Welcome new helpers properly
A short hello and two suggested requests is the difference between a volunteer who helps once and one who helps for years.
Team leader
Look after the peoplewho look after your town.
Team leaders are the local heartbeat of Neighbourly. You don't answer every request — you make sure somebody does, and that the volunteers who do feel supported while they're at it.
2–4 hrs
a week, your hours
A week in the role
Nobody does this full time. It's a handful of short, deliberate moments spread across the week — done with a phone in one hand more often than not.
Monday
10 minutes
Skim the new listings in your patch. Anything that has sat without an offer gets a nudge.
Wednesday
15 minutes
Say hello to anyone who joined nearby and point them at two requests they'd be good at.
Friday
20 minutes
One conversation with a local organisation — a food bank, a surgery, a church, a school.
Monthly
45 minutes
A short call with your regional lead and the other team leaders. Ideas, problems, wins.
Three things that matter most
Never let a request go stale
Sometimes it needs a nudge in the local group, sometimes a rewrite, sometimes it's you picking up the shopping yourself.
Be the name locals can contact
Councils, food banks, churches and social prescribers all want a person, not a form. Every link brings people who genuinely need help.
What you get from us
- A named regional lead you can ring, not a helpdesk queue.
- A dashboard showing every unanswered request in your area.
- Printable posters and cards branded for your town.
- A monthly call with the other leaders, and a group chat between them.
- Reimbursed travel and printing costs, with no fuss.
“I thought I'd be organising rotas. Really I just send four or five messages a week and make sure nobody feels ignored. Our town went from two offers a month to twenty.”
Becoming a leader
01
Tell us your area
Your town or borough and anything you already know about it. Existing links are a bonus, never a requirement.
02
A proper conversation
Half an hour on video covering safeguarding, confidentiality and what the role really costs you.
03
Shadow a leader
You sit alongside an existing leader for a fortnight before anything is yours alone.
04
Your patch goes live
Your dashboard is switched on, your name goes on the local page and the introductions begin.
Is your town missing a leader?
Tell us where you live and roughly how much time you have. We reply to every volunteer within two working days.