Who can join, and how we check

Causework is for skills-based volunteering: people with real professional experience giving it to organisations with a public benefit. These are the rules every organisation, role and volunteer will be checked against before going live.

Launch status: the role search is live now. Accounts, posting, applications and messaging open with the next release, planned before Reach stops accepting new roles on 29 September 2026.

Volunteers

You live in the UK. We cannot accept volunteers living abroad, including UK citizens, and we cannot help with visas.
You have at least three years of professional experience in the skills you select, paid or voluntary. Internships and work experience placements are not what this service is for.
Your profile is complete: where you are, what you can offer, what you are looking for, and a CV or LinkedIn profile.
We do not carry out reference or DBS checks. Organisations are told to do their own, especially for board roles or work with people at risk.

Organisations

Based in the UK and already operating, with a team involved and impact you can describe.
A demonstrable public benefit, with a legal structure that keeps it at the core: a registered charity, an educational body, a small or unincorporated group, a society or credit union, a social enterprise, a not-for-profit, or a public sector body.
Where a regulator number exists we ask for it: Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI, Companies House or the FCA mutuals register.
Not primarily profit-making. Limited companies and LLPs are accepted only when they are also community interest companies or limited by guarantee.

Roles

Unpaid and based in the UK.
Needs three or more years of experience in at least one of the listed skills, and the description says so. Skills must be essential, not nice to have.
Not over-burdensome: no line management of paid staff, and no more than 15 hours a week.
One role per advert, and not a duplicate of a role you already have live in the same area.
A closing date within six months. You can extend it later.
No contact details or links to external application forms in the advert. First contact happens here so placements can be counted, which is what keeps the service free.
Trustee roles for people with lived experience of your cause may waive the skills requirement. Everything else still applies.

How the checks work

Hard rules (UK postcode, closing date, hours, contact details) will be checked automatically the moment you submit. A reviewer will then read the description against the experience rule, with a suggested verdict already prepared, and approve it, send it back with a reason, or decline it.
The target is to review organisations and roles within two working days and volunteer profiles within three.
Every role, organisation and profile will carry a report link. Reports will be read by a person and answered within five working days.