Surrey Talks Climate Facilitators - Volunteer in Great Bookham

Facilitators will help organise and deliver Surrey Talks Climate workshops, receive training, lead sessions for community groups, promote events, support participants’ learning, and ensure people feel confident framing positive, effective climate conversations.

This role directly supports our mission to strengthen community‑led climate action across Surrey. Effective communication is essential for engaging our community, building confidence, and enabling constructive discussions about solutions. By helping deliver high‑quality, research‑informed workshops, facilitators expand our capacity to reach many more community groups than staff alone could manage. Volunteer facilitators act as trusted messengers, helping translate research into practical, usable skills that groups can take forward into their everyday conversations. Their support with planning, outreach, and follow‑up enables us to build sustained relationships with grassroots organisations, ensuring the training has long‑term impact. Overall, this role helps us empower local communities, broaden our engagement network, and accelerate meaningful, positive climate action across Surrey.

We’re looking for someone who enjoys working with people and is motivated by helping communities have positive, constructive conversations about climate action. The ideal volunteer is warm, approachable, and able to make others feel comfortable speaking in a group setting. Strong communication and listening skills are the most important qualities for this role. You don’t need to be a climate expert; what matters most is your ability to guide discussion, encourage participation, and help groups reflect on what they’re learning. Being open‑minded, patient, and supportive will help you create a safe environment where people feel confident practising new skills. Experience in facilitation, teaching, training, or community organising is beneficial. We provide some training in the Surrey Talks Climate research and workshop format, so enthusiasm and a willingness to learn are far more important than specific technical knowledge. We’re also looking for someone organised, reliable, and comfortable working collaboratively with staff and other volunteers. A positive, solutions‑focused outlook and a genuine interest in empowering communities will help you thrive in this role.

We need volunteers to help design, organise, promote, and deliver a series of Surrey Talks Climate workshops for community groups. Volunteers will receive full training in the Surrey Talks Climate research so they can confidently explain what communication approaches are most effective and which tend to backfire. Working with the Commission Manager, they will help plan the workshop programme, including content, scheduling and logistics. They will collaborate with other volunteers to promote the events and encourage sign‑ups across Surrey. Facilitators will then co‑lead the workshops, usually in pairs, guiding community groups through the research, supporting discussion, and creating a safe space for practising positive climate‑focused conversations. After each workshop, volunteers will send follow‑up information and reminders to help groups apply what they’ve learned in their own settings.