Have time to spare? We could use a hand!
The Cardiff Civic Society is a voluntary organisation which of course to function requires volunteers!
We are always looking for people to join our Executive Committee and perform other roles. If you have any time to spare, please consider donating some of it to our charity.
If you are interested in planning, the built or natural environment or Cardiff in general and can offer us any help, we would be really glad to hear from you!
Perhaps you like organising events? Or you enjoy reviewing planning applications? Taking photos? Writing blogs? With the Civic Society there are many opportunities to spend your time helping to keep Cardiff a wonderful city for everyone.
Volunteering is flexible and works around you, from a few hours spread throughout the year to a few hours a week. You can commit as much or as little time as you choose. It's up to you! By volunteering you can gain valuable new skills and experience, meet new like-minded people of different ages with a range of backgrounds and experience, build up your CV for the difficult job market and make a positive difference to the city and community in which you live. We have something to suit any experience or background. We'll also provide you with help and training for any of our roles. Most of them require little experience and are open to people of all ages.
If you are interested and would like to talk to us about volunteering or to find out about any of our currently available roles - please contact our Chair Nerys.
Our Current Volunteer Roles available include:
Events Secretary - Love to get old friends together to have a catch up whilst learning something new about the city you live in? We are looking for someone organised to plan events for our members and other members of the public. CCS events range on themes from lectures on architecture and talks on the latest sustainable urban design to dinners hosted in historical buildings. If you have an interest in helping people learn more about Cardiff now, its history and future, and you would like to organise events for us - get in touch and you could soon find yourself as our events secretary! If you're stuck for ideas - we'll help you come up with them. A little time and organisation is all that is key for this role as you would be expected to arrange events and show up to them occassionally too! No experience necessary - we'll help you out with everything you need! This role would typically require 2/3 hours a week on average.
Writer / Reporter / Blogger - Amateur sleuth? Right into writing? We currently need help with our new journal 'CIVIC'. We have big plans for our publication so if you're keen and enthusiastic, would like to develop your writing skills and learn more about Cardiff and how the city ticks, you could make a great reporter! Our journal covers lots of topics from controversial planning applications, how the city's night time economy affects it to studies and comment on the quality of our green spaces. 'CIVIC' is published monthly so you would have to be able to work to deadlines, however you could commit to as much or as little as you like. Experience in writing would be fab, but we're open to beginners who are willing to learn. This role would suit a journalism student or similar who wanted to build up their investigative writing skills. However this role could also suit an architect, planner, economist, sociologist, geographer, environmentalist, community activist, conservationist or any similar type of person who likes to voice their opinion and give comments on matters related to their field locally. If you're interested, email us at chair@cardiffcivicsociety.org. This role would require good writing and communication skills. It could require anything up to 16 hours a week - but is likely to involve around 4 hours a week.
Planning Assistant / Officer - Interested in developments? Want to learn more about development control? Keen to ensure that the city you live in develops in the best possible way? Want to form an opinion on heritage or urban design? Perhaps you might be interested in becoming a volunteer Planning Assistant or Officer for Cardiff Civic Society? We are looking to build a small team of volunteer planners who have some time on their hands to keep track of planning applications made to Cardiff Council. These fantastic opportunities would most benefit and ideally suit undergraduate planning students or recent graduates who are looking to build some knowledge and experience for their CV to stand out when applying for year-out or graduate positions. Planners would be expected to pay regard to local and national policy when assessing and monitoring applications. For controversial applications, planning team members might be asked to formulate and submit responses on behalf of the society. Planners might also be requested to attend planning committees to give comments on applications in person. Some experience desirable but not essential, however a balanced judgement and a willingness to learn about and comment on local planning policy would be critical.These roles would require between 2-10 hours a week on average, however we understand study commitments and would be flexible around working hours. For information or to discuss an interest in the roles further, contact Nerys at chair@cardiffcivicsociety.org.
Photographer - Like taking pictures? Capturing street movement or special features on buildings? Cardiff Civic Society is currently on the hunt for a photographer to take photos at events and to capture the city in its best (or worst) light to publicise our work, generate comment and provoke thought. If you think you have some skills with an SLR or you can do some pretty decent pointing and shooting with your phone, then we would be interested to hear from you. Photos would be used on our website, on the cover of and within our journal (CIVIC) and in our other publications. Our photographer would be expected to spend as little as an hour or two a month out in the field. Equipment provided if necessary. Local travel expenses covered. Contact Nerys at chair@cardiffcivicsociety.org to discuss.