reachvolunteering.org.uk Avis 

As a small and emerging charity, we were able to fill all of our senior volunteer and trustee roles through Reach Volunteering. The dashboard is great, and the system works well. We had no success on the other platforms we had tried previously.

Their criteria makes 0 sense! Applied to volunteer here to get some relevant work experience after graduating university, and why did they reject my application? For not having 3 YEARS EXPERIENCE!

This just contradicts the purpose of volunteering where you are willing to gain skills to improve your resume, especially for those just starting out in life. How are you supposed to gain experience when an unpaid position rejects your application due to their 3 year rule?

Absolutely ridiculous experience with Reach Volunteering. They claim to help people volunteer, yet they bizarrely require 3 YEARS of relevant professional experience just to sign up. Think about it—who spends three years building professional experience only to volunteer for free afterward? This policy makes zero sense and entirely defeats the purpose of volunteering for those looking to gain experience and give back at the same time.

If you're genuinely looking to help people get involved in volunteering and community work, you'd think you'd be inclusive, not gatekeeping to this absurd degree. Total waste of time and incredibly frustrating for anyone seriously trying to contribute or break into a new sector. Avoid if you're new and genuinely eager to help.

Only apply for this organisation if you are in a specialised field. Their skill set entry requirement is 3 years, which is somehow above what most standard jobs require. This criteria is not only incredibly biased against young people who have a lot of potential to develop their skills in a specific field, but also contradicts the very idea of what volunteering represents.

By implementing such a measure, you're alienating people who could develop their skills and form connections in the community. I've previously applied for jobs requiring 1 or even 2 years experience, which is understandable in certain industries, but a 3 year requirement for an unpaid role is completely senseless.
Someone applying to volunteer with 2 years or even just 1 year experience could possess the skills which align with the company's core values.

Alot of the opportunities on their page looked very interesting which would be of value to many people, especially graduates who are just starting out in life. However, putting such a specific criteria on skills set disparity is something this organisation could rectify in order to receive more people who are willing to develop their skills.

My experience has been good. I have volunteered for a few charities and that has been great. However some charities feel it ok to lead you on and mess you about. I had someone ask me to wait on a project for a few months as they had some personal issues. They then came back to say they are ready to have me on board now and to have a quick chat. I didn't reply straight away and saw 2 days later when they had told me they had given the role to someone else..despite telling me they wanted to place me and leading me on for months. It's really left me feeling like I don't want to volunteer anymore as I invested quite some time in the options they had going forward with the project.

I came across Reach Volunteering through social media. The opportunities they have to offer is amazing and great with the chance to develop your CV and etc.
I can't fault the opportunities they have and the organisations they are paired with.

Their company has a 'minimum of 3 years' experience rule because they want to offer the charities they work with the best skills.
'This means that our volunteers can offer organisations ideas, advice and expertise that is firmly rooted in practical application, so organisations can get the help they need to achieve their aims.'

The explanation they have provided on their website is basic, it is not even critical on why they need volunteers with more than 3 years skill because someone who has 1-2 years experience fits this criteria.

This puts me off from using their service and even interacting with any volunteering opportunities which is awful as they will refuse to list you on their website because of this whole '3 year' rule.

Of course this is subjective and discriminatory as it excludes and restricts potential volunteers which could be beneficial to organisations. Having someone possess more than 3 years of a skill isn’t an accurate reflection of how they might perform.

I wouldn't bother applying to any roles due to their exclusivity criteria.