Our volunteers are a vibrant mix of ages and experiences. Whether you're considering a career in teaching, looking to gain experience, or simply wanting to make a positive impact in your community, LEAH is the place for you.

Many of our tutors learned English later in life, just like our students.

We welcome trained teachers and those with ESOL or EFL qualifications. However, no teaching experience or qualifications are required as our training equips you with everything you need.

Inspired by the experiences they have had, many of our LEAH tutors have gone on to qualify as ESOL or EFL teachers. Others have grown in confidence, made new friends and taken great satisfaction from the very real difference they've made to someone else's life. Hear from our volunteers.

If you are over 18, available Monday to Friday during office hours and able to spare an hour a week and can commit to a minimum of six months we’d love to hear from you. Support is provided both in person and online to enable LEAH to reach the most isolated and vulnerable people in the community.

If you can travel to Hounslow, Richmond or Kingston you can support students in person either in their homes or at a local venue like the library or children’s centre. This is a great opportunity for you to get to know your student and help them to understand their local area and participate in hands on learning by visiting a local park or market.

You can volunteer to teach online, and this means you might live anywhere in the UK. Supporting learners across London online means you will be able to help them become more digitally savvy and feel connected. Online learning is perfect for many of our vulnerable learners or those who may be a little more confident.

As a volunteer working with adults at risk, you will be required to have a DBS disclosure. This is organised by LEAH and there is no cost to the volunteer.

Every volunteer is paired with a member of the LEAH coordinator team who will be your point of contact for any questions throughout your volunteering journey.

• We offer a comprehensive 6-week online training course. Dates of our next training course are:

  February 2025 - 2 courses, starting on Monday 10th February at 7pm and Thursday 13th February at 10am.

  Summer 2025 - starting on Wednesday 21st May 

  Sept 2025 - start date TBC 

  Nov 2025 - start date TBC 

• Access to ongoing training and peer mentoring

• Opportunity to apply for funding for further specialist training

• Volunteer coffee mornings and meet ups – both in person and on line

“The course was fantastic and LEAH seems to be a brilliant organisation with lots of reassuring support for volunteers!“

“The whole course was very stimulating and of a high professional standard. I'm now very aware of how important it is to provide English to refugees so that they can integrate and find work.”

“This has been some of the best prep I have received as a volunteer for any organisation, I'm very grateful.”

Ready to get started complete an online application form and we’ll get in touch with you.

Want to know a bit more about what is expected read the volunteer tutor role description or hear from our volunteers.

Or have a chat with Laura our Volunteer & Training Manager volunteermanager@leah.org.uk who can answer any questions not on our FAQs.