This report details a project to improve Woodcraft Folk's volunteer recruitment, retention and inclusion/diversity through an action research methodology. I worked with the Hackney District Woodcraft Folk whose primary concern was that the group did not reflect the diversity of the local community. The aim was to recruit new volunteers who self-identified as belonging to underrepresented ethnic groups and for them to start up a new and ethnically diverse children's group. We recruited potential volunteers through various methods of targeted advertising in the community and follow up activities. We achieved a high response rate and recruited five new volunteers, including two people self-identifying as from BME groups, one of who was interested in starting a new inclusive children's group.

1. Woodcraft Folk Inclusive Recruitment Strategies:
Hackney District Report
Angela Pease-Watkin
Executive Summary
Background: Hackney Woodcraft Folk is a large district with a strong local reputation. An inclusion
and diversity group was established in 2012 because it was felt by a number of district volunteers
that Hackney Woodcraft Folk does not reflect the diversity of the local community in terms of
income status, ethnicity, gender and (dis)ability.
Research Aims: The principal aim for the research project was to recruit at least two new volunteer
leaders who self-identify as belonging to ethnic groups underrepresented within the district and for
the new volunteers to establish at least one new inclusive group, which would also be more
representative of the local community than existing groups at present.
Methodology: To make the advert for the volunteering opportunity more inclusive we included a
section referring explicitly to equal opportunities, diversity and black and minority ethnic (BME)
backgrounds, and we strongly emphasised the skills and experience rewards of volunteering. We
recruited via three main methods: emails and online media in a community college and university;
events at a community college and community centre, and; two websites. Activities for developing
enquirers into new volunteers included email communication followed by training meetings and
finally Playout sessions. Various methods were used to monitor and evaluate the project activities.
Results: A total of 59 people responded to our recruitment activities. Of these, 12 attended
induction/training meetings and 5 have become new volunteers. One new volunteer will take on the
new group, with the possibility of two of the other new volunteers also leading/assisting with the
new group. Two new volunteers have been placed in existing groups. The ethnic diversity of
enquirers and new volunteers is high and includes people self-identifying as being from BME as well
as non-BME backgrounds.
Conclusions: The recruitment methods were successful in engaging a good pool of potential and new
volunteers. Events have established strong and useful links within places embedded in the local
community. The research demonstrated that a high level of interest in volunteering with Woodcraft
Folk can be found in students. The recruitment activities and targets selected for the project proved
successful in meeting the aim of engaging and recruiting people from ethnic groups currently
underrepresented in the district. There is also a high potential for the new group being formed to be
very inclusive and diverse. This is likely due to the chosen location for the new group being a council
housing estate, and because the volunteers have organised Playout activities there to generate an
interest in Woodcraft Folk and the imminent new group. A final and unexpected outcome of the
research was discovering new ways that volunteers across the district can socialise more than they
currently tend to.
Background to the District
Size and Geography
Hackney Woodcraft Folk was founded in 1984 in the London borough of Hackney, where groups are
today concentrated in the Stoke Newington ward. It is a large and well-established district with a
strong local reputation, having recently experienced rapid expansion. The district has about 115

2. members and 8 active groups: 1 Woodchips, 3 Elfin, 2 Pioneers, 1 Venturers and 1 DFs. There are
long waiting lists for some of the groups, especially the Stoke Newington Elfins group.
Leading Groups
There are two broad approaches to allocating responsibilities for leading groups. The parent
cooperative approach involves parents of children alternating in leading a group. The group leader
approach means groups have one or a few consistent leader(s) who may or may not be parents,
with other volunteers assisting or leading occasionally. The parent cooperative approach has the
benefit of better engaging more parents in Woodcraft Folk than the group leader approach. A
weakness is that parents may ultimately leave the group when their children leave, meaning that
long term volunteer retention can be impacted.
Current Volunteer Recruitment
There is no dedicated Volunteer Coordinator, despite some efforts to appoint one. Recruitment of
children/parents tends to occur at events or by word of mouth. Volunteer recruitment has been
largely ad hoc since there tends to be no shortage of new volunteers due to the waiting lists and
parent cooperative approach. There is also no formal volunteer development (induction and
training) process, although there is commitment to providing all new volunteers with training.
Responsibilities for training lie with a relatively small segment of volunteers that are confident in
this skill, which can representative a time constraint for them.
Inclusion and Diversity
An inclusion and diversity group was formed in 2012. This was driven by a feeling amongst some
district volunteers that Hackney Woodcraft Folk does not reflect the diversity of the local
community in terms of income status, ethnicity, gender and (dis)ability. A working strategy
document highlights diversity issues, barriers to inclusion and suggestions for addressing these.
While focused on children/young people in groups, it makes reference to the need for inclusive
volunteer recruitment and the possibility of establishing a new group as a means of employing new
inclusive approaches. An attempt was made in 2012 to trial inclusive recruitment of children to a
new group. The new group was promoted by flyering on a council housing estate with the
assumption that this was likely to ensure people from lower income or minority ethnic groups were
reached. However, the district’s long waiting lists and word of mouth meant that the group was
quickly filled without the inclusion target being met.
Research Aims
Aims
The principal aim for the research project was to recruit at least two new volunteer leaders who
self-identify as belonging to groups underrepresented within the district. While inclusion and
diversity are vast issues, it was decided that the main focus would be targeting ethnicities
underrepresented in the district. This would be done by trialling ways of targeting recruitment
materials and activities in inclusive ways. There was no discrimination in recruitment: all
applications were considered on their merit, not demographic information. The aim was for the new
volunteers to establish at least one new inclusive group, which would also be more representative
of the local community than existing groups at present.
Rationales

