Wandsworth Care Alliance

Ryan Jong; corporate world to volunteering

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After a long and successful career in the corporate world, Ryan Jong is embracing a new chapter, one that’s all about giving back. Having recently retired in December 2024, Ryan is looking to join Wandsworth Care Alliance (WCA) as a trustee, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on community support.

“I wanted to use my skills to give something back,” Ryan says. “Before retiring, I was a partner at a Big Four accountancy firm, where I built and led a department of 60 people. My background is in financial services, statistics, and risk management, areas that might not seem immediately relevant to the voluntary sector, but I’ve found there are more similarities than you might think.”

Although Ryan had always been interested in volunteering, Ryan’s demanding career and family life left little time for it over the past two decades. But now, with more time on his hands and a desire to stay purposeful in retirement, he’s diving into this new role with energy and enthusiasm.

Finding a suitable volunteering role

While exploring volunteering opportunities in Wandsworth, the trustee position at WCA stood out.

“I was looking for something where I could truly add value,” Ryan explains. “Given my past experience working closely with boards and governance, the trustee role at WCA seemed like a natural fit.”

Ryan acknowledges that, at first glance, his background in finance and statistics might not appear directly related to the voluntary and community sector. But he sees a deeper connection.

“The challenges that many charities and community organisations face today, particularly in times of economic uncertainty, aren’t unlike the challenges financial institutions faced during the 2008 crisis. It’s all about adapting, continuing to serve the public good, and finding sustainable ways to operate in uncertain times.”

Ryan’s advice to anyone potential interested in volunteering

When asked what advice he would give to others considering volunteering or a trustee role, Ryan is clear: “Just go for it.”

“Even if you don’t think you ‘fit’ perfectly, your experiences might still be valuable. Everyone has something to contribute. When I was building my team, I never wanted 60 clones of myself. I wanted different opinions, different perspectives. That’s what leads to better results.”

Looking ahead

Though he’s still new to the role, Ryan is excited about what lies ahead.

“It’s early days, but I hope to get to know WCA better and to make a meaningful contribution. My goal is simple: I want to leave WCA in a better place than when I joined.”

We’re excited to have Ryan on board and look forward to the impact he’ll make as part of our dedicated trustee team. If you’re inspired by his story and are thinking about volunteering or becoming a trustee yourself, take that first step, you never know where it might lead.

Get in touch with us at communications@wandcareall.org.uk

Voluntary Sector Forum Meeting highlights

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We hosted our Voluntary Forum Sector meeting on Wednesday 2nd April 2025, where we were joined by fantastic guest speakers from Wandsworth Council, Need2Succeed, The Wandsworth Provider Alliance, Free2be and Share and care Homeshare.

The forum provided Voluntary Sector Organisations to discuss, network and share with each other and allowed everyone to discover what was happening in the sector and listen to our guest speakers on what they’re working on and find out what’s upcoming in the borough. Updates were also heard from ourselves, Wandsworth Older Peoples Forum and from the Health and Wellbeing Board. All the presentations that were shared at the forum can be found at the bottom of this page.

Wandsworth Care Alliance Updates

If you would like to be notified of all upcoming Health and Wellbeing Board Engagement group meetings, please send us an email to let us know on communications@wandcareall.org.uk.

Wandsworth Council Updates

The Council’s Community & Partnerships Team leads on community engagement for the Council, manages local grant funding opportunities including the Wandsworth Grant Fund, and coordinates and supports collaboration with partner organisations locally, across a range of activities and different sectors. The team are always happy to hear ideas and support with connecting our VCS with other partners – please contact partnerships@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk.

The Wandsworth Grant Fund provides small grants for VCS organisations in the borough to run activities for up to 12 months. Next deadline is 7 July 2025. More information on this can be found here: Wandsworth Grant Fund – Wandsworth Borough Council

Warm welcome to our new VCS Strategy and Partnership Manager, Dianne Jones. Dianne will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of the strategy working alongside the council, VCS organisations and wider partners.  Dianne is keen to meet with as many VCS groups and organisations across the borough, so if you would like a visit or a conversation please get in touch Dianne.Jones@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk.

