Volunteers

Join us as a volunteer and help us make Oxford a better place. You might like to get involved with one of our Working Groups, or maybe contribute to an ad hoc project.

“I became involved in the Society by accident really, but I’ve never regretted that. As a newcomer to Oxford, I found this a wonderful way to meet people and discover more about my city. The people are friendly, welcoming and from all walks of life, while their enthusiasm is infectious. It’s good to be part of a team.” A volunteer.

If you’re looking for something enjoyable to get involved in, here are our current opportunities.

OxClean

The OxClean team urgently needs to find someone to run a North Oxford Hub (‘Depot’) over the Spring Clean weekends 3 – 5 and 10 – 12 March

This is what it involves:

  • Space (preferably a garage) to hold litter pickers, vests and bags for the duration;
  • Ideally being on the spot i.e. own garage at house;
  • Being available over the two weekends and some days leading up to each for distribution, and for the returned equipment after the pick;
  • Sorting out bundles of said equipment to distribute to groups turning up at your house;
  • Being prepared to spend a little time over the accompanying admin i.e. liaising with the groups over arrangements

We have someone in Lonsdale Road who can help with the admin – i.e. receive the forms from our registration officer, liaise with the groups, arrange times etc. She is also willing to explain it all in person.

One of the best things about this “job” is that personal interaction with the groups is a positive and a depot is not simply a repository where people come and pick up pickers, vests and sacks. Groups returning equipment at the end of their pick always have a smile on their faces and say how much they enjoyed the experience.

If you can help please email register@oxclean.org.uk. Thank you!

OxClean also welcomes helpers for a variety of tasks:

  • Work in schools – we need a couple of people willing to pay short visits to about 10 primary schools each once a year to assess the cleanliness of their grounds;
  • Spring Clean – we need helpers to support this two-day March event;
  • Campaign work – we need more people to join the campaign side of this work, for example to lobby local authorities and encourage press coverage.

For all the above contact Vernon Porter.

Programme Group

The Programme Group is looking for new members to join its friendly team. The programme of events is central to what the Society offers its members and is hugely enjoyed, providing an insight into many private worlds via visits to colleges, private gardens, high-tech industry and nature reserves, for example, and through talks on a wide range of subjects. More details here.

We’d also welcome anyone with photography or graphic design skills to support our work as needed. If you’re prepared to let us use your super shots of the city, or design the occasional poster, do get in touch: contact Hilary Bradley.

Trustees

We are always looking for new Trustees to help us to manage the Society’s affairs. If you might be interested please contact Vernon Porter.

Other ways to help

Even if you don’t think any of the opportunities above are right for you but you’d still like to get involved please get in touch. We are always pleased to hear from people and will be delighted to talk to you about how you could help. The same applies if there’s an issue which you think the Society should give more attention to and where you’d be willing to take the lead. To get in touch, email us at info@oxcivicsoc.org.uk

“All of us who take part in the Society’s activities find our involvement interesting and stimulating, a way of keeping in touch with what really goes on in the city, and meeting like-minded people. Do join us – we can promise you a warm welcome and friendly colleagues.” Peter Thompson, former Chairman.