Why Volunteer

How do volunteers help PDSA?

What will I get out of volunteering with PDSA?
Useful links to other volunteering websites:

Volunteers are absolutely vital to PDSA, providing help and support in all aspects of our work: in our retail network, fundraising groups, offices and PetAid hospitals right across the UK. Volunteers help to raise money to fund our vital veterinary work and also raise awareness of the charity in the community. As well as helping PDSA you can really benefit from volunteering personally too!

What will I get out of volunteering with PDSA?

The benefits of volunteering at PDSA are endless – here are just some of them:

Make new friends
Become part of a valued team
Gain valuable work experience
Learn new skills
Have a lot of fun
Develop skills you already have
Gain confidence or help others to
Get a great sense of satisfaction and achievement
Do things you always wanted to but thought you never would
Help sick and injured pets as well as their worried owners

PDSA was the first UK-wide organisation to be awarded the prestigious Investing in Volunteers (IiV) quality standard, after passing a vigorous assessment programme, undertaken by Volunteering England.

Achieving IiV recognises the charity’s dual commitment to offer worthwhile volunteering opportunities and to demonstrate good practice in volunteer management.

We believe that the volunteer roles offered within PDSA benefit all concerned. All of our roles are offered on a voluntary basis and are not ‘jobs’ which would otherwise be performed by paid staff. People who join the team do so for a variety of different reasons, ranging from young people doing their Duke of Edinburgh award to retired people looking to keep active.

Our voluntary roles are specifically designed to support our staff and in return, we have lots to offer our volunteers, as we believe volunteering is very much a two-way relationship that should be beneficial and indeed enjoyable for both parties. We pride ourselves on the high standards we strive for to help ensure a positive volunteering experience.

PDSA provides a fully structured training programme for all of our volunteers which can be extremely useful for job seekers. Many of our volunteers have gone on to paid employment using the skills they have gained.

All potential volunteers are interviewed before they begin to ensure they are happy to volunteer at PDSA. If a potential volunteer doesn’t want to be with us, then PDSA is not the place for them as we believe volunteering should be of mutual benefit.

Our volunteers, by whichever way they come to PDSA, help us by raising funds in our stores, our fundraising groups and supporting our PetAid hospitals.

Find a PDSA volunteering opportunity