The Council is committed to working in close partnership with the voluntary and community sector in a way that amplifies and celebrates its contribution and impact. To achieve this, the Council has developed new Voluntary and Community Strategy 2025-2030. Wandsworth Voluntary Sector Strategy

Invitation to join upcoming Wandsworth Voluntary and Community Network meeting which is happening online on 6th of May 11am-12pm. Please register your interest here. 

This network is supported by Wandsworth Council and will provide a regular space for the council, the local voluntary and community sector and wider partners operating in Wandsworth to come together, network, share updates, discuss and collaborate on key policy, strategic and service areas; with the aim to build an even stronger community network across Wandsworth. Please also email voluntarysectorteam@wandsworth.gov.uk if you have an agenda item you would like added.

VCS Hub Invitation

Wandsworth Voluntary and Community Sector Hub is a modern, affordable workspace in Wandsworth Town Hall designed to support local organisations. The VCS Hub offers 24 workstations, three meeting rooms, and a flexible, supportive environment. The hub is free to use for the first three months and provides flexible working, allowing organisations to book desks and meeting rooms to suit their needs.

Register to access the VCS Hub and share this opportunity with your networks to help build a stronger and connected community.

View our short VCS Hub Launch Video.

For more details, visit VCS Hub – Wandsworth Borough Council.

Climate Action Microgrants. For community groups, schools, individuals or non-profits to run events and activities that promote positive behaviours in the community around climate change and sustainability. Up to £500. Deadline – 30 May.

Information about the newly formed Wandsworth Provider Alliance can be found here.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Voluntary Sector Forum meeting.

VSF 02042025 – Ravi slidesDownload
Wandsworth CouncilDownload
RobertoDownload

Volunteer Involving Organisations Network Meeting highlights

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Our VIO Network meeting was held online on Wednesday 26th March 2025 where we were joined by various community organisations as we discussed barriers to volunteering, ways to include inclusivity in volunteering. Thank you to everyone who joined us.

In the network meeting we were joined by Community and Outreach Officer, Samreen Mulji from Learn2Love2Read and Project Manager, June Pilgrim- Ndure from Community Empowerment Network. Our guest speakers shared their knowledge and experience with us and included some key methods in which they have found useful at their organisations on how to include inclusivity in volunteering.

After our guest speakers shared with us their valuable insights on ways to include inclusivity in volunteering, we opened the floor to come together collaboratively and discuss the barriers to volunteering for volunteers who have disabilities and want to volunteer but are often faced with limited support.

From the contributions of the attendees in the network meeting there was a shared acknowledgement and agreement that there does seem to be a barrier to volunteering for volunteers who have disabilities and may need additional support when completing volunteering opportunities.

In the open floor discussion, we discussed some of the reasons as to why organisation attendees found they were unable to facilitate volunteering opportunities – reasons such as being understaffed, health and safety and the nature of the volunteering opportunity all playing a part.

In conclusion from the network meeting we concluded that we would want to investigate ways of volunteering being made more inclusive for all and thinking of implementing reasonable and realistic changes in order to cater to all.

Upcoming Events:

  1. Volunteering at Little Village
  2. Volunteers are welcome to join any of the NHS-funded and GLA-funded training we are supporting
  3. DBS Workshop Session

Please provide your feedback to the VIO meeting here.

Free skilled work placements

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Skilled volunteering is a great way for people to share time in a way that really helps community work to grow. If someone works professionally in a job doing things like: HR, digital skills, marketing, PR, project management, etc. they might not even realise that spending a few hours each week helping a charity with a skills gaps, could amount to £1,000s worth of specialist help to work toward their objectives.

LinkUp LDN works across London to match skilled volunteers to charitable organisations, and being based in Battersea they have a long standing in the Wandsworth community.

Wandsworth Care Alliance recently recruited our first skilled volunteer from LinkUp LDN, and this article shares some answers to questions you might have about how it works.

