Volunteer for us
Join our team of volunteers and make a difference for our animals, whether you can give a little or a lot
If you’re looking for volunteering in Bath, Trowbridge, Frome and surrounding areas, we’d love you to join our team at Bath Cats & Dogs Home.
Giving your time is a wonderful gift to us. Our volunteers are the heart of what we do – assisting staff at our rehoming centre, supporting our charity shops and representing us in our community. Whether it's getting stuck into our laundry or being in charge of a collection at an event, every hour you can give helps our cats and dogs in need.
Together, we can do the best for our animals and the charity.
Why volunteer for Bath Cats & Dogs Home?
For an idea of what it's like to volunteer for us, check out our Volunteer Spotlight blog posts.
Email alerts
Nothing suitable right now? You can sign up to our email newsletter, and in your preferences sign up for the extra volunteer bulletin emails when we have new vacancies.
Current volunteering vacancies
PLEASE NOTE We cannot offer year 10 work experience, Duke of Edinburgh placements or volunteering roles for under 18s.
Fostering provides respite to dogs struggling with kennel life, as well as enabling puppies to spend important developmental stages in a home environment. In line with our ongoing work to deliver gold-standard welfare to the animals in our care, we are currently in need of dog fosterers who match the below criteria:
- Pet free home
- A secure garden
- Adult home only (or Children above 14 years old)
Please note, we have plenty of dog foster homes who have children and other pets – we appreciate your enthusiasm but we cannot process any applications outside of this criteria at the moment.
Role Profile
The purpose of a fosterer is to provide safe and loving care in their own home to their foster animals adhering to Bath Cats & Dogs Home’s guidance and processes. You will be an important factor in your foster dog or puppy’s rehabilitation, socialisation, and rehoming journey. All costs are covered by Bath Cats & Dogs Home, foster animals will be provided with food, bedding, toys and any medication required.
As a volunteer fosterer, you will:
- Provide a safe and loving home for your foster dog or puppy for an agreed time period.
- Take care of their daily needs including feeding them, cleaning their living area, spending time with them to improve their socialisation and for those who need it, grooming.
- For dogs or puppies with ongoing medical conditions, administer their medication or provide any extra care they may need.
- Bring them to our on-site vet suite for vet appointments.
- Keep in regular contact with our Foster Coordinator to provide updates on their progress, submit behavioural assessments and send us photos to support the Rehoming Team to find your foster dog or puppy’s forever home.
- Bring them to the Home for scheduled rehoming appointments.
» Read more in our foster section
About You
Previous experience of owning or fostering a large breed dog or a dog with challenging behaviour is desirable. A large and secure private garden is essential. We are interested in speaking to potential fosterers who either own their own home or have permission from their landlord to keep pets. It is essential that you have a valid driver’s licence and access to a car to foster a dog or puppy. As you will need to visit us on a regular basis for appointments, and we are unfortunately unable to reimburse travel costs, potential fosterers should live within a 30-minute drive to Bath Cats & Dogs Home.
If you are an animal lover who has the time to give a dog that is struggling with kennel life, a nursing mum and her puppies, or a dog with medical issues who is waiting for their forever home, then we would love to hear from you!
We want to set you up for success and introduce you to fellow volunteer fosterers who can share their knowledge and experience with you. Therefore, we will host monthly training inductions for new dog fosterers.
How to Apply
All staff and volunteers are required to complete online Health & Safety training prior to their start date. Due to insurance restrictions, we can only take on volunteers over the age of 18.
Click on the link below complete the application form. If we feel that you are suitable for this role, you will then be contacted by our Foster Coordinator for a more detailed discussion of the role responsibilities.