Time For God is a scheme which places young people in full-time voluntary Christian work in the United Kingdom.The scheme is sponsored by most of the major denominations and other Christian organisations and has placements in a wide range of churches, community centres, residential communities, hostels for the homeless, Christian conference centres, outdoor activity centres etc.
Volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations but are all Christians or are honestly searching for a personal Christian faith. Aged from 18 to 25 years old, some come straight from school and may be uncertain about what to do next; others want to fill in a year before going to university by doing something different; others again have been working already and now feel that they want to make a change of direction.TFG does not require volunteers to have any specific qualification and the opportunity to serve God in this way is open to everyone.
Many placements, however, have specific requirements of their volunteers. They might require a particular theology, experience relevant to the project or simply have a preference about the age or sex of the volunteer. If you inform us about your thinking, we will endeavour to ensure that the person we recommend to you matches your needs as far possible.
You tell us!
The volunteer’s job description depends largely on you, the placement organisation. There is clearly a lot that a committed and enthusiastic young person can offer an organisation but exactly how their working week shapes up depends on you, on the nature of the project and the talents of the volunteer.
We insist that they be treated as part of the staff team, with realistic hours of work and recreation. As a guide, we ask for the equivalent of a 37-hour week, ideally with two consecutive days off.
The placement must understand that these youngsters have given up a considerable period of time to serve the Lord in serving others for very little financial reward. TFG is very firm that this commitment should not be abused.
The way to prepare for having a volunteer is to define a role and envisage the kind of person you want to fill it. You must decide where your volunteer will live. It could be at the project, with a church family nearby or perhaps in a local flat or bedsit. Accommodation will need to be approved by TFG
The financial aspects need consideration, too. Placements pay volunteers £22 per week pocket money, provide full board and lodging (or a food allowance of £24 per week) any tools and/or insurance for them to do the job, reasonable return fares home (within the UK) and all out-of-pocket expenses.
The support and management for the volunteer must also be put in place. You will have to appoint a member of staff to be the volunteer’s supervisor and have regular meetings to ensure that he/she feels adequately supported. TFG's "Supervisor Data" sheet explains this role in more detail, can be accessed from the foot of this page, and should be read carefully.
Contact with a local church must also be easily available.TFG will discuss all this with you in detail if you wish to proceed with having a volunteer. We have a great deal of experience in this field and will help you sort out any queries or difficulties.
As part of the TFG support programme we insist that volunteers attend our three training events or conferences over the course of their placement.These ensure that the young person is aware that there are many others having the same experiences as they are and provide support and encouragement from other volunteers and the TFG staff. Without this opportunity of sharing, many volunteers feel extremely isolated.
Conferences also feature general training in skills relevant to their Christian life and their placements. The conferences are residential and each last three or four days. They are timed for the beginning, middle and end of the placement and are considered part of the volunteers’ working week. The costs of the volunteer’s attendance at the conferences (including travel) are paid by the volunteer and their home church jointly, usually with some subsidy from TFG funds.
Training relevant to the placement is the responsibility of the project itself, specifically the volunteer’s supervisor.
If you decide that you would like to have a volunteer, request the application form and send it to us together with a draft job description and sample timetable.
We also require the signature of a responsible member of the organisation on our Code of Practice. There may not be a suitable staff or church meeting to provide a completed and signed Resolution immediately but this should be done when feasible as we need it for insurance purposes.
In our consideration of your application we may contact you to clarify or discuss some details. One of us will then arrange a visit to talk your application over in detail. Obviously we are keen to get as clear a picture as possible of the job, the accommodation, and the supervision and support available in order to recommend the most suitable volunteer. If you are a local church seeking a volunteer, we would assume when we receive your application that the relevant authorities at the appropriate level are aware of it.
Once we have processed your application and resolved any outstanding queries, we shall try and match your vacancy to the volunteers available. We hold groups of "Briefing Days" for potential volunteers several times a year. After these our staff and "Placings Committee" prayerfully try to match people to projects.
Following this TFG will be in touch to talk over the volunteer by 'phone, covering not only their paperwork but also how we perceived them from the Briefing Day. If you are reasonably happy with what you hear, then we will ring the volunteer and discuss with them your project in outline. Assuming they too wish to proceed, we will ask them to ring you and arrange a date for a visit.
Once this is arranged, we will forward the relevant paperwork to both parties to enable preparation for the meeting. For you, the placement, this will include the volunteer's application forms, their open references, and any notes or thoughts we have arising out of the Briefing Day. As part of the application procedure, we invite referrees to provide any confidential information they feel would help us to place the volunteer sensitively; this is in addition to the "open" references. This information is confidential to the scheme and would not be passed on.The visit should last at least 2 days, and provide the volunteer with a realistic idea of what their work with you will involve. Ideally it will allow him/her to stay in the accommodation they will be using when placed. Responsibility for the volunteer’s travel costs to and from this visit falls to the placement
.After the visit, you and the volunteer must decide whether to proceed. This is best done not while the volunteer is still with you but when all concerned have had a chance to reflect prayerfully. For the volunteer, in particular, it is better to be at home to hear your decision, in case it is a negative one. If this should be the case, then TFG will look at alternatives for both parties but if you wish to go ahead with the volunteer whom you have seen, we can agree a starting date.
At this point, the placement contribution of £225 towards our central costs becomes due. This can be paid in a lump-sum, or over 6 months by standing order.
Before, or soon after, starting with you, the volunteer will attend a conference with other TFG volunteers as has been mentioned before. These all count as work-time, and travel costs to and from them are paid by TFG.