Spotlight on Volunteering with Medaille Trust

Who are Medaille Trust?  

Medaille Trust is a national charity that supports survivors of modern slavery and trafficking across England. We do this via our safehouse accommodation and through our outreach projects - the Moving on Project (of which we have five hubs across England). We also partner with law enforcement authorities and deliver awareness raising of modern slavery and trafficking in communities and to organisations.  

How do volunteers support your work? 

We have brilliant volunteers based throughout the country supporting the different projects that we run in a variety of ways, including helping with activities such as arts, crafts, cooking, poetry or sewing. Volunteers also provide support at our safe houses, helping with gardening and maintaining allotments alongside our service users, supporting them to learn new skills or develop ones that they already have. Our Translation Volunteers translate documents from English into other languages. Our First Responder volunteers support service users by taking an account of their experience of trafficking to share with the Home Office, so they can make a decision via the National Referral Mechanism. Volunteers are involved in all aspects of our work! 

How are volunteers involved in Birmingham and the West Midlands?  

One of our outreach projects is based in the West Midlands and it has just expanded to take on volunteers to help run group sessions for service users. This is a safe space where women come together to do activities such as crafts, poetry, wellbeing, sewing and art. It also includes things such as visits out and educational activities such as First Aid. The group sessions are a safe space where women can come together, learn new skills, build on their current knowledge, make friends and forge networks.  

The Moving on Project provides casework and 1-2-1 support, as well as looking at things like wellbeing, community activities, access to justice and education, volunteering and employment. If you feel that you or someone you work with would benefit from a referral to their services, please contact Kate Ross on [email protected] 

What volunteering opportunities do you currently have available?  

We have a range of volunteering opportunities available nationally to support our service users and services. These can be found on our website: Latest vacancies from Modern Slavery Charity Medaille Trust (medaille-trust.org.uk)  

One of the roles we are keen to recruit volunteers for is a Volunteer Translator role. These are flexible roles where you can volunteer from home or anywhere in the country to translate important documents to ensure that service users fully understand the information that they are receiving. We are particularly looking for volunteers who can accurately translate English text into the following languages: Mandarin, Bengali, Arabic, Amharic, French, Albanian, Vietnamese, Romanian, Polish, Tigrinya, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi. If you are interested, please visit our website for more information and to apply: Translator - Nationwide / Remote | Medaille Trust (medaille-trust.org.uk)   

What difference do volunteers make?  

The impact that the volunteers make is incredible! They are a friendly face and welcome conversation at our safehouses, group sessions or drop in’s. They get involved with everything from singing, learning musical instruments, wellbeing activities, helping on trips out and furthering wellbeing by helping to support clients in gardening projects. Volunteers also teach service users to cook and sew – some service users have even made outfits for themselves or their children, decorated their living room and more! We are incredibly grateful for their time, energy and passion.  

What do your volunteers say about their experience of supporting Medaille Trust?  

Volunteers have lots of positive things to say about their volunteering experience. Below is some feedback from a few volunteers: 

'I have enjoyed working with the women, they inspire me. I feel supported by the team, I absolutely love it!’ 

‘Volunteering gives me a chance to help others, when I can. The ladies there are wonderful. It also enables me to put any of my problems into perspective, it's just worthwhile doing as you get so much out of it.’ 

'I find the opportunities offered by Medaille Trust very fulfilling and purposeful.’ 

Interested in volunteering? 

For more information about volunteering at Medaille Trust, visit the Medaille Trust website or contact Katie – Volunteer Coordinator - at: [email protected]