Volunteers

Without our volunteers, the Wildlife Aid Foundation could not continue to care for the animals that need our help. If you feel strongly about the future of British wildlife, if you just love all animals or even if it's just because you have some free time and want to work with a group of friendly and dedicated group of like-minded people, then why not become a volunteer?

As well as helping with animal care, there are other volunteering opportunities within the charity. Perhaps you can't commit to working regularly at the centre, but could you collect injured animals in your area when needed and bring them into us? Perhaps your skills lie in fundraising or PR and you can help to promote the charity through local and national media? Or maybe you have strong admin. skills and can do some work from home to support the charity. 

If you think that you have the skills to help us then please complete the Volunteer Application Form below. We will then be in touch to discuss the opportunities available, and to arrange for you to come for a Volunteer Induction at the centre.

We do ask that all volunteers are over 16 please

Please be patient when submitting an application form - we receive up to 50 each week, so need some time to process them.  You should receive a reply within 10 working days.

Click here for the Volunteer Application Form

Animal Carers

You don't need any special skills to help out with the care of the wildlife at the centre - just a few hours a week on a regular basis. We have volunteers of all ages levels of experience and background. You do not need to be a wildlife expert - we will give you full training and support - but you do need to be someone who cares and is willing to make a commitment to coming on a regular basis.

Animal care is exactly as it sounds - looking after the sick, injured and orphaned wildlife currently undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at the centre.  You will be cleaning, feeding, weighing, and generally maintaining the high standards of care that we maintain in the various areas of the hospital.

Volunteering can also be great fun and gives you a chance to meet lots of people. At the moment we have over 280 volunteers. We always need more people to help as the centre is open every day of the year. There are lots of opportunities, so whatever your skills or interests - we need you!

Please note, that as a small charity we are unable to offer accommodation for volunteers travelling from overseas.

General Assistant

During the busiest times of year - spring and summer - we need additional help during the afternoons.  We are looking for people that will help to clean and set up new pens and cages with bedding, people to do light maintenance work - repairing pens, erecting temporary enclosures, painting, gardening, moving food stocks etc etc.  You will also get involved in moving animals form cages into outside pens as they get older, and so there will be an element of animal handling as well.  If we get really busy then we may well need your help in ICU, feeding some of the baby birds and mammals, so no two shifts will be the same!

Hospital Receptionist/Administrators

With our ever-increasing workload we are looking for volunteers who have administration skills to be part of our team. 

Based on the busy hospital reception desk, the role encompasses all aspects of the charity’s administrative functions, including database entry, emails, membership admin, organising rotas for orphan feeding and our hedgehog release programme amongst many other jobs.

Ideally you will be committing to a minimum of just one shift a week: Morning (9.00am – 1.00pm), Afternoon (1.00pm – 6.00pm) or Evening (6.00pm – 10.00pm).  Each shift has a dedicated receptionist and the administrator will also be able to give the receptionist support when things get really busy.

Full training will be given; however applicants should be computer literate, with experience in MS office, particularly Word & Excel, along with good spelling and grammar. Attention to detail is very important, and any previous customer service or reception experience would be ideal.

Any interested applicants should apply in writing to becky@wildlifeaid.org.uk.

Volunteer Veterinary Nurses

Tired of normal run of the mill veterinary work?

Are you a qualified Veterinary Nurse or Veterinary Surgeon who fancies working on the wild side of the veterinary world?

The Wildlife Aid Foundation is very pleased to be able to offer voluntary work placements to vets and nurses for short or long periods of time. This can be something as regular as 2 or 3 days a week long term (for a lucky few!), or even just one or two weeks work experience in our busy hospital for you to gain experience working alongside our current veterinary team. This is a very rewarding position and fantastic experience to have under your belt.

If you are interested, then please do send a letter with a copy of your CV to lucy@wildlifeaid.org.uk who will provide you with more information.

Work Experience Placements

The Wildlife Aid Foundation offers Work Experience placements between February and November each year.  Placements are not offered in December and January as the hospital is extremely quiet during these months and learning potential would be greatly reduced. 

Students will become involved in the day to day running of the hospital, with the cleaning and feeding that accompanies the ongoing animal care and welfare that we offer. 

Our placements consist of 5 days work experience over a 7 day period, with some students working one day at the weekend as the hospital is open 7 days a week.  The weekend day will be advised in plenty of time, and will be at the end of the placement week (i.e. all weeks start on a Monday, and will finish on a Sunday, with two days off during that period).  Usual hours will be from 9am - 5pm, with an hour for lunch.

If you wish to reserve a placement, please click here to complete an application form.  Choose "Work Experience" from the drop down menu.

Please note that we ask for a payment of £30 for each week to cover our admin and insurance costs and all students must be over the age of 16 when they start their placement.

Any questions?  Please email: becky@wildlifeaid.org.uk

Wildlife Collection Officers - Home based

Occasionally we will need to collect an injured bird or animal, usually from someone who is unable to travel to the centre. At the moment we are unable to attend these sorts of rescues, as we simply do not have the resources to do so as all volunteers are tied up at the hospital itself. Ideally we would like to establish a network of remotely-based collection officers who would be prepared to collect an animal (in their area) and bring it over to us in Leatherhead.

Fundraising

As a charity we are continually looking for new ways to generate funds to keep the centre running. This would be a home-based role, attending events when necessary, so if this is your area of expertise please email fundraising@wildlifeaid.org.uk directly.

School & Group Talks

Are you confident talking in front of a group of people? Once you have some experience here, why not help us with our educational programme by giving talks on behalf of the Wildlife Aid Foundation? We receive many requests throughout the year from local schools and community organisations, who would like to know more about the work that we do. We have a fantastic PowerPoint presentation, which caters for all age groups. If this is something you would like to get involved with, please get in touch.