Get Involved

Volunteering & Internships

Release has a proud history of offering volunteer and internship opportunities where we work with you to develop your ideas and skills. These individuals bring diverse areas of expertise together — from a range of professional disciplines as well as relevant living experiences of surviving and resisting systems of surveillance and punishment which our service work and policy work responds to. Remember we do not ‘shoe-horn’ you into a role; we work with you to develop yourself.

Release is committed to the fair treatment of its employees and potential employees and as such, applicants and members of staff with either a spent or unspent conviction will not be unfairly discriminated against. However, due to the sensitive nature of some of Release’s work, those working alongside vulnerable adults and/or young people may be required to undertake a DBS check.

How to apply: In order to apply for a volunteer role, please complete our Volunteer Application Form and then email the relevant department below to let us know that you have submitted an application.

Volunteer Roles Available

• Harm Reduction Hub Volunteers (requires a DBS check)
  • Release runs a harm reduction centre in East London, co-located with the People’s Letters at 395 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9RA. We are looking for volunteers who would like to work in the Hub providing harm reduction advice and friendly conversation to any visitors. This volunteer role will require more intensive training prior to commencing the role, and as such, will be recruited for on a quarterly cycle. You can apply anytime for the role but will need to wait until the next training cycle commences in order to go through the full application process. You are welcome to apply for multiple roles and conduct other work with Release while awaiting training for the Hub. If you have any questions regarding this, please email shayla@release.org.uk.
• Drugs Team Volunteers (requires a DBS check)
  • The drugs team takes volunteers from a range of disciplines. If you have an interest in and some knowledge of issues related to drug use, and would like to be involved in operating the Release drugs helpline, then this is the role for you.
• Communications Volunteers
  • If you are passionate about the issues Release campaigns on, enjoy writing, and have an interest in social media then you might want to consider this role. We are always looking for people to produce social media content (from slides to videos). We also have many writing opportunities at Release’s innovative multilingual project TalkingDrugs. If this interests you, please contact andre@release.org.uk.
• Research Volunteers
  • Release periodically takes on volunteers to assist with research tasks for our policy responses and research reports. Volunteers can also assist with smaller investigation pieces for TalkingDrugs’ stories. If you are interested in drug policy, have strong written communication skills and want to gain experience in research and policy, then this role is for you!
• Legal Volunteers
  • A good way to gain experience prior to entering the job market. Applicants need to have successfully completed at least the first year and criminal law module of a UK law degree (or the Graduate Diploma in Law) and have a strong interest in criminal law and human rights. Volunteers carry out a variety of activities including assisting the legal team with casework and advising on our helpline following training. We are not currently accepting any Legal volunteers. Please check back for updates, and if you have any questions, please email fenella@release.org.uk.