What kind of skills are available?

LinkUp’s website asks for people with all skills including marketing, HR, strategy, communications, social media, legal, finance, data collection / analysis, research, writing organisational development, systems design and much more. We decided to recruit for a PR strategist and got a volunteer who could help us with advocacy too!

How do I know I’m eligible for a skilled volunteer?

LinkUp have a useful and easy form I recommend filling in even if you aren’t eligible. It will help you to reflect on your needs and ability to support a skilled volunteer. LinkUP will let you know the results with a friendly follow up.

How do I decide exactly what I need?

LinkUP have a several stage process for matching organisations, first the qualifier form, then a meeting, they will take you through the reasonable project timelines in a clear and informative way. In our 1-2-1 LinkUP really helped us to look at our wider needs and decide on priorities. They helped us to narrow down the volunteer specification to write an appealing advert, they then sent it back to us for feedback before posting.

How long does it take to recruit?

Recruiting volunteers varies depending on the skills and interests of prospective volunteers but they aim to make a match in a month. There is a big audience and it was very reassuring to hear that our volunteer found out about the programme through a friend who did a placement and enjoyed it. The programmes are popularly growing through word of mouth so there is plenty of potential to recruit.

How many volunteers can I recruit and for how long?

LinkUp limits each organisation to one active project at a time and the projects can last up to 3 months. The plausible commitment from a volunteer is 1-3 hours per week, you can discuss the pattern with them in a call but this is what they have found works and we trust it.

What will my volunteer be like?

LinkUp are great for bringing volunteers and organisations together but from that point on the organisation is responsible for making a volunteer agreement like any other volunteering route. It’s worth noting that a lot of skilled volunteers will be offering their time alongside a full time job so they might require contact out of office hours and its worth doing everything you can to engage them and thank them for the commitment they are making.

LinkUP do a great job however of checking in to make sure the project is progressing well and once you meet your volunteer in an online call between LinkUP, your volunteer manager, and the prospective volunteer you will be guided to decide what the work pattern and term could be. We work very flexibly with our volunteer, planning short weekly catchups as we would rather them spend their limited time on the project work. Each organisation will inevitably be different.

If you’re interested in advertising for a skilled volunteer, visit https://linkuplondon.org/ to find out more.

If you want to recruit general volunteers you can also advertise on our volunteer Wandsworth website too. Contact Jummy@wandcareall.org.uk to find out more or click here to register.

Tooting Parents most affected by cost-of-living crisis smile again at local baby bank

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Little Village HQ is the first Baby bank in the UK, supporting local parents most affected by the cost-of-living crisis to smile again. The baby bank is like a food bank, but it offers clothes, toys, furniture, and supplies for children under 5.

Earlier this year we spoke to Jen, the baby bank manager at Tooting who first started donating items to the baby bank 3 years ago when she fell in love with Little Village HQ and knew she wanted to work there.

“I have a daughter myself and I know how much ‘stuff’ children need, and you end up with a lot of ‘stuff’ that can help someone else.” – Jen

And Little Village HQ helps these local parents who are referred in so many different ways. The baby bank delivers items, and in the shop, parents can come to pick up essential supplies, get some advice, have a coffee, and a useful chat too.

Volunteers are keen to help, Jen is proud of the friendly team and the signposting team who can help parents find other services like food banks and community support groups.

What really make these parents smile is the friendly people behind the experience. Jen says she can imagine how it must feel to ask for help, the team don’t want anyone to feel ashamed or embarrassed.

Everyone gets a pre-packed bundle, but parents are also asked to choose what they think they need, and they are given space to sit down and talk. This is where the team can really figure out what’s going on for these families, and what support they need.

But the team are inundated with referrals, and they need support to get to more families in urgent need. Volunteer Wandsworth have started advertising some great roles to build your skills and support this great cause.

Would you like to volunteer and help families during the cost of living crisis? Sign up to our volunteer website to browse opportunities at Little Village and apply.

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