Volunteer for us
Opportunities to give your time, whether it's a little or a lot
Giving your time is a wonderful gift to us. Volunteers have an indispensable role both at the rehoming centre assisting staff and representing us in our community. Whether it's getting stuck into our laundry or being in charge of a collection at an event, each and every volunteering role is important part of the charity’s work as a whole.
Together, we can do the best for our animals and the charity.
For an idea of what it's like to volunteer for us, check out our Volunteer Spotlight blog posts.
Current volunteering vacancies
PLEASE NOTE We cannot offer year 10 work experience, Duke of Edinburgh placements or volunteering roles for under 18s.
The Together Project
Established in 2018, the Together Project is a community outreach project delivered by a team of volunteer vets and non-clinical volunteers to provide non-judgmental veterinary advice, treatment and care to the pets of vulnerably housed and homeless people in Bath. Working in partnership with local homeless charities Julian House and Genesis Trust, the team understands the strong bond between an owner and a pet, and that for many, a pet can be a lifeline, so they aim to do whatever they can to keep these beloved pets together with their owners.
We are seeking kind, empathetic and understanding volunteers to join our award-winning Together Project team and would love to hear from vets and vet nurses (RVN) interested in joining the project.
About the Role
Currently the Together Project team runs one clinic per month at Genesis on the Canal in Widcombe on a Friday morning. As our clinic has steadily become busier in recent months, we aim to help more pets by offering a second clinic at the Julian House day centre drop in session on Tuesdays at the Salvation Army in Bath. However, we need more volunteers to make this happen! We are particularly interested to hear from vets and nurses available on Tuesdays 11am-1pm.
During a clinic, volunteers will:
- Earn trust from people in marginalised communities by demonstrating true care for their pets
- Register new service users and encourage their attendance at monthly clinics, promoting responsible pet ownership regardless of living situation
- Catch up with service users and their pets, building relationships and ensuring consistency of treatment where possible
- Provide preventative treatment such as vaccinations and parasite treatment
- Provide treatment for illness and injury, as well as emergency intervention when necessary
- Act as ambassadors for the project and Bath Cats & Dogs Home
About You
We would love to hear from vets and vet nurses who can give 2 hours every other month to support the Together Project. You will need to be outgoing, approachable and have an understanding nature as trust from Together Project service users is hard-won and not guaranteed.
This is an exciting opportunity for vets and vet nurses interested in applying their knowledge and experience to an outreach programme aiming to improve the lives of marginalised people and empowering them to best care for their beloved pets. Taking your clinical knowledge out of the practice and into the community, you will be reaching out to people who love their pets wholeheartedly but may not feel able to ask for help.
How to Apply
All staff and volunteers are required to complete online Health & Safety training prior to their start date. Vets and nurses will need to have clinical insurance provided by their employer. Due to insurance restrictions, we can only take on volunteers over the age of 18.
Click the link below to complete an application form. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Hayley Crymble, Education & Outreach Manager, at hayleycrymble@bcdh.org.uk
We have a rare opportunity to add to our brilliant team of cattery care volunteers and are seeking experienced cat owners to volunteer in both of our catteries on a weekly basis. This key role frees up our cattery team to complete time-consuming tasks such as behavioural assessments, meaning that the cats in our care can be made available for rehoming sooner. Exposing nervous cats to new people who have been trained how to sensitively handle them helps them on their journey to finding a new loving home.
If you're a feline fan who would like to help our busy cattery team look after our cats until they find their forever homes, we would love to hear from you!
About the Role
Here at BCDH, we have two catteries which house cats with different natures. Fuller Cattery is home to friendly, confident cats who usually enjoy fuss and attention. Hurle Cattery is home to our more nervous or poorly cats as well as pregnant queens and litters of kittens. We could use some more volunteer support in both catteries, and your duties will include:
- Cleaning litter trays
- Cleaning cat pods
- Removing and cleaning up food bowls
- Changing bedding and toys
- Stocking the cattery with food, litter and clean laundry
- Socialising cats and providing them with enrichment activities
Our staff and volunteers who care for our cats are very experienced so there will be lots of guidance and support for you.
About You
The ideal cattery volunteer is a kind and caring individual with experience of handling cats. You will be aware of your surroundings and able to follow instructions on each cat’s training plan as well as isolation procedures for poorly cats. Due to the needs of the cats in Hurle cattery, we can only consider people who have experience of handling nervous cats. Fuller cattery houses friendly and confident cats, so naturally here we have lots of adoptions and a high turnover.
Our focus is always the welfare of the animals in our care. As such, a key part of this role will be assisting with the sometimes smelly and messy jobs! Whilst there is a social element to the role, please consider the other aspects of cattery volunteering before you apply. At this stage we are sorry that we do not have any volunteer roles which are purely for socialising cats.
How to Apply
All staff and volunteers are required to complete online Health & Safety training prior to their start date. Due to insurance restrictions, we can only take on volunteers over the age of 18.
Click on the link below complete the application form. If we feel that you are suitable for this role, you will then be invited for a taster session in the cattery, where you will gain further insight into the role prior to making any commitment to volunteering or undertaking training. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Tracey Harrison, HR & Volunteer Administrator on traceyharrison@bcdh.org.uk.
Due to the popularity of animal-facing volunteering roles, we expect to receive a high volume of applications and we are a small team, however we will respond to all applications in due course.