Volunteering for Work Experience: How Giving Your Time Can Boost Your Career

As the new year begins, it’s the perfect time to think about making positive changes for yourself and for others. Volunteering for work experience is a great way to start fresh, meet new people, and make a real difference in your local community.

Foundations Furniture is Gateshead's community furniture charity helping thousands of people each year. Giving a bit of your time can help local families who are struggling to turn an empty house into a proper home. That sense of doing something meaningful can be a real boost for your own well-being, confidence and sense of purpose too.

The charity is well known for it's welcoming and inclusive environment for beneficiaries and volunteers. Learning practical skills and gaining experience as a volunteer, surrounded by a supportive team creates a perfect culture for personal development and growth.

Whether you’re looking to gain experience, rebuild routine, or explore a new career direction, the start of the year often brings reflection and new goals, and volunteering offers a fantastic opportunity to put good intentions into action.

Volunteering for work experience at Foundations in Gateshead

At Foundations Furniture, you have a selection of different ways you can help support the charity:-

• sorting furniture into attractive displays across our warehouse

• helping to mend and clean items ready for display

• helping to load and unload the van

• general housekeeping in the warehouse

• helping the Van driver with collections and deliveries across Tyne and Wear

Every role contributes to keeping the service running smoothly and supporting local people in need.

How Does Volunteering at Foundations Help You?

Volunteering has so many benefits to the local community, but Foundations Furniture makes sure you get the most out of volunteering too. In addition to gaining skills and experience, you can also access a wide range of job-seeking support through our free Foundation4Work programme:-

• learn how to write and update your CV with all of the new skills you develop, including the transferable skills such as teamwork, communication and customer service for example.

• gain a reference from Foundations who can confirm your skills, experience and work ethic with a future employer

• learn how to search and apply for vacancies online

• learn how to prepare for an interview

As a result of this support, coupled with the hand-on experience, many of our volunteers successfully secure a job, or go on to gain qualifications at college for example to move further towards the career they want. You can learn more about the programme at foundation4work.weebly.com.

Alongside Foundations Furniture, our Vintage Vault store offers another side to what we do. It's a treasure trove of preloved and vintage furniture pieces that are perfect for upcycling, bargain hunting, or finding something special for your home. Every purchase supports our wider community mission and helps us continue offering affordable furniture and work experience opportunities for local people.

So, if you’re looking for a way to make the new year more meaningful, consider volunteering with Foundations. You’ll be giving your time to something that truly matters, helping others create homes and building your own future at the same time.

Volunteering with Foundations is a true two-way street. While you’re helping others, you’re also developing valuable employability skills and rediscovering what you’re capable of. The structure and sense of belonging that come from volunteering can make a huge difference, especially for anyone looking to get back into work or simply find more purpose in their week.

For further information about Foundations Furniture or volunteering for work experience with us please contact the charity on 0191 4778337, fill in the form below, or visit us at 1-6 Teams Craft Workshops, Askew Road West, Gateshead, NE8 2PB. (Foundations is open every weekday excluding bank holidays, between 9am and 4pm).