteeringsupport@forwardtrust.org.uk.
To all our volunteers: thank you. Your compassion, commitment, and dedication continue to inspire us every day.