3. The focus was on recruiting a new volunteer group leader; therefore, we were not focusing on
inclusive parent cooperative approaches. Establishing a new group using the group leader approach
has the potential to be more inclusive for parents who cannot commit to volunteering, for example
single parents or parents working shifts. It was clear that recruiting new volunteer leaders could
potentially be a way of reducing the waiting lists. However, it was felt that this would have less
positive impacts for diversity than establishing a new inclusive group recruiting beyond the waiting
lists. Thus inclusion was treated in the project as a process involving the recruitment of volunteers
and children/young people in parallel. Finally, it was identified as important that new volunteers be
able to commit in the long term for the sustainability of the new group.
Methodology
The other members of the project group were four Hackney Woodcraft Folk volunteers: Richard, Ele,
Kieran and Carole. The following steps were taken in recruiting and developing (potential)
volunteers and evaluating the effectiveness of our various approaches.
Recruitment Materials
The copy for an advert for the volunteering opportunity was written and adapted to three versions
—one short, one medium, one long—to suit different purposes. The advert texts are in Appendix 1.
Various features of the advert were discussed at length and the following decisions made.
Feature of Avert Considerations and Outcomes
Targeting
underrepresented
groups
We included in all three versions a section referring to equal opportunities,
diversity and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. The decision to do
this was based on researching the use of similar language and terminology by
other organisations advertising for volunteers. Research was also carried out
into the term BME and a related term, Black and Asian Minority Ethnic
(BAME). Both terms are used, but the former is more prevalent.
The ‘hook’ There are diverse reasons that someone may want to volunteer for Woodcraft
Folk. To increase the retention and engagement of volunteers, they will need
to share an affinity for Woodcraft Folk’s vision. However, the project group felt
that the priority for ensuring that the adverts were broadly accessible and
appealing was to emphasise the skills and experience benefits of volunteering.
Design The initial plan was to ask one of the district volunteers, a designer, to produce
a glossy colour leaflet and poster about the opportunity. However, it became
clear that recruitment was progressing successfully without it and having
printing would add costs. The text was used for online recruitment activities,
and a simple flyer was printed in black and white using the shorter text.
Recruitment Targets
We used a Google Doc which the whole group could access to log and update ideas for, and
progress on, targeting various potential sources of volunteers. Ultimately we recruited via two
colleges, a university, a community centre and two websites. We actually had to suspend
recruitment activities earlier than anticipated because the volume of enquirers was reaching levels
difficult to manage. The activities undertaken are summarised in the following table. Materials used
for the events were simple printouts of the shorter advert, national Woodcraft Folk leaflets,
including the Guide to Volunteering, and a portable display board.
Target Activities

