24 Jun From awards and paddleboarding, to vets and befriending – opportunities for volunteers

Our winners for the Young Volunteers category, at the most recent Community Champion Awards, held in January 2026.

Volunteers Week has come and gone and all eyes are now turning toward the next big celebration – the Torbay Community Champion Awards.

We will be formally launching the awards next week (tune in to Torbay Radio, Tuesday 30th June, 9-11am), but in the meantime here is a date for your diary – Friday, October 2^nd at Bay Church in Paignton where the awards will take place.

Now in its third year, we have already celebrated receiving more than 300 nominations, but we are aware there are thousands of deserving volunteers working away across the Bay day in, day out.

You might struggle to qualify for a nomination for this year’s awards, but that should not stop you from stepping to work in and behalf of your community today. That will make you a champion anyway.

There are lots of ways that you can get involved and a great starting point is filling in a simple form at VolunteerTorbay.com. Fill the form in, give us an idea of what you might want to do, tell us the area you live in and we will scour the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector for an opportunity.

We will soon be working directly with members of the Torbay Health and Wellbeing Network to advertise for openings, giving us even better access to VCSE groups and organisations across the Bay.

If you want to chat to someone about the prospects that might be available to you, you can speak to someone on the Torbay Community Helpline on 01803 446022. There is a good chance that you will be talking to a volunteer and about volunteering.

We are always on the lookout for befrienders for lonely and sometimes isolated people who might not speak to another person from one week to the next. All you need is a telephone and a listening ear. One phone call a week can make all the difference.

Just a chat, that is all we ask. You don’t need to meet face to face, just be friendly, empathetic and be able to listen. You would be surprised how many people in the Bay have no-one to turn to, no-one to talk to.

One of our longstanding befrienders, David Evans is keen for others to give it a try and promises you will not look back: “I get something out of it and so do the people I talk to and I would not have it any other way. I cannot imagine life without my weekly chats.”

David, who lives in Torquay, currently befriends three people – two by phone and one, because they prefer it that way, by text “That is okay, they respond and that way, I know they are okay,” and in an average week it all takes up less than an hour.

It really is that simple.

This week there are still opportunities to get involved in the ICF SUP (stand up paddleboarding) World Cup and Paddle UK SUPER Festival which starts today off the beach at Abbey Sands in Torquay. Where better to be as the temperatures spike than in or near the water? You get the best view, the satisfaction of being involved and they even throw in a free party for the volunteers. Email: [email protected].

Alternatively, you can visit Torbay Together and click on “Volunteering”, which opens pages of existing posts and roles that are available to you.

Within no time you could become part of a network of Disability Ambassadors in the heart of local communities right across Devon, with Disability Together, In your new role you will help to welcome and connect people with disabilities, or long term health conditions, into already established activities, sports, clubs or social groups.

If animals are your thing, then StreetVet in Torquay is looking for Outreach Support Volunteers to help organise and deliver much-needed veterinary treatments for pets of homeless people in particular.

There are lots of opportunities to work for a few hours a week in a charity shop , helping raise much needed funds and alleviate the lot of people facing some of life’s toughest challenges. Shekinah is just one and they are celebrating three decades of helping people build brighter lives.

You could become a special constable, help keep the red sail historic trawler Pilgrim on the water, become a trustee for any one of a number of varied charitable causes. There is something for everyone.