We are now recruiting for volunteer roles, which will start with training before the Summer Gathering (28 June - 3 July):
Scroll down for details or email us if you have any questions.
Volunteers are an important and valued part of People & Planet. Voluntary positions are available based both where you live and in our Oxford office. Please remember that you can also get involved in the People & Planet group in your university or sixth form.
All positions include support and training plus your expenses covered (please check each role description to confirm details).
To apply for a voluntary position, please read the role description and fill out the relevant application form and send it to the address given by the stated deadline. Please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more about volunteering with People & Planet and the opportunities available.
Current voluntary positions
How to apply
To apply for any of the positions on this page, fill out an application form and return it by the deadline to volunteer@peopleandplanet.org.
- Fundraising Festivals Volunteer
- Regional Representative
- Media and Communications volunteer
- Group Support Volunteer
- Campaign Advocate
- People & Planet: The Movie
- Campaigns Research Volunteers
- Independent Network Volunteering Opportunity: Webforums Administrator
- Other positions
Fundraising Festivals Volunteer
People & Planet provide volunteer stewards at festivals to raise funds for P&P. This year festivals include the Secret Garden Party and Green Man. You will recruit stewards, do administration and help train stewards. This is a great opportunity to get some valuable and fun work experience in the Oxford Office. Download a Job Description and return a completed application form to us by 25th April.
Get in touch with Louise if you’d like to have an informal chat about the role on 01856 245678 or email me
We can be flexible about work times to suit university holidays but the post is available to start as soon as possible.
Regional Representative
Regional Reps are crucial to supported and growing the P&P network of university and college groups. The role includes:
- Helping to support People & Planet university groups in your region through advice and training;
- Facilitating the formation of new People & Planet groups.
- Organising a regional training day for the university groups in your region. You could also help groups to communicate with each other, coordinate campaign actions and transport to national events such as Shared Planet;
- Communicating the views and needs of university groups in your region to the staff in the support office;
- Helping to promote People & Planet’s campaigns and events to university groups in your region.
The 2008/9 Regional Reps will start with a training day on 28 June 2008 followed by the Summer Gathering.
If you’d like to be a Regional Rep, download the full role description and return a completed application form to us by 16 May.
Media and Communications volunteer
Media and Comms volunteers work to communicate their group’s campaigning activities to a wide range of audiences. They will also be regular contributors to P&P’s termly newsletter.
There will be an Induction and Training session at the Summer Gathering. If you’re interested in this role, download the role description and return a completed application form to us by Friday 16 May.
“The war we’re fighting is an information war, and we have to use all the weapons at our disposal” (George Monbiot).
Group Support Volunteer
Over half of all of People & Planet’s campaign groups are based in schools and colleges. Now is your chance to use the skills you have learnt to help make their campaigning even better! Help set up and support a new Sixth Form People & Planet group in your area or support a struggling one. This is a great opportunity to bring P&P groups together and get experiance working with young people.
We are currently looking for interested potential Group Support Volunteers in London, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Reading to be availabe for academic year 2008-2009. Please download the role description for more details.
The applications deadline is Friday 16 May and there will be a training day on 28 June 2008.
Campaign Advocate
Campaign Advocates play an integral role in the development, promotion and delivery of People & Planet’s award winning campaigns. Focussing on a particular issue, Campaign Advocates will:
- Deliver campaign training, workshops and issue specific talks.
- Work with the support office as a reference group for the development and delivery of campaigns.
- Be well briefed on P&P campaign policy and in turn act as a peer communicator and media spokesperson.
- Take part in lobbying meetings on behalf of People & Planet.
If you’re interested in this role, download the role description and return a completed application form to us by Friday 16 May.
People & Planet: The Movie
Want to learn about film-making, promote your group’s activities, and meet other like-minded P&Pers? Then this is the project for you! People & Planet is inviting people to take part in the planning, filming and editing of a short film about the activities of P&P groups. No experience is required and you’ll receive training from professional film-makers. The finished product will be a professionally produced film you’ll be able to use to promote your group, and the work of the People & Planet network. Tempted? For more information, check out People & Planet: The Movie.
Campaigns Research Volunteers
People & Planet is looking for a number of volunteers to put their research skills into use to help develop our Go Green and Redress Fashion campaigns. Are you a dab hand at internet research, interested in environmental management or in finding out which universities are purchasing goods made with sweatshop labour? The roles we are looking for people to fill are:
Green League 2008 Research Volunteers
The Green League 2007 was a major campaign success, not only gaining media attention and pushing the issue of environmental performance up Vice Chancellors’ agendas, but also winning People & Planet ‘Best Campaign 2007’ at the British Environment and Media Awards. The success of the Green League was due to a crack team of research volunteers, who gave their time to search university websites, and phone and email university contacts to hunt out all the essential information.
We’re now recruiting for volunteers for the Green League 2008. This is a crucial role and we’re looking for people with good organisational skills, attention to detail and the desire to be part of a really exciting campaign!
If you’re interested, read the full role description, or contact Emma in the P&P Office for more information.
Redress your Campus Research Volunteers
The Redress Fashion campaign was launched in October 2007. It focuses on what students can do, on the high street and on their campuses, to support the struggles of workers in the garment industry. We are targeting Topshop on the high street, demanding that it takes the basic step of joining the Ethical Trading Initiative. We are also ‘redressing’ our campuses, campaigning to ensure that those producing university merchandise are paid a living wage and allowed to join a trade union to protect their rights.
Taking the ‘redress your campus’ side of the campaign forward so that anti-sweatshop policy can be effectively implemented requires research into how purchasing relationships for UK university merchandise work.
This volunteer post will enable us to compile the information needed to plan our next steps and support students in their campaigning.
If you’re interested, read the full role description, or contact Anna in the P&P Office for more information.
Independent Network Volunteering Opportunity: Webforums Administrator
Are you a bit of a technical wizard and at a loss for things to do with all that spare time you have on your hands? Do the words ‘network democracy’ resonate in your ears with the beauty and temptation of a Siren’s song? If so, the webforums, the independent internet based space for discussion of everything People & Planet related, need you.
The webforums were set up independently of the People & Planet office by students in the network, and have always been administered by people who are keen to provide a space for discourse on important decisions facing the network. They will be a key place for people to discuss the decisions that need to be made at The Forum 08, as well as all the other proposals that have been submitted for the event. As well as this, the webforums allow planning of joint events and sharing of experience and ideas, which contributes to a more vibrant and effective campaigning network. In short, they are a crucial part of what distinguishes People & Planet as a student led organisation.
Running on phpbb software, the webforums need two administrators to check for spam postings, set up and close down discussions where necessary, and be competent to address technical problems as and when they arise. These tasks will take roughly two hours per week of basic maintenance time as well as a few hours a month of more technical development and troubleshooting. Volunteers will receive initial training but will ideally possess good level of technical confidence and competence. If you are interested in maintaining these important resources then please get in touch.
Other positions
Past voluntary positions include Regional Representatives, Go Green research volunteer and Data entry volunteer. These positions may be re-advertised and new positions will arise so please keep checking back!