Cherwell Larder: Thursdays 11am, and Fridays at 4pm while supplies last at WISH, 4 The Parade, Kidlington. Ask to join our WhatsApp group for regular updates on additional distributions.
Volunteer with us
Cherwell Collective volunteers are the heart and soul of our work. We firmly believe that everyone has a role to play in combating climate change!
Individuals
Become a volunteer
Our volunteer force is the engine that keeps our organisation running day in and day out. We engage people from all walks of life and backgrounds. Many of our volunteers share skills (e.g., teaching a workshop, providing a professional or technical skill, etc.).
Other volunteers share things (e.g., donating gardening supplies, etc.) to support our projects. We do our best to accommodate special circumstances, health conditions, and other concerns.
We are currently hiring for two volunteer roles to support our Oxfordshire Good Waste Charter:
To express interest in either role, please fill out our Google Doc application form.
Complete our general volunteer form
General volunteer formCurrent opportunities
Please see the left column for two open volunteer roles supporting our Good Waste Charter. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see our special volunteer needs for Carbon Cost of Fashion Week 2026.
We are currently seeking assistance with bookkeeping and accounting. The time commitment is 1-2 hours per month.
Additionally, we are also seeking volunteers for the Community Hub and Party Library.
We have several Green Space community gardens in Kidlington, Bicester and Banbury. We are looking for more members of the community to engage with these spaces, growing food for the community and tending the gardens.
We often have food surplus that needs to be prepared for our users struggling with making their own meals. If you have a spare few hours a month and would like to help us feed the community, we’d love to hear from you.
Volunteers in action
Youth and Duke of Edinburgh
Cherwell Collective has engaged in community projects with local area Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) students since our founding in 2020. We have many opportunities for DofE to meet their volunteer requirements. We are happy to arrange a wide range of projects for youth, including gardening, food distribution, waste innovation, and more. Students often progress to work experience with us and some of our Duke of Edinburgh students are now trustees representing young adult voices in our governance structure.
We also work with multiple schools and students to supplement classroom learning and provide after-school programmes. Our collaborations with students also result in valuable contributions to local communities.
If you are interested in becoming one of our youth partners, please contact us.
Volunteer stories
Everyone has a role to play in combating the climate crisis!
Boima's story
Emma's story
Boima's story
“I enjoy waking up in the morning, coming here knowing that I’m going to help people.”
When Boima retired, he joined Cherwell Collective as a volunteer. He sees real value in the work he does, helping others amidst the cost of living crisis. He also gets a lot out of the camaraderie he enjoys with the other volunteers.
“I think what we’re doing is very relevant to what’s happening right now, because there are so many people who need help with cost of living, with inflation, with COVID, and things like that.
Sometimes you see people, offer them things, and you can see that they’re happy. Some of them come in just to engage with us, talk to us and tell us about what’s happening with them.
I enjoy having a banter with some of the other volunteers as well. They’re friendly and a nice bunch. We have some jokes. They also give quite a lot themselves. I have a lot of respect and admiration for the people here.
I was interested in the meeting that we had where people came up with ideas on how we could improve things…We’re thinking of doing some new things… we have a lot of equipment and stuff that we could try to move and get people to either rent or just borrow. ”
Emma's story
“It’s nice to connect with other people, because being a caregiver is isolating.”
Emma and her husband Tom started out using Cherwell Larder’s food surplus when Tom had an employment gap during COVID-19. Now the couple volunteers with us and donates their extra produce to the larder.
“I’ve brought in apples and any excess vegetables that we’ve got. It’s a way of sharing when you’ve got excess.
We’ve got stuff from the village that no one wanted and brought it here. It helps them, and it helps us not having to throw something out. It makes sure it gets to someone who needs it.
It’s nice to see that you can pick up things that someone else has found an end of life to, and I can give life to.
We’ve become more conscientious about what we use foodwise and making sure we use it all. If I make a meal, we will eat it over two days. We home compost so that all goes back into the soil.”
Carbon Cost of Fashion Week 2026
Carbon Cost of Fashion Week is an annual event to help educate the community about reducing the carbon footprint of their clothing consumption.
In order to make the event a resounding success in 2026, we need the support of general volunteers, volunteer fashion models, and volunteer clothing designers. Cllick the buttons below to learn more about what volunteering entails and to sign up to participate.
Previous runway model experience is not required!
