Volunteer - good fun in a good cause
If you live in the Aylesbury area and are looking for something rewarding and worthwhile to do in your spare time, why not think about volunteering for Calibre?
Some of our volunteers have been with us for decades for the simple reason that they enjoy it so much. Here is what they say about volunteering for Calibre.
"I have done lots of voluntary jobs but this is definitely the best."
"I love coming here. Everyone is so friendly."
"You really get a sense that you are doing something worthwhile. The members' letters are very touching."
"I have made some good friends here."
"I live on my own - it's just good to get out of the house and do something useful with other people."
"I look forward to my morning at Calibre - it's such fun!"
"I take the recordings home to check their quality - I feel very privileged actually."
Last year 86 volunteers put in 12,892 hours of work helping to run our day-to-day services.
What kind of jobs?
Calibre volunteers mainly help with the checking, stacking or despatch of tapes and MP3 disks. We send out an audio book to a member every 14 seconds of the working day and it takes lots of pairs of hands to make that possible. Volunteers work alongside staff in small groups.
Some of our volunteers help with the vital task of quality control. They take new recordings home and provide feedback on the quality of the recording and the reader. This enables us to correct any problems before the master tape is copied and added to the library.
We are also pleased to welcome volunteers with special skills such as administrative or computer skills. And our youth newsletter is compiled with help from young people at local schools.
It’s such fun working here!
Monica Harries, a retired nurse, has worked one day a week for us for 15 years.
"I've always been a keen reader so I was happy to volunteer. My main tasks are rewinding and cleaning the tapes, restocking the shelves and despatching the books. But I also take my work home as I listen to new recordings and give feedback on the readers and sound quality. I really enjoy working here, it's such fun. Reading members' letters makes me feel that what I do is really worthwhile - some of them are very moving."
Flexible and friendly
Most of our volunteers work a morning or afternoon at our offices, though some prefer to stay for a full day. We can offer flexible hours to suit your needs but we do prefer it if you can make a regular commitment. Normal office hours are 9 am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Our volunteer co-ordinator makes sure that you are made to feel welcome and arranges an induction programme to help you get to know us and the work.
Our offices are light, bright and wheelchair accessible and we have a kitchen where you can make drinks and snacks. We have plenty of parking and buses from Aylesbury town centre stop nearby on the A41.
Thanks a million
Volunteer dispatching books
We can't say thank you often enough to all our volunteers. They are truly the backbone of our service and it’s largely thanks to them that we can offer a very efficient, free service to our members.