Volunteering

wHoo Cares is a community-based organisation with the vision to reduce social isolation and improve the health and well-being of people on the Hoo Peninsula (ME3 postcode), a large rural area of Medway, Kent. Since starting in 2016, wHoo Cares has focused on what is important to the individual, offering a range of support including befriending, transport to medical appointments or activities, accessible shopping bus, hosting group activities and practical support such as help completing local authority applications. wHoo Cares also runs a volunteer programme that utilises the abilities and skills of mainly local residents to deliver much of the ongoing support, whilst building communities. Over the last year with the help of their mascot Harry, wHoo Cares has provided over 18,000 hours of befriending services and at least 35,000 hours of support, saving the NHS thousands of pounds.

Volunteering is a strong theme within the Whose Hoo scheme, making the involvement of wHoo Cares incredibly exciting. wHoo Cares CIC is the volunteering hub of the scheme, with a dedicated Volunteer Coordinator recruiting, training, and managing volunteers. Read more about wHoo Cares on  whoocares.org.uk

The Slough Fort Preservation Trust (SFPT) started as a community project in 2012, which aimed to save and restore the Victorian fort, through the local community, and develop the site as a community asset and potential tourist attraction. SFPT received charitable status in 2017 and in the following year took out a long lease on the Slough Fort site. Since that time, we have been steadily restoring the Fort and its grounds, providing opportunities for community activities, camping for youth groups, nature conservation projects and regular historical tours. In addition, we have created volunteering opportunities for all ages and abilities.

Slough Fort itself was built in 1867 as an integral part of an integrated defensive system to protect the Thames estuary, London, and numerous Royal Dockyards, providing artillery fire against hostile shipping in the estuary and preventing possible enemy landings on the neighbouring beaches. The fort has a rich and varied history, with its structure and purpose changing many times over the course of its 150-year life.

SFPT have two main goals from the Whose Hoo scheme. Firstly, to create a heritage centre in the former East Wing Battery magazines which will be used to tell the story of Slough Fort, and the import influence of the military presence on the Hoo Peninsula over seven hundred years. Secondly, to restore elements the Fort`s main buildings to create important facililties such as visitor toilets and a café to make the project sustainable into the future to complement the work already carried out such as the restoration of the Guard room and main entrance. Read more about Slough Fort and the trusts amazing work on sloughfort.org.uk

Work days at Slough Fort for the rest of the year, are 8th November and 13th December 2025.

Skills you'll gain.

• Team Work