How to fit tiny bits of volunteering into your everyday life or have you heard about micro volunteering?

Image of a clock with activities.

Let’s be honest the idea of volunteering is great – the satisfaction of helping others and supporting a cause you care about  (and the endorphins can even give you a helper’s high) – but time is a big issue for most of us.  Fitting another thing into an already busy week can seem impossible so that’s why the idea of micro volunteering is such a good idea.  For lots of people committing to a day or half a day of volunteering a week just isn’t an option.

Micro volunteering is just what it sounds like a short burst of feel good volunteering.

Fortunately for you (and us) at Win on Waste our activities are ideal for people looking to do some good but in a limited time frame.

At the most if you volunteer for a full session you are looking at a maximum of 3 hours one Saturday a month, (assuming a 2 hour session with set up and tidy up) and not all sessions are 2 hours long.

However if this still a step too far for you at the minute – how about 30 mins – if you could come along at the end of a session you could help bag up and weigh items, or help set up at the beginning. 

Most of our sessions are in central locations so you could combine your volunteering with another Saturday morning chore or even something more fun! Whatever your Saturday plans we’ve got a session that will fit in.

For example, if you were helping at Poole – you could drop off your own collected items, help out for half an hour and meet a friend for lunch in The Spire café, or go on a thrifting session (I found the almost most perfect dress in a charity shop in Poole the other day – almost in that it was a size too small!)

Our Hamworthy, Kinson and Oakdale sessions are at the local library – you could pick up some new library books, drop off your own collected items and help out for half an hour (and if you don’t have a library card why not – free books what’s not to love?!)

If you need to do shopping on a Saturday morning then our Parkstone session is just in the right place, drop off your own collected items, help out for half an hour, then do your shopping.

Fancy a bit of lunch after then do you know how many restaurants and cafes there are near to our Southbourne session, no neither do we – there were too many to count! I’m not making any recommendations as I haven’t tried them all yet but I’m always up for a challenge. So how about but how about dropping off your own collected items, helping for half an hour, then taking a walk through Southbourne for a bit too eat!

Our Christchurch session is just off the High Street, so lots of options, but how about dropping off your own collected items, helping for half an hour, then taking a walk through the gardens and down to the Quay.

In Corfe Mullen – the session is on at St Nicholas’ Church, so you could drop off your own collected items, help for half an hour then enjoy a coffee (or similar) in the café – meet a friend or just take a book and give yourself a half hour break (GASP!)

If you need to get your steps in at our Lytchett Matravers session – you could off your own collected items, help for half an hour, then take a walk – the WI have some lovely ideas – you could start with a couple of laps of the rec and build up – there’s even one that’s over 13 miles (which may not be best for a Saturday lunchtime stroll!)

Win on Waste Sessions in January 2025

It hardly seems possible that we are heading into the New Year, but in January we will be back in 11 areas of East Dorset – our full roster of sessions!

See the posters below for what each session collects

  • 4th January
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • Hamworthy Library – 10.00-12.30
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 11th January
  • Ashley Road, Makkah Foods –10.30-12.00
  • Lytchett Matravers, The Scout Hut – 10.00-11.30
  • Wimborne, Methodist Church Hall – 10.30-12.00
  • 18th January
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • Poole, The Spire – 10.30-12.00
  • Southbourne, Immanuel Church – 10.30-11.30
  • 25th January
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30
  • Oakdale Library – 10.30-11.30

Win on Waste Sessions in December 2024

We’re back in 9 areas of East Dorset this month, with our sessions in Oakdale and Wimborne returning in the New Year.

Our Christchurch session is also taking place one week later than usual on Saturday 14th December.

See the posters below for what each session collects

  • 7th December
  • Hamworthy Library – 10.00-12.30
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 14th December
  • Ashley Road, Makkah Foods –10.30-12.00
  • Lytchett Matravers, The Scout Hut – 10.00-11.30
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • 21st December
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • Poole, The Spire – 10.30-12.00
  • Southbourne, Immanuel Church – 10.30-11.30
  • 28th December
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30

Win on Waste Sessions in October 2024

We’re back in 11 areas of East Dorset this month – our full roster of sessions, plus our newest session in Southbourne

See the posters below for what each session collects

  • 5th October
  • Hamworthy Library – 10.00-12.30
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 12th October
  • Ashley Road, Makkah Foods –10.30-12.00
  • Lytchett Matravers, The Scout Hut – 10.00-11.30
  • Wimborne, Methodist Church Hall – 10.30-12.00 (and come and find us on Wimborne green afterwards!)
  • 19th October
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • Poole, The Spire – 10.30-12.00
  • Southbourne, Immanuel Church – 10.30-11.30
  • 26th October
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30
  • Oakdale Library – 10.30-11.30

Win on Waste Announces New Collection Session in Southbourne

Dorset-based waste and recycling charity Win on Waste is thrilled to announce the return of its waste collection session to Southbourne.

