Volunteers join the Hugs team for lots of reasons. Mainly they want to give their time and skills to make a difference. Sometimes they want to learn something new. Often, they want to make new friends. Occasionally it is part of their self-care to help rebuild confidence. Whatever your reason for wanting to volunteer, we want to hear from you.

At Hugs we offer a range of volunteering roles, some of which are based at Hugs, some in the community and other roles for volunteers who are home based. Volunteers help alongside the staff team and other volunteers, and there are opportunities to join us every day of the week. Each volunteer is normally asked to commit to a routine session or two each week, which helps us to plan the care for the horses, donkeys and other animals, as well as the tasks which other departments at Hugs need to do.

At Hugs we are very grateful for every hour of voluntary support you give. As a very small charity, trying its best to ensure we use funds for our charitable work, our volunteering programme is essential.

Administration – help with fundraising and volunteering department admin

Animal Care (Please note new applicants to join the equine teams will be sent a competency form to complete)

Fundraising (Raising awareness in the community and helping at events)

Gardening & vegetable growing/mowing/strimming

Maintenance, repairs and DIY

Rehoming Home Checks mainly across Cornwall

Rehoming Administration

Tack cleaning, sorting, labelling and sales

There are limited work experience placements at The Hugs Foundation. These are usually for year 10 students who are seeking a 1 or 2 day placement in Work Experience Week, normally in July each year. Also for Further Education students at college studying on a relevant course who seek 80 hours + placements. Please contact us and we will send you a special application form for Work Experience.

The Hugs Foundation runs supported volunteering courses from time to time. These are usually for people aged 18-25 who feel unable to volunteer confidently. The courses are designed for those suffering from poor mental health, loneliness, bereavement, low mood and who may have little self confidence. You can apply for a place on a course directly. Hugs also accepts referrals from social prescribers, community support workers and other support organisations. Please contact us so we can send you a special form and course information.

Hugs can offer your business a team day with a difference. One where you are guaranteed to be in the great outdoors (the weather is the bit we can’t guarantee!) doing something amazing to help this charity. The project we suggest to you will be aligned to your team size and skill sets and the time of year you are helping out. All team days come with a modest cost, mostly materials and equipment needed to complete the task, and we ask that you help us meet these costs by fundraising or making a donation to Hugs. In this way you are doubling your CSR efforts and we can make sure charity funds are directed to our primary purposes in equine rescue and people wellbeing. Contact us and we will be in touch.