This winter, your time can give someone the urgently needed safety, support and belief to build a life beyond homelessness. With your help, we can support people to go from crisis to home.
Find your volunteer roleCrisis works at Christmas and all year round in Oxford to help people experiencing homelessness find their own stable home and access education and training.
Join our friendly and supportive volunteer community that’s passionate about ending homelessness. With many volunteer’s returning year after year, the connections you make this Christmas can be long-lasting and the relationships you build with people experiencing homelessness can be lifechanging.
You’ll gain skills, have inspiring experiences, build confidence, and above all, help someone as they build a life out of homelessness and go from crisis to home. Not only this, but you will also be part of a once in a generation moment being led by the Prime Minister – to end rough sleeping and achieve real, lasting change.
This Christmas our offer will include:
Volunteers are essential in helping us successfully deliver our Christmas offer in full.
We will be in touch after reviewing your application to invite you to an induction or interview depending on the role (this will be advised in the role description). Once you have been inducted, we will give you a start date, and we look forward to working with you over Christmas!
You will receive an induction into your role ahead of your first shift, and there will be relevant e-learning available to you on My Crisis Volunteering.
To attend Christmas as a guest in Oxford you must be signed up as a member with Crisis. If you would like Crisis’ support please speak to our reception team.
Please email christmas.oxford@crisis.org.uk if you would like to donate to Oxford’s Christmas offer, either monetarily, or by donation of items. Alternatively, you can visit our Amazon Wishlist
Please contact christmas.oxford@crisis.org.uk with any queries.
We would be delighted if you would like to volunteer year-round, please view our year-round volunteering opportunities here.
If you are concerned about someone who is rough sleeping please phone Streetlink on 0300 500 0914 or use the streetlink website.
If you are concerned about someone may be in temporary or unsuitable accommodation, please phone our reception (01865 263900) for advice or you can contact Shelter which also has an excellent advice line: 0808 800 4444
The voice and expertise of people with lived experience is vital in ensuring our service is truly meeting the needs of our members. We encourage anyone with lived experience to apply for our volunteer roles.
We also involve members and people with lived experience of homelessness in opportunities across the organisation including our Experts by Experience panel. For more details, please speak to your local Volunteer and Involvement Lead.
Some of our roles require previous experience or qualifications and others do not.
Professional service volunteers, such as those completing health checks or haircuts will require the relevant qualifications and public liability insurance.
In some roles we may be looking for volunteers with experience of supporting people who are homeless or other vulnerable adult groups. Information about each role will be listed on our website and throughout your volunteer application form. Please check this information before applying to ensure you are applying for the most suitable role for you.
We do not ask for references for Christmas volunteers.
At Christmas, due to the volume of volunteers recruited, we are unable to provide detailed references. We will only provide a start and finish date for those who have completed a volunteering shift in the previous two years.
The only exception to this is for the lead/senior volunteers who work closely with Crisis and members of staff beyond the Christmas service delivery period.
Volunteers can claim expenses at the usual rate in Oxford.
Many of the roles in our services will require a disclosure check, (either basic or enhanced) - you will be able to see this on the role description. If the role does, we use a digital system to manage this and we will request and pay for it (where payment is needed).
If you have a criminal conviction, this does not automatically mean you cannot volunteer for us. However, we may need to ask you more about the conviction to be able to do a risk assessment and decide if you can or cannot volunteer.
Of course, you are welcome to volunteer in a new shift, location or a different role if we have space available.
It’s great that you want to support us this Christmas! There are lots of opportunities to support us through fundraising or campaigning work. To find out more, click on our Other ways to support buttons below or visit the Crisis at Christmas webpage.
If you are feeling poorly, we urge you to not volunteer until you are feeling better.
As we prioritise the health of everyone, volunteers who display any symptoms will be asked to leave their shift.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, we don’t open on Christmas Day, as there are local provisions elsewhere. If you would like information on this, please email alex.robbins@crisis.org.uk.
Unfortunately, due to the limitations placed on us by our insurance, we are unable to offer volunteering opportunities to those not based in the UK.
There’s more than one way to make a difference this Christmas. If you can’t volunteer with us, your donation, event participation, or fundraising support can help change lives and end homelessness for good.
