Become a volunteer at Kinship

Join a powerful community of volunteers supporting kinship carers by setting up support groups, chatting on the phone or supporting our advice and information team.

A woman walks through the park smiling and holding hands with two small children. Behind her is another woman holding hands with a child. They are both smiling.

Join the best volunteering community – supporting kinship carers

Our kinship volunteers are a key part of Kinship, and central to delivering our services and support to all kinship carers.  Without our volunteers, we couldn’t do what we do. Many of our volunteers are kinship carers themselves. They really understand how important it is to have support from other people like them.

As a volunteer, the time you give really matters, and if you’d like to help and make a difference to kinship carers and their families, we’d love to hear from you.

Volunteers are a diverse group of people, and we welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and abilities (you do need to be over the age of 18). We welcome and actively encourage volunteers who are or have experience as a kinship carer, or perhaps grew up in kinship care.

Individuals who are passionate and would love to support other kinship carers by:

setting up kinship support groups

It takes five minutes to sign up to have an informal chat with one of our Kinship team.

"Hopefully we can make it better for the rest of the kinship carers coming up and joining us, making it easier for them to understand we're all together."

A kinship carer, on setting up and running a group

A smiling woman holding a small child in a field.

Why volunteer?

It takes five minutes to sign up to have an informal chat with one of our Kinship team.

There’s lots of reasons to become a volunteer:

you’ll meet new people, build new relationships and connections
to help kinship carers, especially if you understand what they’re going through
create positive change in someone’s life and their kinship family

Many of our volunteers are kinship carers, and we know how rewarding it is to be a kinship carer, but we also know how difficult it can be, supporting your family and finding time to support others.

There’s no pressure to volunteer now. Take your time, read a bit more and sign up for more information and an informal chat using our expression of interest form.

Four simple steps to becoming a kinship peer volunteer:

Four turquoise circles, with numbers 1 to 4 written in them in white. There are yellow arrows pointing from numbers 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4. Underneath number 1, it says: Register. Fill out our simple expression of interest form online. We'll need to know where you're based and how we can contact you. Underneath number 2, it says: Informal chat. We'll be in touch within five working days to set up a time to chat and you can ask questions (this can be on the phone or on Zoom). Underneath number 3, it says: Think it through. Take some time to make sure you can commit to volunteering and that the role is right for you. Underneath number 4, it says: Training and checks. We'll get you booked in for training, start any checks we might need to do (references) and introduce you to other kinship volunteers.

Give your time, commitment and support – find friendship and connection

Four people sitting in a circle. One of them is writing on a clipboard and has their left hand resting on the shoulder of one of the members of the group.

Set up a kinship support group

Support groups create safe spaces for kinship carers to come together, learn from each other and share experiences. We’ll help you set up a group.

Find out more