Volunteer at UMMA Center
You don't need a program. You just need to show up.
Someone sets out the chairs before Friday Nights. Someone checks people in at the door so a queue never forms. Someone takes the photos that are the only reason anyone else knows this exists. That's this page.
No account needed. One shift counts.
Mentoring is for people with expertise to share. Volunteering is for people with a free Saturday and two hands. Both are why this place runs.
Dated shifts
A real job, with a start time.
No dated shifts are posted today.
That is a real answer, not an empty page. The ongoing needs below are always live, and when a one-off shift goes up it appears here with its date and time. Put your name down and we will come to you when something fits.
Put your name downOngoing
Things we always need people for
These do not have one date, because they happen every time we open. Say you are interested and we will match you to the next one.
Friday Nights setup crew
OpenEvery Friday, before doors
Chairs, tables and the room flip before doors open. About an hour, and it is the difference between a night that starts on time and one that does not.
Friday Nights food & hospitality
OpenEvery Friday evening
Serving, drinks, and the clean-down after. The part of the evening people actually remember.
Family Sundays front desk
OpenSundays
Greeting families and checking people in when forty of them arrive at once. Needs a background check first — it puts you with under-18s.
Background check required before a first shiftSaturday Sessions program support
OpenSaturdays during term
Being the second adult in the room — handing out materials, keeping a group on task, noticing the kid who has gone quiet. Background check required.
Background check required before a first shiftPhotograph a program
OpenAny program, any week
Shoot one session so it exists outside the room. If you own a camera and know how to use it, we want to hear from you — almost nothing that happens here gets photographed. Background check required for youth programs.
Background check required before a first shiftProject day crew
OpenOccasional Saturdays
Painting, assembling, fixing, hauling. Occasional and announced in advance — the fastest way to see a room change in a single Saturday.
The work
What volunteering here looks like
The kinds of jobs, so you can picture yourself in one. Not a list of openings.
Setup & teardown
An hour either side of an event
Chairs, tables, the room flip between two programs, and putting it all back at the end of the night.
Front desk & check-in
A two-hour shift
Greeting families, checking kids in on the tablet, and keeping the door calm when forty people arrive at once.
Works with under-18s · background check first
Food & hospitality
An evening
Serving, plating, drinks, and the clean-down after. The part of the evening people actually remember.
Photo & media
One program at a time
Shooting a program so it exists outside the room. If you own a camera and know how to use it, get in touch. Almost nothing here gets photographed.
Works with under-18s · background check first
Program support
A weekly slot, or cover when someone is away
Being the second adult in the room. Handing out materials, keeping a group on task, noticing the kid who has gone quiet.
Works with under-18s · background check first
Maintenance & project days
A one-off Saturday
Painting, assembling, fixing, hauling. Occasional, announced in advance, and the fastest way to see a room change.
Transport & supply runs
Ad hoc, usually a couple of hours
Collecting supplies and moving equipment. Not driving young people. Our safeguarding policy rules out one-to-one car journeys, and we do not bend that.
Outreach & admin
Flexible, often from home
Flyers to masajid and schools, data entry, calling families back. The unglamorous half of getting anyone through the door.
Before you sign up
Three things worth knowing
The work is specific
You will be told the job, the start time, and who to find. "Come and help sometime" is not a plan, and not what we will send you.
One shift is a real contribution
There is no minimum. Plenty of people do one project day a year, and that day changes a room. Nobody will chase you onto a rota.
Some roles need clearance first
Anything that puts you with under-18s needs a background check and a short safeguarding orientation first. That covers the desk, program support and shooting a youth program. Setup, food and supply runs do not.
The full youth-safety policy — screening, ratios, one-to-one rules, reporting — is published in full.
Sign up
Friday Nights setup crew
Chairs, tables and the room flip before doors open. About an hour, and it is the difference between a night that starts on time and one that does not.
Signing up here is not approval to work with young people. Anything youth-facing needs a background check and a short orientation first, and we arrange both.
Another way to help
If this one is not yours, one of these probably is.
Questions before you commit to anything? Ask us