4. Hackney Community
College
· Event 1: a small employment fair for students on Childcare courses
· Event 2: a college-wide recruitment and volunteering event
City and Islington · Woodcraft Folk was added to a list for students of good organisations to
volunteer with
· Email sent to whole college by staff member responsible for work
experience
· Email sent again specifically to those on social care, childcare and
education courses
· Posted to student intranet
University of East
London
· Email sent out to students in the School of Education and Communities
by a contact in the department
· NB: A great potential event for which we were offered a stall and a room
in which to interview potential volunteers fell through, but contacts have
been made for future use
Hackney Volunteer
Centre Open Day
(Event 3)
· An event held during national Volunteers’ Week as an opportunity for
organisations to promote volunteering to prospective volunteers
Online · Advert posted on Volunteer Centre Hackney website (which
automatically then posts to Do-It)
· Advert posted on community forum Yeah Hackney
Development Activities for Recruits
Following an application by an enquirer, a template email was sent asking which age group they
would prefer to work with and whether they could commit in the long term. At the time of writing,
Ele and Kieran had held four induction/training sessions, and will continue to organise them if there
is demand. The sessions were highly interactive and covered:
· What Woodcraft Folk is
· What a typical group session involves
· Their hopes and fears about volunteering
· Cooperative games (including showing clips from the ‘Games, Games, Games’ DVD)
· Managing challenging behaviour
Following these sessions, volunteers were invited to choose whether they wanted to join an existing
group or volunteer with the new group. Those wanting to join the new group were invited to take
part in Playout (see www.woodcraft.org.uk/playout). These were organised in the chosen location, a
council housing estate, where the new group will meet once formed. Through organising activities
for children and young people on the estate, the volunteers could practice and gain experience, and
it was an opportunity to gain visibility in the area, build a reputation and promote the new group to
those taking part in Playout.
Evaluation Methods
The following methods were used to monitor and evaluate the success of the recruitment and
development activities:
· Surveys – a standardised survey for the wider research project was adopted for three
different groups:

5. o Existing district volunteers were emailed an online survey (sent to 60 with 11
responses)
o Enquirers who had emailed to apply but not been to any meetings yet were emailed
with an online survey (sent to 34 with 3 responses)
o Those who attended the first induction/training session (other sessions occurred too
late in the project timeline for surveys to be distributed) were given a hard copy of
the survey (completed by 5 of the 7 attendees)
· Applicants for the volunteering position(s) were asked to apply with their contact details,
where they heard about the opportunity, what their motivations were for applying, and
what experience they had to offer. The application emails were thus a means for comparing
recruitment methods, and monitoring motivations and skills.
· The project team also monitored the effectiveness of activities and fed these into the
evaluation.
Results
Recruitment Targets
The total number of respondents to the recruitment activities was approximately 59. The following
table summarises the number of people enquiring, coming to meetings and becoming new
volunteers.
Recruitment
Activity
Total number
of people
responding to
the activity
Number of people making
contact more than once but
not (yet) attending any
meetings
Number of
people
attending
meetings
Number of new
volunteers
Yeah Hackney
website
1 1
Do-It website 4 2 2 2
City and Islington
6 5 2 1
College
University of
East London
13 9 6 2
Hackney
Community
College events
16*
Volunteer Centre
Hackney event
12*
Unknown Source 12 2
Total 59 17 12 5
*people signing up at events had not yet at the time of writing been contacted about attending a
meeting. They had been sent an introductory email: 11 of the 25 email addresses bounced back.
One survey respondent commended advertising the opportunity on City and Islington’s website, so
that it was easy for her to come across. A respondent from University of East London praised

6. “channelling the promotion through UEL [because it] brought the whole action to my doorstep”.
Another commented that the online process for applying made it easier to apply.
Events
While recruiting at the three events cannot be evaluated on the basis of quantitative data because
names collected had not yet been contacted at the time of writing, some useful observations were
made by those attending that could be used to inform future recruitment at events.
Event Summary Positive Outcomes Learning Points
Hackney
Community
College
Event 1
· Event was very small (6
stalls, 3 hours duration,
groups of 15-20 in at
one time, escorted by
their tutor).
· Students attending
were nearly all female,
in late teens and early
20s. A majority were,
or seemed likely to be,
from black and
minority ethnic
backgrounds.
· Many students
engaged were African.
· About 25 leaflets
handed out.
· 1 name
collected.
· HCC staff were
excellent at
encouraging
students to visit
the WcF stall.
· Good
relationship was
established with
HCC staff.
· Event was focused on
employment opportunities, so
volunteering was therefore low
on visitors’ agenda.
· Greatest interest came from
older students, most of whom
were single mothers who felt
that after-school volunteering
was not an option for them.
· In general there seemed to be
little concept of volunteering;
particularly volunteer-run
youth groups operating outside
of a formal system. No visitors
had heard of Woodcraft Folk,
but some staff had.
Hackney
Community
College
Event 2
· Much bigger event
than Event 1 and was
open to the entire
college rather than
specific courses.
· Richard and Kieran had
support from two
volunteers from two of
the Woodchips groups.
· Over 50 leaflets
handed out.
· About 15 names
collected.
· Someone
recommended
the Hackney
Volunteer Centre
event
· Event not conducive to having
in depth discussions with
enquirers.
Hackney
Volunteer
Centre
Event
· Event was quite small
but lasted 5 hours.
· About 20 leaflets
handed out
· About 12 names
collected.
· Made useful
contacts at HVC.
· Event focussed
on volunteering
meaning that
there was more
interest in our
opportunity.
It should also be noted that the events were more time intensive than the other recruitment
methods. Further research is needed to understand whether the time cost of face-to-face is offset
by a high recruitment rate. However, two benefits of the events were noted. The first is that events

