Befrienders 

The essence of the volunteer's role is befriending; enabling another person to feel heard and valued. Volunteers spend most of their time befriending and supporting suicidal guests at the house under the guidance of the Shift Leaders. They also befriend potential guests over the telephone and email, welcome new guests to the house, and ensure that the house is running smoothly, including shopping, preparing meals and other household tasks.

No previous experience in counselling is needed. However, volunteers need to be genuinely interested in other people and are willing and able to offer time, good listeners, friendly, and compassionate. Volunteers are carefully selected and are informed about suicide awareness and Maytree’s codes of practice.

All potential volunteers are invited to come into Maytree to have a meeting after which they will be invited to undertake four sessions of selection and training, followed by a fifth and sixth class for selected volunteers on the practical aspects of volunteering including First Aid and Health & Safety at Maytree after which you may begin to volunteer.

Support and guidance is provided by the Shift Leaders, and newer volunteers will always be working with a more experienced volunteer or a Shift Leader. Volunteer supervision / reflection is available on a regular basis and volunteers are expected to attend two compulsory supervision / reflection classes in their first three months of volunteering.

There is regular on-going training both in-house and with external speakers to support volunteers in befriending those in a suicidal crisis.

Volunteers are expected to cover a minimum of 15 hours a month, which will include sleepovers.

As Maytree works with a vulnerable client group, all volunteers will be required to have a standard CRB disclosure and maintain full confidentiality. 

If you are interested in volunteering please download an Application Form by clicking here.

Please send all completed forms to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or post it to us. If you would like to find out more please email us or give us a call on 020 7272 6863.

"As a volunteer I have met people with little hope and trust in life and it is beautiful to see how that can change during a short stay here. It is a challenging yet extremely rewarding process to be part of." Susanne - Volunteer

Volunteer Fundraisers

We are also looking for people to help us with our fundraising. If you have experience of raising money and would like to offer your support with fundraising, then please fill out the attached application form and send it back to us.

If you feel that you are able to support Maytree by having a fundraising event, running a marathon, or vowing silence for a day, then please visit our Justgiving website and create your own fundraising page by clicking on the logo below.