More information for asylum seekers & refugees
Below are answers to common questions to help you think about volunteering. However you are always welcome to come to the office to talk to us, call us or email any question you might have.
What is a Volunteer?
Why Volunteer? What are the benefits of Volunteering?
Will volunteering help me get a job?
What can I do? What volunteering roles are there?
When can I start volunteering? How long is the application process?
What level of English is needed?
Will they pay my expenses?
Can Asylum Seekers Volunteer?
Can I claim benefits whilst volunteering?
Please also see Translated information for volunteers.
What is a Volunteer?
A volunteer is a person who, unpaid (you will get travel expenses), chooses to give their time and skills to help other people in the community. It is your free choice to do this.
You can choose how many hours and what days you want volunteer.
Volunteering is helping an organisation, group or charity that does not make a profit and/or is helping the community.
Please note:
You can leave your volunteering place if you don’t like it. Please come back to see us and we will either help sort out any problem or find you something different.
Why volunteer? What are the benefits of volunteering?
Doing something for nothing may sound like a strange thing to do but there are many reasons to volunteer. Hundreds of asylum seekers and refugees volunteer in Sheffield and it really can change your life.
You can:
- Learn about the UK culture. How the work environment works as well as the local culture, the local people and the local words that people use.
- Improve your English. Work and social English is different to classroom English.
- Integrate in to the local community.
- Reduce isolation by meeting new people and you can make new friends.
- Reduce stress, anxiety and depression. Volunteering gives you something positive to do, something to look forward to and gives you structure to your day.
- Use the skills you have and learn new skills
- Get a reference to help you get a job
Will volunteering help me get a job?
It is often hard for refugees to get a job. Employers don’t always recognise overseas experience or qualifications. Often they will want UK experience.
Volunteering can give you UK work experience and it is an excellent way to prove your skills and demonstrate transferrable skills here in the UK.
By volunteering you can prove that you are:
- well motivated
- reliable
- punctual
- honest
- efficient
- able to work in a team
- able to work on your own
Every job will ask you to prove these things and volunteering can help you to do this. Even if what you do as a volunteer is different to what you want to do as a job it can still help to prove these transferrable skills.
There is no guarantee that volunteering will help you get a job but click on Refugee Stories to see how it has helped other refugees.
What can I do? What volunteering roles are there?
There are over 300 opportunities where you can volunteer in Sheffield so there is a wide range of different things you can do. However, there are some key things that influence what you can do:
- Your level of English
- Your previous work experience
- How flexible you can be about what you do and when you do it.
You can only volunteer with a charity that asks for volunteers. This is an organisation or group that does not make a profit and/or is helping the community. Common roles that refugees volunteer in are:
- Finance – working on organisations accounts
- Admin or advice work – building up office skills and helping other people
- Charity shop – Gaining retail skills, teamwork and improving English
- Lunch club – preparing food for older people at a weekly club.
- Social work type roles – befriending, supporting people
To see an overview of the types of activities you can do and the areas of interest available click here)
If you have low level English, you may need to start with something simple to improve your English and then we can help you find a more advanced role as your English improves. (see level of English below)
Please note:
You cannot volunteer with companies that make a profit e.g. Engineers, Builders, Electricians, Vets, IT, Mechanical work like welding or car mechanics. You can still gain transferrable skills which can help you to get the job you want later on.
Volunteering is different to working without getting paid. Sometimes refugee Doctors, Engineers or Mechanics want to work without pay to gain experience. This is not normally possible. Please talk to us for more information.
When can I start volunteering? How long is the application process?
It can take a long time to start volunteering but we can help you with the process. Everyone who wants to volunteer has delays in the process and this is normal. This is often because the organisation is really busy so don’t worry about it. Just let us know what is happening and we can call the organisation for you to help you get started.
Some opportunities let you start straight away but others ask for an application form. We can help you to complete the application form and post it for you. If you need a CRB check we can help you find the right documents.
What level of English is needed? – Entry 2 or above.
The level of English needed depends on the role that you do. Some volunteering roles do not need much English, e.g., gardening, practical work or serving coffee. These roles require volunteers to have Entry 2 level English so that the staff can explain the tasks to volunteers.
More advanced roles need a better level of English. For example, roles such as advice work or reception need quite a good level of spoken and written English such as Level 1. We will be able to help you identify roles that match your level of English and so come and talk to us for help.
Summary of English levels and suitable roles:
| Level of English |
Example opportunity, role |
| Pre-Entry Entry 1 |
We are not able to find places with this level of English |
| Entry 2 | Roles where visual demonstrations can be done along with simple instructions e.g. • Serving tea and coffee, • Gardening • Charity Shop work Some places may offer simple admin tasks e.g. putting data onto computers, photocopying, filing. |
| Entry 3 |
Often Entry 3 is enough to do a wide range of roles and your previous experience and other skills will be more important than language |
| Level 1 Level 2 Advanced courses |
You can do most roles with this level of English. Language should not be a deciding factor. Opportunities might include: |
Will my expenses be paid?
Yes, they should be. All organisations on our database promise to pay travel expenses e.g. Bus fares. Lunch expenses should also be covered, if you volunteer for more than 4 hours.
Some organisations forget to offer volunteers expenses. If this happens ask someone how to claim your expenses and they should tell you. If you have any difficulties please talk to us and we will help you sort out the problem.
Very few charities have the funds to pay childcare expenses, but you can talk to us about these too. Click on Contact Us.
Can Asylum Seekers Volunteer?
Yes. Asylum seekers are allowed to volunteer and there are no restrictions on how much you can do. It will not affect your NASS/UKBA support. It will not affect your Home Office asylum application. We have got letters from the Home Office that show asylum seekers have been able to volunteer since 2002
Click here to view the Home Office letter to say asylum seekers can volunteer.
Some people still think that asylum seekers can’t volunteer. If you have any problems at all, please get in touch so we can help you.
Can I claim benefits whilst volunteering?
Yes you can. Volunteering is increasingly recognised as giving you a better chance of finding paid work.
You can volunteer as many hours as you like while you are on benefits, as long as you still meet the terms for getting them.
If you are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance you need to be
- actively looking for work
- willing to stop volunteering if you get a job (you must be free to start a job with one weeks notice)
It is always a good idea to discuss your volunteering with your benefit agency so they are in the picture. Ask your adviser for the ‘Vol work 1’ form, which it is a good idea to complete. If your adviser is unsure about you being allowed to volunteer whilst claiming benefits you can download the JobCentre Plus guide JCP – Volunteering on Benefits and show them this. You can also suggest they contact the Volunteer Centre.