Volunteering with us

We have had a massive amount of interest volunteering, but we are a very small staff team with limited resources, so we have paused the application form in order to providing meaningful opportunities to everyone who has already joined the community.

If you want to help us improve our capacity to support organisations to access data science, one of the best things you can do is to donate to us.

Volunteer newsletter

To make sure you don’t miss out when roles are available, and to hear about our work and community news in the meantime, join our volunteer newsletter to keep up with other data for good news, jobs, and interesting stories.

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“Working with totally new people and seeing how they approach new problems is fascinating.”

Lydia Monnington | Data Science Lead, Google DeepMind | DataKind UK Committee member
Read Lydia’s Volunteering Story

Data project opportunities

DataKind UK’s staff and committees scope the most impactful projects we can find, and match them with the best volunteers for the job. These projects support the third sector - charities, voluntary organisations, community interest companies, and social enterprises - any organisation whose mission is to change the world for the better. Read about some of the projects we have worked on.

As a volunteer, you can get involved in different ways depending on your experience, skills, and availability. You might join a one-off event, a several-month project, or even a committee.

If you’re a data professional who loves cleaning and joining messy data sets, digging into the relationships of a regression, or building a trial dashboard to explore a tough social issue, you’ll fit right in here. If you’ve also got the know-how to lead a team and keep projects on track, we’re definitely looking for you!

Most of our roles can be done remotely, but we also have some in-person events. If you’re looking for other online opportunities, DataKind UK is one of six global DataKind chapters. DataKind chapters in Bengaluru, Singapore, Washington DC, and San Francisco offer a mixture of other remote volunteering. Find your local chapter!

Long-term roles

Annually, we recruit volunteers who support our organisation to run day-to-day, such as our committee members. Take a look at our team structure.

Applying to volunteer

We have had a massive amount of interest in joining our volunteer community, but we are a very small staff team with limited resources. We’re so grateful to everyone who has applied and your amazing enthusiasm, and want to focus on providing meaningful opportunities to you all.

If you’ve already started the application process, you’ll still be able to complete it. If you are looking for ways to further build your data skills, you can find lots of other suggestions here.

If you want to help us improve our capacity to support more organisations to access data science, one of the best things you can do is to donate to us.

More questions?

Our FAQ has you covered!

  • 'Data for good' is what happens when DataKind UK connects skilled volunteers like you to the third sector, bringing the power of data science where it's needed most.

    The third sector includes charities, public and civic services, Community Interest Companies, social enterprises - any organisation whose mission is to change the world for the better!

    Despite their essential work, these organisations struggle with low resources, a huge skills gap, and a lack of development and investment when it comes to data use. You help us to close these gaps.

  • Our volunteering opportunities are very popular, but your team is welcome to volunteer individually by signing up to our mailing list to hear about opportunities as they happen. You can also support us as an organisation.

  • As a small charity, we aren’t set up to provide work experience or student placements. If you’re looking for placements, ways to develop your skills, or other volunteering opportunities, take a look at our other suggestions.

    We’re a very small charity team, so don’t recruit new staff very often. But, as more and more third sector organisations see the value of data, the chance to work in ‘data for good’ roles grows! This excellent jobs board is maintained weekly, capturing the best opportunities in the third sector across the UK.

  • Definitely! Check out our map of data for good communities around the world.

“DataKind UK is a special place to work. We have a fantastic team with a deeply inclusive culture that gives rise to creative, reflective, and effective delivery of our programmes.”

Tariq Khokhar | Head of Data for Science and Health, Wellcome Trust