Community Activities and Volunteering Coordinator at West End Refugee Service (WERS)
Contract Type: Fixed term
Role Type: Employment
Hours: Part time
Application deadline:
Based: Newcastle
Salary: £27,740 to 29,201 Per Annum
Salary Type: Salary Scale
Location: Regionwide
Role description: Officer
Community Activities and Volunteering Coordinator
To apply, please visit our website for full details on how to submit your application.
Job title: Community Activities and Volunteering Coordinator
Responsible to: Operations Manager
Hours: Part-time (25–30 hours per week)
Salary: £27,740* to £29,201 per annum (FTE)
(plus 4% contributory pension scheme)
*starting salary with progression dependent on performance
Contract: Fixed-term until October 2026 (extension subject to funding)
Holidays: 36 days (incl. 3 seasonal days and English Bank Holidays, FTE)
Location: Office and community-based
Closing date: 23 November 2025
The role
This role plays a key part in building community connections and ensuring the long-term sustainability of WERS’ Communities, Activities and Connections programme. The Activities & Volunteering Coordinator will develop and manage a pool of volunteers, including people with lived experience of the asylum system, to support delivery of cultural, social, and wellbeing activities.
This post requires two satisfactory references, an enhanced DBS check and the right to work in the UK.
Experts by experience
We are proud to be a member of the Experts by Experience Employment Network (www.ebeemployment.org.uk), which aims to increase representation of people with lived experience in the charitable sector.
Please feel free to use information and resources at https://www.ebeemployment.org.uk/ebe which may help in preparing your job application.
Main responsibilities
Volunteer management & development
- Recruit, induct and support a diverse group of volunteers, ensuring they feel valued, confident and prepared to contribute effectively to WERS’ activities.
- Develop volunteering pathways for refugees and people seeking asylum, creating opportunities that build skills, confidence and belonging.
- Provide support and supervision to volunteers, enabling them to shape and lead activities and establish the necessary internal processes to transition to a self-sustaining, volunteer-led programme model.
Programme delivery & coordination
- Collaborate with partners to establish and deliver a programme of cultural, physical and wellbeing activities that promote community connections and mental and physical health.
- Plan, coordinate and evaluate activities to ensure high-quality, trauma-informed delivery and positive client outcomes.
- Work closely with other programme leads (Skillsmatch, Wellbeing, Inclusion & Progression) to ensure referrals and participation pathways are in place for clients.
Outreach & community inclusion
- Deliver awareness-raising sessions with partners and community organisations to increase inclusivity and accessibility for people seeking sanctuary.
- Coordinate outreach sessions in the community, including temporary accommodation sites, engaging residents and linking them into WERS’ wider services.
Project & financial administration
- Manage project objectives and budget in line with funding requirements, working with colleagues to ensure accurate monitoring, reporting and impact measurement.
- Contribute volunteer and activity data to WERS’ monitoring and evaluation framework, ensuring evidence is available for funders, Trustees and stakeholders.
- Maintain safeguarding, confidentiality and professional standards in all activities.
The job description may be subject to change in line with organisational needs.
Person specification
- Experience of recruiting, supporting or managing volunteers in a charity or community setting (E)
- Experience of planning, coordinating and delivering group activities or community events (E)
- Knowledge of barriers faced by refugees and people seeking asylum, including digital exclusion and social isolation (E)
- Ability to build supportive relationships with volunteers and service users, particularly those with lived experience (E)
- Understanding of safeguarding, confidentiality and trauma-informed practice (E)
- Full UK driver’s licence and access to a vehicle (D)
- Experience of partnership working with statutory or voluntary organisations (D)
- Experience of managing budgets or project resources, including monitoring expenditure and tracking outcomes (D)
- Experience of delivering presentations or training (D)
- Lived experience of the asylum system or migration (D)
Competencies & behaviours (WERS Values)
- Equity
- Ensure fair access to activities and volunteering opportunities, challenging barriers and injustice.
- Changemaking
- Use activities and volunteering as tools for inclusion and progression, enabling participants to grow, lead and take ownership of the programme’s future.
- Compassion
- Provide a welcoming, supportive, trauma-informed environment for volunteers and clients alike.
- Creativity & Innovation
- Develop engaging activities and volunteering roles that respond to the needs and interests of clients.
- Integrity
- Ensure transparency in volunteer management and project delivery, and maintain accurate monitoring and reporting for all stakeholders.
- Inclusion
- Celebrate diversity, embed lived-experience leadership, and create spaces where all voices are respected.
Inclusion statement
We welcome and encourage applications from all sections of our diverse community, regardless of age, disability, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), sexual orientation, religion or belief, or marital or civil partnership status.
More than half of our team have lived experience of migration (including seeking asylum) and we are committed to becoming an organisation that reflects the communities we work with.
We believe diversity strengthens WERS – bringing fresh perspectives, driving innovation and making us a more effective, compassionate organisation.
We want everyone to feel valued, respected and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work.
Get in touch
If you would like to find out more about this role, please email our Operations Manager, Alison Cheesman, via recruitment@wers.org.uk and we will arrange a convenient date and time.