7. are conducive to making useful long term contacts that may benefit future recruitment. The second
is that it provides an opportunity for volunteers from different groups to get together and socialise
with volunteers they see less often.
Development Activities
All 5 of the survey respondents from the first volunteer meeting indicated that it had been either
‘helpful’ or ‘very helpful’ confirming that Ele and Kieran are experienced and excellent in training.
There were also comments that the information given was good and that the meeting was friendly,
personal and informal. The volume of responses to our recruitment activities was unexpected and
created a time burden for Ele in particular, who was responsible for responding, and organising and
delivering training.
At the first Playout on the council housing estate, only Ele, Kieran and one of the new volunteers
was present and it was seen as a good opportunity to practice activities. At the second Playout the
following week a family joined in. At the third Playout, that family was waiting for them, and other
children also joined in. Several volunteers from the district attended and helped. The intention at
the time of writing was for the Playout sessions to continue on a weekly basis for the rest of the
summer holidays and to use them to establish a new group, which could transition from Playout.
New Volunteers
At the time of writing, 5 new volunteers have been recruited to Hackney Woodcraft Folk. One new
volunteer was placed in an existing Elfins group and at the time of writing had been three times.
One was placed in a different existing Elfins group and has not started yet, but is very keen and the
project group were impressed by her. One only attended a first meeting recently and does not speak
English to a high level, but she and Ele will work together to find an opportunity for her to volunteer,
in the new or an existing group. Another new volunteer was placed in the existing Hedgehogs group
and had attended twice at the time of writing, as well as signing up for summer camp and planning
to attend the next Playout. The final volunteer intends to lead the new group and has attended two
Playouts.
Inclusion and Diversity
The following table shows the ethnicities of existing volunteers, enquirers and volunteers, as
described or indicated by themselves, for all those who provided this information.
Existing volunteers People who applied
but took no further
action
People who
responded to the
online survey emailed
to all enquirers
People attending
the first
induction/training
meeting
New volunteers
· White-British
(10)
· Mixed – any
other Mixed
Background (1)
· Black African (1)
· White British (1)
· Bengali Muslim
(1)
· Non-British
White
Background (1)
· Asian or Asian
British –
Bangladeshi (1)
· Black or Black-
British – Caribbean
(1)
· Black or Black
British – African (1)
· Asian or Asian
British –
Bangladeshi (3)
· White-British
(1)
· Polish (1)
· Burmese (1)
· White and
Asian (1)
Demographic data could not be collected at the Playout events, but it was observed by those who
volunteered through their interactions with children joining in that most were from black or

