"We support all maternity service users to navigate the system as it exists, and campaign for a system that truly meets the needs of all"
AIMS is run by a small team of Volunteers, and we always gratefully welcome more.
If you would like to volunteer for AIMS, we would love to hear from you! Our email contact is volunteer@aims.org.uk
In order to volunteer you need to be a member of AIMS, but we are able to offer a reduced rate if paying the full fee would be a problem for you.
AIMS Volunteers are organised into teams: small groups of Volunteers responsible for carrying out different parts of AIMS work. As a Volunteer you will join one or more of these teams depending on your interests, skillset, experience and the time you have available to volunteer. Each Team has a Team Lead who is responsible for overseeing the work of the team, training and support for team members and organising team meetings. As an AIMS Volunteer you will be expected to participate regularly in the work of the team(s) to which you belong and attend Team and All Volunteer meetings.
Here is some information about the roles of the different teams. There are also details of specific vacancies we are looking to fill here
If you are not able to commit to volunteering with AIMS on a regular basis you might be interested in joining our Peer Reviewers Register and/or Specialists Register.
Management team
The Management team is the central hub of the organisation. It has delegated authority from the Trustees for the day-to-day management of AIMS work and for supporting our other volunteer teams. Our role includes:
Managing administration and support for AIMS volunteers in collaboration with the volunteer Team Leads
Supporting Team Leads to ensure that their Teams have what they need to function effectively
Managing routine operational matters including meetings and workshops, the AIMS Shop and other support services, quality control of publications, the charity’s finances, and promotion of AIMS and its activities,.
Supporting the Board of Trustees
Time commitment: A 1½ hour meeting every other week plus at least 2 hours per week.
Admin Team
The Admin team carries out a range of vital functions which enable the other Volunteer teams and the whole of AIMS to function effciently. Team members will have one or more of the following roles:
The Birth Information Team manages the production and maintenance of the Birth Information section on the AIMS website. Roles include:
The main requirement is a good eye for detail when editing/proofreading.
.See the Birth Information pages here: Birth Information Pages.
The purpose of the AIMS Campaigns team is to provide both a focused resource to progress key campaigns, and the expertise to lead/support short-term campaigning work, such as responding to consultations and reviewing reports or research papers relating to the maternity services.
The key requirements are a passion for improving the maternity services, a general understanding of the maternity services landscape, attention to detail and the ability to explain things clearly in writing. Planning and organisational skills and/or ability to understand and critique clinical research would also be helpful.
As well as getting involved in short-term projects and campaigning activities, all Campaigns Team Volunteers will join either the Campaigns Steering Group or one of the following working groups that focus on key areas of AIMS campaigning.
Some examples of our responses and campaigns can be found here: AIMS Campaigning .
Please note that we aim to offer all Volunteers the opportunity to get involved in AIMS ad-hoc campaigning work so you do not have to be a member of the AIMS Campaigns Team to play a valuable role in our campaigns work.
This team responds to enquiries from maternity service users and those who support them, providing information and support on pregnancy and birth issues. Enquiries come by email or phone (using a call handling service). Helpline volunteers do not give medical advice, but instead focus on helping people to find the information that they need to make informed decisions which are right for them, and supporting them to have their decision respected by their doctors and midwives. They are also able to provide a listening ear and practical support for those who are unhappy with their experiences of the maternity services.
New members will be mentored by an experienced Helpline Volunteer.
To join this team you need to be an experienced doula, antenatal educator or breastfeeding counsellor. However, please note that if you are medically qualified or training for a medical role (e.g. as a midwife, doctor, nurse or health visitor) you will not be able to join the Helpline team, but we will welcome your knowledge and experience in other areas of AIMS work.
The role of the Publications team is to commission authors to write AIMS books and prepare these for publication. We are developing new books with a series title of “The AIMS Guide to…” Several titles have already been published and we have a group of authors working on further books on vital topics. Our current publications can be viewed and purchased from the AIMS Shop.
Social Media team volunteers manage all AIMS Social Media activities across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to support our campaigning, promote AIMS resources and build awareness of AIMS. They create images and captions to go with text supplied by other Teams, manage the approvals process and scheduling.
Roles include Image Creator (using Canva), Scheduler (using Later) and Post Request Monitor.
Training will be provided, but familiarity with posting on various social media platforms, use of Canva and/or Later, and the use of spreadsheets for work planning would be helpful.
AIMS books and Birth Information pages have long benefitted from our process of ‘peer review’, with a mix of expert and lay readers providing critical comments and suggestions. These Peer Reviewers play a vital role in assuring the quality and fitness for purpose of all our published material.
We are developing a register of people who would be willing to volunteer to do this from time to time for new books and Birth Information webpages. If you are not in a position to volunteer for AIMS on a regular basis, this is a great way of supporting our work - as well as giving you a sneak preview of new AIMS material. You can decide how much you do, depending on your time availability and interests.
We are particularly keen to hear from people with research knowledge, understanding of statistics, and/or specialist knowledge of a topic, but it’s also really helpful to have people who can comment from the perspective of our main audience - individual maternity service users and their families.
You will need to attend a short training session, and make sure that you are familiar with AIMS policies, position papers and language guidance.
If you’d like to know more please contact admin@aims.org.uk
If you are not in a position to commit the time required to be an active AIMS volunteer but support our mission and have specialist knowledge or experience that it would be useful for AIMS to draw on, we'd like to invite you to join our Specialists Register. This is a list of people who would be able and willing to help us with individual pieces of work from time to time. This might include things like helping us update or draft a position paper or Birth Information webpage, commenting on a document or piece of research, or contributing to a consultation in your area of interest.
If you would be willing for us to keep your details for this purpose, or want to know more, please contact admin@aims.org.uk