Detention Action (London) – Volunteer roles
Detention Action’s casework team is currently recruiting for all volunteer roles.
To apply please download the application pack for the role you are interested in here, complete it and email it to volunteer@detentionaction.org.uk
The deadline for applications is Sunday the 29th of January.
All prospective applicants will need to be able to attend our remote induction training, from 5 – 7pm on Thursday 23rd February and Monday 27th Feb. Interpreters will have a separate training session on March 8th.
Volunteer roles at Detention Action
Remote Advocacy and Support Volunteers
Advocacy and Support Volunteers (ASVs) give a wide range of practical as well as emotional support to people in detention. ASVs are the first contact for people in detention calling our free phone, and are responsible for supporting a caseload of clients. They provide non-immigration advice on people’s rights and how to access support and accommodation to which they can be released from detention. ASVs also put people in touch with legal advisors and support organisations, such as BID or Medical Justice.
This is a remote volunteer role. We provide induction training via an online platform, ongoing training, telephone support and supervision.
You would need to be available to commit to least one day a week from 10am – 5pm for six months.
You can download an application pack for this role by clicking this link.
Remote Volunteer Interpreters
Volunteer Interpreters provide simultaneous telephone interpreting between staff and volunteers in the office and people in detention.
We are particularly looking for people who are fluent in Arabic, Albanian, Bengali, Farsi, Kurdish Sorani, Pashto, Portuguese, Polish, Punjabi, Russian, Romanian, Vietnamese.
You can download an application pack for this role by clicking this link.
Volunteer Visitors
Volunteer Visitors befriend and give emotional support to people who are detained at Harmondsworth and Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centres. They are required to use their active listening skills to offer support to people detained so that they can best cope with their situation.
Volunteer visitors usually commit to visiting every 7-10 days for a period of 6 months, which is around 20 visits.
You can download an application pack for this role by clicking this link.
Advocacy Liaison Volunteers
Advocacy Liaison Volunteer’s Support the development of the casework team and improve the casework service, ensuring that our work is informed by the perspective of people who have experienced immigration detention and/or hostile immigration systems.
The Advocacy Liaison Volunteer (ALV) can support volunteer recruitment, induction & training, as well as developing and feeding back on materials and resources & shaping how the service operates. ALVs can request to be involved in any areas of the casework teams work they are interested in.
The ALV role is an ad-hoc role, and not is not a front-line service role compared with other volunteer roles at DA.
Please note – this role is only open to people with lived experience of immigration detention or hostile immigration systems.
You can download an application pack for this role by clicking this link.
More about our volunteers’ experiences:
Remote volunteering from around the world – Leila
The paradox of visiting people in detention – Anthony
“I regularly speak to people who are in absolute despair” – Mary-Ann
Detention Action relies on the work of volunteers to deliver support and advice to people in immigration detention. We support people – providing emotional and practical support and advice – in the two immigration detention centres near Heathrow and to those detained under immigration powers in prisons. The majority of people in the centres are men, from a range of countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. They may be refused asylum seekers, ex-offenders, visa overstayers or people going through the asylum process.
We really welcome applications from individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds including those who have lived experience of immigration detention and the UK immigration system.