Volunteer for us

At Bristol Mind, we work with over 85 volunteers every year and consider ourselves to be very fortunate to have such dedication and expertise within our local community.

Volunteering for Bristol Mind is not just about giving back: via our structured and supportive placements, it can provide a pathway from lived experience through to training, work experience and eventual paid work within the mental health and allied professions.

Our volunteers come from diverse backgrounds, go through a competitive recruitment process and receive rigorous training in listening skills, customer service, equity & inclusion, safeguarding and trauma-informed practice.

You can sign up for our volunteer mailing list here if you’d like to be notified of future volunteer opportunities.

Volunteer Opportunities at Bristol Mind

Mind Line Telephone Helpline

Mind Line is our free telephone listening service, open Wed-Sunday 7pm-11pm. Click here to find out more information.

Mind Line Volunteers are recruited from the local community and undergo intensive training over a period of 6 weeks. They join a vibrant and friendly team, working on a rota basis undertaking approximately one shift every fortnight, answering calls from the general public about their wellbeing and mental health concerns.

What we offer you

extensive, high quality training
be part of a lively team
regular supervision and support
the opportunity to develop your listening skills and awareness of mental health

What we expect from you

agree to work with us for at least a year
attend all the training sessions
work a four-hour shift approximately every fortnight
receive supervision for each shift on the helpline
attend 6-weekly volunteer meetings

Read more about the experience of one of our Mind Line volunteers.

We run volunteer intake and training courses twice a year, details are published here as soon as they are confirmed.

If you would like to be notified of this and future Mindline volunteering opportunities, please join our mailing list:

Information Service Volunteers

Bristol Mind’s Information Service is a daytime telephone line and email service, offering information, signposting, and emotional support. The service is non-directive – we don’t tell people what to do or give advice. Click here to find out more information.

Volunteers on our Information Service provide invaluable support to callers who often seen us as a first port of call for mental health issues or concerns. They can also provide information to people who are concerned about someone else, and will do their best to assist professionals using an up-to-date and comprehensive list of Bristol and South Glos. agencies.

We recruit our Info Line Volunteers from the local community, they undertake a 4-day course of training and commit to at least one 3-½ hour shift a week, 9:30am – 1pm or 12:30pm – 4pm.

What we offer you:

Extensive training, covering all areas of the role and the organisation
Regular supervision
An on-call support duty staff member during every shift
Travel expenses when working from the Bristol Mind office
The opportunity to develop your customer support skills and knowledge of mental health services

What we expect from you:

An agreement to volunteer with us for at least nine months
Full attendance at the volunteer training sessions
An empathetic, non-judgemental attitude towards our callers
Working one 3.5 hour shift each week, and keeping staff informed in a timely manner when this isn’t possible
Engagement with the supervision process
Attendance at Team Meetings each quarter

How to volunteer:

We’re not currently recruiting for Information Service volunteers. If you’d like to be informed the next time opportunities arise, please sign up to our mailing list.

Counselling Placements

Our counselling service is provided by a mix of qualified counsellors and those in training. Some of our Counsellors initially started with volunteering on our Mindline service and then decide to progress to train as a counsellor as a result!

We have an excellent reputation with a number of regional and national training providers, and we offer full support and clinical supervision to all of our counsellors at Bristol Mind.

We are very fortunate to attract highly skilled and sensitive counsellors to help deliver our services and pride ourselves on our deliberately inclusive approach, with specialisms in LGBTQIA+, neurodivergence and refugee services. Counsellors who have completed placements with Bristol Mind often comment on the warm, inclusive service and support: some counsellors stay with us way beyond their allocated placement and may progress into paid work.