Volunteering is something that thousands of people do every day across the UK. It can be an hour a week befriending someone or it can be helping to run or be part of a charity or community group.

There are many forms of volunteering to fit around everyone’s lives no matter how busy.

It is a fantastic opportunity to help you to give something back to your community by enabling you to share your skills and provide support or advice for others.

Volunteering will also enhance your life by allowing you to socialise and meet different types of people and possibly develop an interest or hobby. You can also:

* Learn new skills or enhance old ones – in one recent survey nine out of 10 volunteers believed that they gained more than one practical skill through volunteering.

* Increase your levels of employability – the Citizen’s Advice Bureau recently stated that 29 per cent of their volunteers went into paid employment, education or training.

* Help test whether you are suited to certain work places/settings if you are thinking of making a change.

* Build up your self-esteem and confidence in a supportive setting. This is especially true for people over 55 and there are proven studies showing the many health benefits this can bring.

* Help you recover or manage some mental health issues – in a survey carried out by the Institute for Volunteering Research in 2003, 80 per cent of volunteer respondents reported a positive effect on mental health and well-being.

It can also be wonderful to be help raise awareness for a cause you believe in by:

* Joining up with like-minded people to make a difference.

* Researching and organising relevant information as a group.

* Campaigning for a cause in a logical and focused way.

To see if volunteering could be for you, contact Volunteer Centre Oxfordshire, which has information about volunteering in a wide range of different roles.

These include working with young people, families, disabled people, older people and animals.

You could work on environmental projects, in a charity’s offices or in a charity shop.

There will also be roles for volunteers with management, IT, marketing and other professional skills.

For more information go to www.do-it.org or contact Volunteer Centre staff on 01865 251946 or email vol@ocva.org.uk.

The Volunteer Centre is part of Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA), which is the main umbrella charity for Oxfordshire’s voluntary and community groups, helping them to find volunteers and helping volunteers to find a role.