Volunteering

Volunteer for Calibre - great fun in a good cause

“Without our wonderful volunteers we could not provide a free service to members. We can’t thank them enough.”
Martin Findlay, former Chairman

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, like twins Vera and Barbara?

Please see olur Vacancies page for opportunities that are currently available.

What kind of jobs?

• Getting new books into the library - new recordings are checked by a team of volunteers then, once corrected they are ready to be digitally mastered for the library. We are pleased to welcome volunteers with special skills and David (shown below) helps to make copies of new books from the digital masters to stock our shelves.

• Sending books to members - a team of volunteers work to ensure that our members are never without a book. They select disks and cassettes from library shelves, pack them and prepare them for posting. In 2008 they helped us dispatch almost half a million books to members. All volunteer positions in this area are currently filled.
  
• Special projects - our Buzzword newsletter for Young Calibre members is compiled with help from young people at local schools.
• We are currently seeking volunteers to check master recordings for accuracy - this is a home-based role. For more information please refer to our Audio Checkers page

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.

Corporate Support

We are often able to offer short-term placements to corporate teams or work experience for school pupils. Recent corporate volunteer teams have included Dun and Bradstreet and the RAF Catering Squadron. Pupils from Henry Flloyd and Aylesbury High School have also helped us with specific projects - more information is available on our News pages. Please call us on 01296 432339 for more details.

What our volunteers say

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."

Convinced yet? Why not give it a try!
Just call us on 01296 432 339 to arrange to see our office and talk it through.