VOLUNTEERING AT BELLFIELD 

We have some amazing volunteers who make a fantastic contribution. You can volunteer to do a one-off task, make a regular long term commitment, or make yourself available on-call to offer help as needed.

Typically the volunteers fall into a few groups: Board and sub-group members, welcoming users of the building (hosting), Café and bakers, assisting at events, gardening and helping maintain the building.

If you’re interested in getting involved and helping to grow this fantastic community hub, please see the following volunteer opportunities or contact our Volunteer Coordinator alison@actionporty.com . It might take a chat to work out what you are most interested in and suited to. Or you may have skills we can use that aren’t listed here - get in touch!

Friday Cafe

Bellfield Café is open Fridays 10-12:30 (depending on volunteer availability)  

Current Opportunities:

Come and join our friendly team of volunteers who have a passion for connecting with people and sharing the joy of a good cuppa and home-baking!

Volunteers required to run the café - serve teas, coffees, cake, soups/sandwiches, set up, close down, chat with customers and maybe help run activities and skills sharing sessions in a relaxed environment.

No previous experience necessary; you will be supported to learn and develop skills at your own pace by a lovely group of fellow volunteers. Commitment can be regular, semi-regular or occasional.

Bakers required- you can either bake at home and bring into the café on a Friday, (equally we'd be happy to collect) or bake from our kitchen on a Thursday/ early Friday morning. Equipment and ingredients can be provided and reimbursed. We will support you to grow and develop your baking skills and complete a REHIS food health and hygiene certificate.

COMMUNICATIONS

If you have communications and social media skills (or would like to develop some), and would like to help to promote Action Porty and Bellfield, we want to hear from you!

We currently need regular support to do some or all of the following: update our website, produce monthly newsletters and use social media to promote events and campaigns. The role is flexible and can be done remotely or in the Bellfield office. Basic training can be provided.

HOSTING

Join the team of people who welcome building users, help them feel at home for their event, and close up safely when it’s over.

Full training and back-up are provided, this is a vital role to make sure that people find Bellfield a welcoming and friendly place. This job is shared, and you can choose when to make yourself available.

Gardening

Green-fingered volunteers help keep Bellfield’s garden and grounds tidy. We need to continue to maintain and improve these outdoor spaces, so if gardening is your thing, get in touch.

Current Opportunities:

Bellfield Garden Group -

Friday 10-12:30 at Bellfield Garden

The group meets weekly to develop the garden space. Any volunteers welcome. No gardening experience necessary.   

Community Fundraising / Events

We are always looking for help with organising and running social events and activities, some (but not all) of which help to raise money for the Bellfield project. If this is something you think you’d enjoy, we want to hear from you.

BUILDING CARE

With a large, old building, there are always maintenance tasks to be done. For bigger things, we use local professionals but there are always smaller jobs that need to be sorted.

Current Opportunities:

We are looking for DIY volunteers to meet at Bellfield once per week/ fortnight to complete ongoing maintenance jobs:   

• Paint equipment audited (brushes, paint pots, rollers etc)   

•  Window frame in office to be painted   

•  Broken chairs (approx. 4-5 to be repaired)  

•  Toilet seat to be fitted - (gents loo & disabled toilet)  

•  Broken brown plastic chair to go to tip  

•  Box of empty bottles to go to bottle bank  

•  Regular Fire alarm tester  

Fundraising

The fundraising group develops a strategy for funding both the development of Bellfield’s buildings, and the activities of Action Porty. Several successful grant applications have helped fund essential work. A Community Share issue and further loan finance is also under consideration.

Human Relations

This sub group has two key areas of responsibility: (1) to ensure that Action Porty has appropriate HR policies and procedures in place for its employees, and (2) to develop policies to recruit and support volunteers. If you have relevant experience you are most welcome!

operations and Building Management

This group ensures that we have the necessary policies and procedures in place to run Bellfield efficiently, fairly and safely.

This includes creating appropriate policies and documentation, developing administrative processes and training and advising our staff, volunteers and users.

Heritage

Action Porty has established a key partnership with Portobello Heritage Trust to develop the heritage element within the Bellfield project. The ambition is to create both a permanent and a revolving exhibition space, providing public access to heritage resources and organising activities and events to engage people in the heritage of Portobello and its people.