Opportunities in and near Crawley

Volunteer in charity shops from age 15, help at fundraising events from 16, or take on hospice-based roles from 18. Options include reception, gardening, kitchen support and photography, with general and role-specific training before you start.

Sort donations, record Gift Aid, prepare stock for sale and meet customers in a new Hersham charity shop. You can also staff the till, keep the shop floor tidy and receive full training.

Research policy and casework, attend debates and meetings, then join an MP at her weekly advice surgery. This one-week placement splits your time between Westminster and Morden.

Support an MP’s office by researching local issues, drafting press releases and helping with constituent casework. You could also accompany the MP to meetings or events in the House or constituency.

Visit Moulsecoomb campus to explore subjects from biomedical sciences and engineering to journalism, law and creative writing. See the campus, find out more about courses, and plan your visit in advance as you compare degree options.

Explore allied health professions, nursing and midwifery, sport and exercise, and teaching at Falmer campus. Get a feel for the facilities, learn about courses and ask questions about university study. You can also plan how you’ll travel there on the day.

Explore the City campus’s creative subjects, from animation and games art to fashion, film, photography and sound and music. Get a feel for student life, check out the local area and work out how you’d get to campus.

Explore de-extinction through a curated storytelling session focused on the thylacine. Respond to the stories, discuss what it means to remember a lost species or bring one back, and share your own creative work. Light refreshments are served.

Explore how anti-slavery ideas developed and changed across Africa in a lecture by a University College London history professor. Trace the movements through different historical contexts, with a focused look at modern African history.

Explore how food, supply and daily life shaped medieval society in an in-person lecture from Prof. Helena Hamerow, Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology at the University of Oxford. Hear the talk at St Nicolas’ Hall in Guildford.

Hear Dr Elizabeth Drayson, Emerita Fellow in Spanish at Cambridge, explore the historical relationship between Islam and Europe’s development in an in-person evening lecture in Guildford, held at St Nicolas’ Hall.

An illustrated lecture with historian Julian Humphrys traces the build-up to Waterloo, the fighting on the battlefield and the strategies and personalities behind Napoleon’s defeat. Explore why this decisive battle changed Europe’s political future and is still widely studied.

Explore how pets became part of everyday culture and how animals shaped modern British life, through a talk led by Prof. Jane Hamlett, Professor of Modern British History at Royal Holloway. Join this in-person evening lecture at St Nicolas’ Hall in Guildford.

Welcome visitors, serve coffee and use the till at a conservation charity’s Sevenoaks visitor centre. Help keep its café and shop running, build practical customer-facing skills, and create eye-catching displays. Commit to one of two weekly shifts, with flexibility around other commitments.

Meet older adults living with dementia across eight weekly sessions, building one-to-one connections through stories, creativity and conversation. Explore themes including Life Maps, Recipe for a Memory and Letter to a Stranger, then share stories and creations at a final reflection event.

Climb into the Royal Pavilion’s first-floor upper chambers on a guided tour, exploring hidden areas usually closed to the public. Discover concealed rooms and secret stairs leading straight to George’s bedside; the route includes steep staircases and narrow spaces.

Historian Rachel Silberstein unpacks the dragon robe, the Qing government’s most important regulated garment, and traces how women, actors, deities and foreigners wore the style beyond government. View the Fire and Water: Dreaming of Dragons exhibition in the Prince Regent Gallery before the talk.

Explore a film school campus through tours, workshops and demonstrations, then meet the expert team and get admissions and accommodation advice. Bring a parent, carer or friend too: each ticket admits you plus one guest.

Help manage a Brighton nature reserve through coppicing, hedge planting, wildlife surveys and pond maintenance, alongside Trust staff and local groups. Monthly five-hour sessions also cover green woodworking and bushcraft; beginners are welcome, and some travel expenses are available.

Join a free medicine pathway combining four online sessions with a four-day campus summer school and a research project, guided by a medical student e-mentor. Explore anatomy, clinical skills, ethics and the UCAT, then get support with personal statements and mock interviews.