8. minority ethnic backgrounds. There is therefore good potential for the new group to be ethnically
more diverse than other Hackney Woodcraft Folk groups.
Conclusion
Recruitment Activities
It is difficult to compare the success rates of the various inclusive recruitment activities because
each set of potential volunteers is at a different stage of engagement/development at the time of
writing. All activities were successful at generating initial enquirers. All except the events (so far)
have generated a good proportion of people attending meetings, and of new volunteers. Events
have so far had the benefit of establishing strong and useful links within places embedded in the
local community. The recruitment methods were therefore successful in engaging a good pool of
new potential volunteers and laying foundations for future volunteer recruitment activities. Offering
flexibility in terms of the age group worked with and the possibility of joining the new group or an
existing group was noted by the project group and recruits as a positive aspect of the opportunity
offered.
Students
We were initially wary of recruiting amongst students, since it can be assumed that students are
often transitory, given the nature of their occupation, and potentially less connected to their local
communities. The former problem we addressed by being explicit about commitment levels
required and the new volunteers are indeed willing to commit in the long term. The latter issue we
felt we addressed by targeting our recruitment in specific ways. We focused on community colleges,
which can be assumed to be well embedded in the local community, and students are likely to be
offered outreach opportunities, such as career and volunteering events, as well as being likely to live
in the area. Certain courses, such as the community courses offered by University of East London,
are also likely to involve interaction with the community. We felt that students were a good
potential pool of volunteers because they are likely to be interested in skill-building to supplement
their studies, and students on certain courses could be specifically targeted because they have
interests relevant to Woodcraft Folk’s activities. The research demonstrated that there was indeed a
high level of interest in volunteering and Woodcraft Folk amongst the students targeted. It is also
worth noting that feedback from recruits suggests that promoting within colleges and university
made the opportunity very easily accessible to the students, as opposed to broadly targeted
volunteering websites, for example. However, these sorts of activity have much larger time and
resource constraints than using volunteering websites.
Inclusion and Diversity
The recruitment activities and targets selected for the project proved successful in meeting the aim
of engaging and recruiting people from groups currently underrepresented in the district. It is
positive that as well as engaging several minority ethnic groups, we also engaged people who do not
consider themselves as from a BME background, since it was our intention to be inclusive and not
exclude any groups. It is important to highlight that there is a high potential for the new group being
formed to meet our aim of increasing inclusivity and diversity as well. We felt that this was likely to
be linked to the location chosen for the new group on a council housing estate. Holding Playout
there has been a really key way of engaging new audiences with a view to recruiting to the new
group and the volunteers have already seen that the location has provided a larger audience of
people from BME backgrounds than other group locations.
Volunteer Socialising

9. A final and unexpected outcome of the research was learning of new areas to be developed for
socialising between district volunteers. Three existing volunteer respondents indicated in their
survey that meeting people is a positive aspect of volunteering with Woodcraft Folk, and three
prospective volunteers completing the survey at the meeting said that was one of the reasons they
applied. Socialising between volunteers is clearly an important motivating factor. In this project, the
event stalls and Playout provided an opportunity for district volunteers to help out and
work/socialise alongside volunteers that they don’t work with in their groups and so see less often.
Socials are fairly infrequent in the Hackney district. However, the project has highlighted ways of
combining volunteering, where volunteers’ children are also welcome to join in, with an element of
socialising and one of the project group volunteers is looking into occasionally making the district
meeting more of a creative and social forum, where children are also invited.
Key Recommendations
For Hackney district:
1. Encourage opportunities for district volunteers to socialise. It can be very difficult for volunteers
to find the time to socialise beyond the hours they commit to volunteering. However, socials are
good for cohesion in the district. Fun, one-off opportunities to volunteer, such as events or Playout,
can be a chance for volunteers to socialise at the same time as volunteering. They are also a good
way for parents to socialise without childcare being a barrier.
2. Attempt to recruit a Volunteers Coordinator. Previous attempts have shown that there is little
interest in taking on the role in the district. However, the research project suggested that it would
be an important role to introduce, since the additional time burden on project volunteers from
undertaking volunteer recruitment activities was large. Having a person dedicated to the role would
mean that recruitment activities could happen regularly without impacting on anyone’s regular
volunteer role.
3. Once a new volunteer has been recruited, ensure that they get hands on experience as quickly as
possible, on top of the usual training process. Playout, or attending a group session, in the first few
weeks is a good way of doing this.
4. Hold a training session for trainers. Most of the training of new volunteers is done by a select few
volunteers in the district and there is a feeling that other district volunteers may lack the confidence
to train others. It might therefore be a good investment to organise one or a few workshops in
which district volunteers are trained in how to deliver good training to new volunteers.
For all Woodcraft Folk districts:
1. Create an inclusion and diversity strategy and/or group to identify issues, barriers and ways of
being more inclusive. Focus on both inclusive volunteer recruitment and the inclusivity of groups.
Woodcraft Folk may be able to produce guidance for districts on how to approach inclusion and
diversity. Use the strategy to inform the inclusivity of future volunteer recruitment activities.
2. If trialling new inclusive volunteer recruitment strategies, consider being explicit about your aims
when advertising or promoting the volunteering opportunity. This might include making specific
reference to equal opportunities, inclusion and diversity, as well as black and minority ethnic
groups, and/or age, and/or (dis)ability – or whatever you feel might make your district more diverse.
3. Make contact with community colleges or the local university. They have dedicated staff trying to
improve the employment prospects and community involvement of students. They can be helpful in
promoting your district amongst students. Colleges or universities may also be a good place to
diversify the people you are reaching through your volunteer recruitment.

