104 ideas to help your community –
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Introduction 👋
Volunteering your time, money, or energy to help your community doesn’t just help the community, but can also help you.
Community work can help you to:
- Feel a sense of achievement and more positive
- Feel like you belong
- Make new friends and build strong friendships
- Improve your CV for work
- Build skills
- Build confidence
- Keep a sense of perspective, by being aware of those less fortunate than you
- Feel gratitude
- Make others feel happy
Here are 104 ideas to help your community!
Improve your area – 18 ideas 🏞️
- Set up a community garden
- Litter picking
- Beach clean ups
- Plant flowers
- Offer to paint people’s walls/fences for them
- Help people to rake up leaves, tidy their gardens, and mow their lawns
- Build bug, butterfly, and bee houses
- Start awareness campaigns for the environment in your area
- Paint rocks and hide them around your area to brighten people’s days
- Campaign for better lighting in poorly lit areas
- Set up an eco council for your local area
- Repair/improve playgrounds
- Create an art installation for the community e.g. a mural
- Grow your own vegetables and encourage others to do the same
- Cycle to help the environment
- Campaign for better cycle paths in your area
- Support zero waste stores
- Thank your local bin collectors/recycle collectors, give them a gift
Help the elderly – 10 ideas 🧓
- Visit the elderly
- Make friends with an elderly person, call them, write them letters, and visit them
- Offer to go shopping for your neighbours/elderly
- Take therapy dogs to old people’s homes
- Offer to make meals for elderly neighbours
- Arrange singing or acting performances for nursing homes
- Offer to help with dog walking/pet care for elderly who might struggle
- Help the elderly with computer support/how to use the internet
- Take groups of children to visit the elderly and offer them company
- Bring gifts/treats/activities to nursing homes
Help animals – 7 ideas 🦆
- Free dog walking/pet sitting
- Pet training classes
- Collect blanket/towel and food donations for local animal rescues
- Look after/rescue animals – dogs, cats, small furries, hedgehogs, birds…
- Share pictures of animals needing adoption
- Offer free animal grooming services
- Set up a local dog walking group
Bring people together – 35 ideas 🪅
- Introduce yourself to your neighbours
- Street party!
- Invite people out for a walk
- Smile!
- Arrange a charity concert
- Quiz nights!
- Pay people compliments
- Book club
- Car boot sale!
- Set up a free book swap
- Shop at small/local businesses and recommend them to others
- Sports to fundraise for charity – rollerskating disco, football, basketball, rugby, running, sports day
- Set up a local acting group or theatre performance
- Community fruit picking days
- Cooking classes
- Community pamper night
- Bingo night!
- Community BBQ
- Outdoor cinema/film night
- Food/drink tasting events – food festivals
- Language classes – sign language, English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian
- Volunteer for local charities
- Dress up days
- Fun runs
- Caroling to raise money for charity
- Bake sale!
- Set up a fitness class
- Make dinners and share them with neighbours
- Learn people’s names in the community
- Karaoke night!
- Set up dance classes
- Set up a clothes swap night to change up your wardrobe
- Sell art projects to raise money for charity
- Set up a community group for your local area on social media
- Raise awareness of how people can support diversity and inclusion
Help schools/children – 9 ideas 🏫
- Collect donations for local schools
- Volunteer to help at after school clubs
- Offer free tutoring to local schools
- Take therapy dogs to schools
- Offer career mentoring to schools
- Give gifts to children’s foster homes
- Family fun days
- Baby classes
- Community treasure hunts!
Help homelessness – 10 ideas 🏕️
- Give support/gifts to the homeless
- Have a group “sleep out” to raise money for the homeless
- Collect food/volunteer for your local food bank
- Make care packages for adults and children experiencing homelessness e.g. soaps, toothbrushes, treats
- Offer to repair/alter clothes for those experiencing homelessness
- Donate clothes to homelessness charities
- Offer mentoring or career support to those experiencing homelessness
- Become a foster carer for children and young adults
- Make food for the homeless e.g. volunteer at soup kitchens
- Become a temporary animal foster carer for those experiencing homelessness
Save lives – 7 ideas 🩺
- CPR/first aid classes
- Volunteer for your local coast guard/life boat/life guard service
- Join mental health volunteering services
- Raise money for your local hospital
- Give gifts to your local medical professionals
- Raise awareness of domestic violence, and how people can help
- Organise free personal safety or self-defence classes at your community centre
Support disability – 8 ideas ♿
- Organise disability sports events
- Campaign for accessibility for disabled people in your area e.g. ramps and equipment, suitable bathrooms
- Raise awareness of how people in the community can support those with disability
- Offer career support to those with disability
- Make sure that your workplace supports people with disability
- Set up enrichment classes for those with disability at your local community centre
- Support local disability charities
- Raise money for braille and large print books at your local library, school, or community centre
Conclusion 👍
So that’s it!
There are 104 ideas to help your community.
Take a look to see which ones you’d get involved in!
Community work can be a fantastic way to boost your wellbeing and career prospects.
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