The session previously operated from Southbourne Library, prior to Covid, but will now take place at Immanuel URC Church on the third Saturday of each month.

The first session takes place on Saturday 21st September, 10.30-11.30, and the volunteer team will welcome local people to bring along a range of hard-to-recycle items – such as Pringles tubes, Dental waste and corks – these items will then be diverted to raise funds for local and national charities.

Win on Waste’s Business Manager, Stacey Woods, said ‘A dedicated group of people in Southbourne, has been asking us for this session for quite a while – we’re now delighted to be able to bring it back!’

She continued ‘All of our work is carried out by local volunteers and, while we have a great team in place for the session, we would love to hear from people who might have a few hours each month to give back to their community and the local environment’.

Win on Waste acts for the protection and preservation of the environment by encouraging and empowering local people to learn about the origins of their household waste and how to reduce their impact on the planet.

We advance the education of the public about all aspects of waste generation and recycling by highlighting waste reduction and recycling initiatives and, where household waste cannot be avoided, we help by redirecting common waste items towards charities and organisations that can use them for their own projects or fundraising.

For more information check the website at www.winonwaste.org

Win on Waste Sessions in April 2024

We’re back in 10 areas of East Dorset this month – see the posters below for what each session collects

Unfortunately we are no longer able to accept toothpaste tubes and their boxes, but all other dental waste is still fine to bring along!

  • 6th April
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • Hamworthy Library – 10.00-12.30
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 13th April
  • Ashley Road, Co-op –10.30-12.00
  • Lytchett Matravers Scout Hut – 10.00-11.30
  • Wimborne Methodist Church Hall – 10.30-12.00
  • 20th April
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • Poole, The Spire – 10.30-11.30
  • 27th April
  • Oakdale Library – 10.30-11.30
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30

Win on Waste Sessions in March 2024

We’re back in 10 areas of East Dorset this month – see the posters below for what each session collects

Unfortunately we are no longer able to accept toothpaste tubes and their boxes, but all other dental waste is still fine to bring along!

  • 2nd March
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • Hamworthy Library – 10.00-12.30
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 9th March
  • Ashley Road, Co-op –10.30-12.00
  • Lytchett Matravers Scout Hut – 10.00-11.30
  • Wimborne Methodist Church Hall – 10.30-12.00
  • 16th March
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • Poole, The Spire – 10.30-11.30
  • 23rd March
  • Oakdale Library – 10.30-11.30
  • 30th March
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30

Win on Waste Sessions in November

We will be running all of our sessions in November, including our news session in Poole at The Spire – full details of what to collect at this session are below.

In November we will be at:

  • 4th November
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • Hamworthy Library – 10.00-12.30
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 11th November
  • Ashley Road, Co-op –10.30-12.00
  • Lytchett Matravers Scout Hut – 10.00-11.30
  • Wimborne Methodist Church Hall – 10.30-12.00 – and join us on the Minster Green afterwards for the Wimborne Green Festival
  • 18th November
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • Poole, The Spire – 10.30-11.30
  • 25th November
  • Oakdale Library – 10.30-11.30
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30

Click on the poster below to see what each session is collecting this month!

Win on Waste Sessions in September 2023

We’ll be running all of our sessions in September, and we’re also able to give you advance notice that we will be launching a new session in Poole in October. Join us at The Spire on Saturday 21st October – details to follow!

In September we will be at:

  • 2nd September
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • Hamworthy Library – 10.00-12.30
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 9th September
  • Ashley Road, Co-op –10.30-12.00
  • Lytchett Matravers Scout Hut – 10.00-11.30
  • Wimborne Methodist Church Hall – 10.30-12.00
  • 16th September
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • 23rd September
  • Oakdale Library – 10.30-11.30
  • 30th September
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30

Don’t forget, Upton Library is kindly hosting some collection bins for us – please do drop in when the library is open to find out more.

Check the posters below for the details of what is collected at each session:

Win on Waste Sessions in August 2023

We’ll be running 7 sessions in July, with no session in Oakdale or Wimborne in August – both will be back in September.

  • 5th August
  • Christchurch, Druitt Hall – 10.00-11.30
  • Hamworthy – at Hamworthy Park Fete this month, 11.00am-3.00pm
  • Merley, Lantern Church Hub – 10.15-11.30
  • 12th August
  • Ashley Road, Co-op –10.30-12.00
  • 19th August
  • Corfe Mullen, St Nicholas’ Church – 10.30-11.30
  • 26th August
  • Kinson Library – 10.30-11.30

Check the posters below for the details of what is collected at each session: