Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary's logo

Interested in Volunteering?

"We are indebted to people giving up their time to help our donkeys and Sanctuary survive."

Plenty of opportunities

What area interests you?

  • Yard

    Helping with the day-to-day tasks required for looking after the welfare of our animals. These may include feeds, medication, mucking out, leading and herding animals out of pens and paddocks, grooming, and assisting with outreach therapy visits and events with our donkeys. 


  • Groomers

    Provide all our animals with grooming and hoof picking after training from the farm team.


  • Meet and Greet / Car Park Steward

    Help us by welcoming visitors, explaining the site and what we offer, handing out leaflets, quizzes, and daily information, collecting donations and gift aid information, and directing coaches and minibuses to their designated spaces. 

     

  • Adoption Hub

    We are looking for friendly, confident and approachable individuals to be based at our Adoption Hub supporting our donkey and pony adoption process.  

    You will need to be computer literate as you will be using our company database to input data so attention to detail is vital. This is a lovely role if you enjoy meeting people as you will be speaking to our visitors about our Sanctuary, donkeys and ponies. Full training will be provided.

  • Community Engagement

    Will be working with our Community Engagement Officer to provide community programmes to a variety of groups. This could invlolve both our wildlife area and our donkeys and ponies.

  • Fundraising

    This will involve tasks such as helping our fundraising team with fundraising events and admin duties

  • Education/School Steward

    Will be around the site to inform visitors about any daily activities, point out adopted donkeys, help visitors with quiz questions and general enquiries, and assist with tours for large groups and school visits. 


    School stewards involve helping to steward the larger school groups who visit the Sanctuary.  The role does not have overall responsibility for children but supports the teachers/adults who supervise their group.  It also involves education, providing some key information on the Sanctuary and our donkeys and ponies. Full training will be provided.

  • Events

    Will help us on event days to steward the car park, bridleways, and courtyard, help set up and break down, engage in activities, inform our visitors, and liaise with event organisers.


  • Shop

    Will assist the shop staff in daily duties of restocking shelves, displaying goods, advising visitors with enquiries and adoptions, working on the till, and running our pop-up shop at events.


  • Cafe/Kitchen

    Will involve working behind the counter in the café. Taking food and drink orders, making and serving hot drinks, assisting visitors with menus, displaying the cakes, and keeping the area clean and tidy.

    If in the kitchen, this will involve carrying out tasks such as delivering food orders, clearing and cleaning tables, and collecting cutlery and crockery for washing up.


  • Office/Visitor Experience Admin

    Office admins will be assisting us in the IOW Donkey Sanctuary Office. This could be a mixture of taking phone calls and answering queries, processing adoptions, or entering information into our database.


    Visitor Experience admins will be working in our busy office, involving helping the Sanctuary’s coach and school visit programmes as well as providing additional assistance in preparing for our annual calendar of events. You will need to be computer literate and have an eye for detail. If you enjoy a challenge and have good admin skills, then this role could be for you. Full training will be provided.

  • Wildlife & Gardening

    Wildlife volunteers will carry out tasks set by our Estates Manager and The National Wildlife Trust to clear shrub, maintain the riverbank, and control weeds, and will work alongside Green Gym and Island Riverways.


    Gardening volunteers will be helping with grounds maintenance and general gardening, including pruning, hedging, maintaining the memorial garden and courtyard planters. 

  • Work Experience / Duke of Edinburgh Students / EMS Veterinary Placements

    Work alongside staff and volunteers engaging in all general tasks.


Benefits to volunteering for the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary

We are incredibly grateful for every volunteer that chooses to help us at the IOW Donkey Sanctuary. Along with the benefit of helping us to keep the Sanctuary running and caring for all of our donkeys and ponies, there are also other benefits to volunteering with us.


  • 20% off in the Gift Shop & Grazers Café
  • Uniform is provided
  • On-going training and support
  • Social events
If you would like to apply to become a volunteer, you can pop in for a chat, contact Lisa on 01983 852693, email lisa.curtis@iowdonkeysanctuary.org, or fill in the form below.

Volunteer application form

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