The Whiteley Homes Trust “the Trust” is a charity that manages Whiteley Village in Surrey. The purpose of the charity is to provide homes for older people of limited means from all over the country. Founded over a hundred years ago in Walton on Thames, Surrey, the Village is located in 225 acres of beautiful grounds and is a very special place to live and work.
Established in 1917 the village has many Grade 2 listed buildings and provides housing for nearly 400 older people of limited means. There are 265 Almshouses and 51 extra care apartments and the Village also has a church, social and leisure club, shop and café. The Trust became a Registered Provider of Social Housing in 2024.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Volunteer Services Manager to join our team. You will champion the already successful volunteer programme that supports older people to remain independent within our community for as long as possible. You will drive volunteer recruitment, retention and development and ensure that volunteer initiatives are well-managed, engaging and aligned with the Trust’s strategy and objectives.
As a creative and mindful leader, you will bring together the important elements of our history and the cutting edge of original thinking today. You will lead a volunteer programme which embeds choice and control for older people of limited means and supports the ambitions of our staff to be recognised as the best. You will lead on the design and delivery of a new Volunteer strategy as we move into a new era as a registered provider of social housing whilst maintaining status as an almshouse charity.
This is wide and varied role and you will have close working relationships with our Housing, Property and Estates, Community and Hospitality teams plus our residents. You will tailor the volunteer services to meet the identified needs of each team. You will also nurture and develop relationships with corporate partners.
Whiteley Trust Core Values:
We encourage all our staff to play their part in demonstrating our core values in their day-to-day work with colleagues and customers
What you will be doing
You will:
· Develop a new creative and innovative strategy for volunteering in the Trust
· Recruit and maintain an active, diverse and visible volunteer workforce to support the paid functions of the charity.
· Undertake and review DBS risk assessments of volunteers.
· Conduct volunteer Induction sessions and deliver learning and development opportunities for the volunteers and their supervisors
· Develop, deliver, monitor and improve processes, control systems and work environments to meet quality requirements and contractual needs including KPI’s.
· Maintain accurate and up to date records and reports and provide written and verbal reports as required.
· Networking both internally and externally, raising the profile of the Trust and volunteering
· Identify opportunities for growth within volunteering
· Be a point of contact for all volunteers, supporting the managers in the relevant areas with their supervision and ensuring regular reviews are carried out.
· Maintain existing relationships and support growth of corporate volunteer contributions to the charity.
General
* It is the duty of all employees to ensure that a safe working environment and safe working practices are maintained at all times. It is also the responsibility of management team to ensure full compliance.
· Undertake any other duties which may be reasonably deemed to come within the scope of the post, relating to the activities of the department
* Ensures full compliance with all the Trust’s Policies and Procedures
· To complete mandatory and job-related training as required
· You will be responsible for the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all data which you have access to in the course of your work. You must not disclose any information of a confidential or sensitive nature about the Trust, any or our service users or any of our employees. There is an exception if you need to share this information as part of your job or if you are made to by law.
· Flexibility is required including occasional weekend and evening work.
What you will need
· Experience of recruiting, working with and supporting volunteers
· A strong ability to lead by example
· Experience of working collaboratively through sharing skills and talents
· Effective outgoing team player
· IT skills
· Passion drive and skills to succeed
· Flexible attitude to work
· Be proactive when identifying problems and developing solutions
· Good Communicator
· A self-starter with excellent people skills and problem-solving skills
* Ability to meet and set own deadlines
* Effective supervisory skills
* Resilience
* Ability to manage complex and demanding projects
Additional Requirements
Required
Preferred
Skills & Knowledge
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build strong relationships with volunteers, residents, colleagues and external stakeholders
Demonstratable track record of meeting targets and key performance indicators
Strong conflict resolution and problem-solving abilities
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage and inspire volunteers.
Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
Ability to work collaboratively within a team and independently when required.
Good knowledge of Microsoft Office, Outlook, Word and Excel.
Sufficient numeracy and literacy to work well in the office environment
The ability to work with databases and maintain accurate records
Basic understanding of legislation about confidentiality, equality, diversity and inclusion, Safeguarding, Health and Safety and risk management
Processing DBS checks and references
Experience
Minimum 3 years experience in coordinating volunteer programmes, with a focus on recruitment, engagement, and retention.
Experience of managing corporate volunteering opportunities
Experience of working with older people
Experience working in the charitable sector
Qualifications
English and Maths GCSE minimum Grade 4 or equivalent
Qualification in Volunteer Management or willingness to undertake this
Other information
WHT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its staff and older people. We expect all our staff to be aware of their responsibilities to protect staff and residents from abuse or harm. Successful applicants will be required to undertake a DBS check and to provide proof of their right to work in the UK.
Note: No Role profile can cover every issue that may arise within the duties of the post at various times. The post holder will be expected to carry out any other duties from time to time that are broadly consistent with those in this document.