10. 4. Events are excellent way to recruit and raise awareness of Woodcraft Folk. They also allow you to
make useful contacts in the local community and can encourage the wider district to get involved in
something together.

11. Appendix: Adverts
Short Advert
Kids Club Leaders –
Hackney Woodcraft Folk
What? We have a fantastic new opportunity for a volunteer to set up and lead a new group for
6-9 year olds! We have children’s groups all over Hackney that meet regularly to have fun and learn
about big ideas. We want to set up a group that reflects the diversity of Hackney and particularly
welcome volunteers from Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds.
Why? As a volunteer you'll gain excellent skills and experience in working with children, running
fun and educational activities, leadership, teamwork, and planning. You’ll get training, and loads of
support every step of the way.
Who? We’d love to hear from you if you can see the funny side, have a healthy disregard for
authority, and want to share your skills and interests (music, crafts, animals, cooking, outdoor
activities, games, cooperation, peace…you name it!), as well as develop new ones.
How? To apply please send an email to hackneyvolunteers@gmail.com telling us 1) Your name,
number and email, 2) A few sentences on why you’re interested, 3) Where and how you heard
about the opportunity.
Medium Advert
Kids Club Leaders –
Hackney Woodcraft Folk
We have a fantastic new opportunity for a volunteer to set up and lead a new group for 6-9 year
olds!
We have children’s groups all over Hackney that meet every week during term time to have fun
and learn about big ideas through all sorts of great activities.
We are committed to equal opportunities. We want to set up a group that reflects the diversity of
Hackney and would particularly welcome volunteers from Black & Minority Ethnic (BME)
backgrounds.

12. What will you get out of it?
As a volunteer you'll gain excellent skills in working with children. You’ll build up loads of experience
of running fun activities. You'll learn about leadership, teamwork and even financial planning, as well
as meeting lots of like-minded people. We’ll also train you and support you every step of the way.
Who are we looking for?
We’d love to hear from you if you can see the funny side, have a healthy disregard for authority, and
want to share your skills and interests (music, crafts, animals, cooking, outdoor activities, games,
cooperation, peace…you name it!), as well as develop new ones.
How to apply
Interested? Please send an email to hackneyvolunteers@gmail.com, telling us 1) Your name,
number and email, 2) A few sentences on why you’re interested, 3) Where and how you heard
about this opportunity.
Hackney Woodcraft Folk is part of a national movement for children and young people,
aiming to promote peace and cooperation, and empowering children and young people by
increasing awareness of local and global issues.
Long Advert
Kids Club Leaders –
Hackney Woodcraft Folk
Want to learn more about working with kids and making education fun?
Want to gain a whole new set of skills?
We have a fantastic new opportunity for a volunteer to set up and lead a new group for 6-9 year
olds!
We have groups all over Hackney, for children of all ages. We meet every week during term time,
and go away on weekend trips. Together children, parents and volunteers have fun and learn about
big ideas through a whole range of activities, from singing to games to debates to...you name it!
We are committed to equal opportunities. We want to set up a group that reflects the diversity of
Hackney and would particularly welcome volunteers from Black & Minority Ethnic (BME)
backgrounds.

13. What will you get out of it?
As a volunteer you'll gain excellent skills in working with children. You’ll build up loads of experience
of running fun activities. You'll learn about leadership, teamwork and even financial planning, as well
as meeting lots of like-minded people.
Who are we looking for?
Ability to see the funny side, healthy disregard for authority, patience, and
knowledge/experience/appreciation of - music, crafts, drama, dressing up as fantastical characters,
plants, animals, making fires, cooking, outdoor activities, sustainability, camping, games, woodwork,
drawing, writing, health, exercise, sewing or knitting, the environment, social justice…and any other
skills/interests you’d like to share!
If you are not very confident with leading groups or working with kids yet, that's fine - you'll learn on
the job! And we’ll support you all the way.
Who are we?
Hackney Woodcraft Folk is part of a national movement for children and young people, organising
games, discussions, projects, crafts and lots more, plus hostelling and camping activities throughout
the year. We promote peace and cooperation, and try to empower children and young people
through an educational programme based on awareness of issues both local and global.
How can I apply?
Interested? We’d love to hear from you! Please send an email to hackneyvolunteers@gmail.com
telling us 1) Your name, number and email, 2) A few sentences on why you’re interested, 3) Where
and how you heard about this opportunity.