Involvement Network Volunteer
Our home-based Involvement Network Volunteers help us with their feedback, comments and views. You might be part of a focus group or give feedback on information resources. You can help us improve our communication and expand our reach.
This is a flexible and varied role. You can give your time for a specific project or give small amounts of time on a regular basis. There is no regular commitment. We will contact you when we have an opportunity and tell you what’s needed. You can decide if you want to get involved.
Cheerpoint Volunteers
Cheerpoint Volunteers bring their loudest cheers and biggest smiles to encourage our runners at events. You’ll be part of a team, giving your energy and enthusiasm to a special fundraising day.
Support Group Helper
Our in-person support groups are a valuable and vital way for people with MSA, carers and family members to get together and share experiences. Support Group Helpers create a warm, welcoming space for attendees. They assist with refreshments help the health care professional who is leading the group and talk with attendees.
This role is for you if you want in-person contact with people affected by MSA, are organised, friendly and a good listener.
Photographer
Volunteer Photographers help us capture the work of the Trust and our community. You could be photographing runners at a big fundraiser like the London Marathon, documenting attendees at a support group, or capturing the magic of a social event in our dedicated woodland.
Sarah’s Wood Volunteer
Sarah’s Wood in Nottingham Forest is a special place of hope and reflection. We host a Summer Social and a Tree Planting every year. Volunteers work alongside MSA Trust staff to welcome guests and create a memorable day.
You might be serving afternoon tea, planting trees and guiding guests. These special events call for special volunteers who bring understanding and warmth.
Ambassador
Ambassadors give their time when they can to raise awareness of MSA, and to connect with supporters and the MSA community. There is no minimum time commitment. The role is flexible and depends on the opportunities that come up in your local area.
You might give a talk about your personal experience of MSA to a local community group, collect a donation or deliver information to a hospital.
User Information Panel
To make sure all our information materials are of a high standard we put them through an accreditation process. This includes feedback from users in our community. Our User Information Panel is made up of volunteers with experience of MSA who review our information materials for usability, content and accuracy. You might be someone living with MSA, affected by MSA through a personal connection or a healthcare professional.
Catering Volunteer
At our special events, like Candlelight and our Summer Social, we offer guests light refreshments. Catering Volunteers help laying out refreshment tables, making drinks and serving guests. You’ll make guests feel welcome and cared for, and help to create a special occasion. This is a good role if you want to volunteer with friends or family as a small team.
Trustees
The MSA Trust’s Board of Trustees is a group of volunteers who carry the legal responsibility for steering the charity’s direction, ensuring it is financially sound and well-managed. They act as a group in the best interest of the charity. Trustees are personally accountable to the Charity Commissioners and Office of Scottish Charity Regulators for the proper management of the MSA Trust.
Trustees are appointed for a three-year term of office. This can be renewed for one further term to a maximum of six years. Trustees are recruited to give a strong balance of skills and experience to the Board. Trustee vacancies are advertised as positions on the Board become free. To find out more, email volunteer@msatrust.org.uk.
Scientific Advisory Panel Member
The role of the Scientific Advisory Panel (or SAP) is to offer guidance to the Board of Trustees on which research grant applications to fund. The SAP oversees the progress of grants, through regular reports from grant recipients.
The SAP includes Professional Volunteers from clinical or scientific backgrounds relevant to MSA research and Lay Volunteers (people with a personal connection to MSA). SAP vacancies are advertised as positions on the Board become free. To find out more, email volunteer@msatrust.org.uk.
Want to help, but worried you don’t have the time?
We understand that signing up to volunteer can seem like a big commitment, especially when life with MSA feels uncertain.
There are lots of actions you can take without becoming a volunteer. We call them Micro Support Actions.
Micro Support Actions help us but don’t take a lot of time or energy. They can include:
- Showing support on social media
- Filling in a survey
- Sharing campaigns
- Signing a petition
- Sharing information on fundraising events
- Encouraging friends to buy our Christmas Cards
- Sharing your story on our website
You can share your ideas for Micro Support Actions with us by emailing volunteer@msatrust.org.uk.