You don’t need previous charity or Search & Rescue experience. For this opportunity, we’re particularly interested in volunteers with at least three years’ relevant experience in business development, sales, partnerships, events, fundraising, or community engagement. Your ability to connect with people and develop opportunities is more important than having previously worked within the charity sector.

The most important qualities

Relationship building is at the heart of this role. You should be comfortable approaching businesses, community groups, clubs, and other organizations, starting conversations, and developing positive relationships over time.

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Confident and personable – comfortable approaching new people and representing BLSAR professionally
• Proactive – able to identify an opportunity and take the initiative rather than waiting for direction
• A natural relationship-builder – able to develop rapport and maintain long-term connections
• Organised and reliable – able to keep track of contacts, follow up conversations, and see opportunities through
• Community-minded – genuinely interested in supporting BLSAR and making a difference locally
• Collaborative – happy to work independently while remaining part of a wider volunteer team
• Creative and solutions-focused – able to think of different ways businesses and communities could get involved

Relevant experience

Experience in business development or sales would transfer particularly well to this opportunity. If you're used to developing new relationships, networking, generating leads, creating partnerships, or managing accounts, many of those skills could be used to help grow BLSAR's community support.

Experience in fundraising, event management, sponsorship, marketing, public relations, or community engagement would also be valuable.

You should be comfortable using basic digital tools such as email, shared calendars, and simple online systems to record contacts and activities.

Local knowledge would be an advantage. We're recruiting 2–4 Community Champions across Berkshire, with each volunteer focusing on an agreed area. Knowing the businesses, organizations, events, and networks within your area could help you identify opportunities, although existing contacts aren't essential.

Previous fundraising experience is not required. We'll support you in understanding BLSAR, our work, and the types of opportunities we're looking for.

Above all, we're looking for someone who enjoys making connections and making things happen. You might be an experienced business development professional wanting to use your skills for a worthwhile cause, someone with a strong local network, or someone looking to contribute their professional experience to their community.

If you're enthusiastic about representing BLSAR and helping us build the relationships that will support our lifesaving work, we'd love to hear from you.

Hybrid

What will you be doing?

As a Community Champion for Berkshire Lowland Search & Rescue (BLSAR), you’ll help us build stronger relationships within local communities across Berkshire, raising awareness of our work and identifying opportunities to generate vital funds.

BLSAR is entirely volunteer-run and supports the police in searching for high-risk vulnerable missing people. Our Community Champions form part of our wider Fundraising and Business Support team, working closely with the Fundraising Lead and other volunteers.

We’re looking for 2–4 Community Champions, with each person taking responsibility for an agreed geographic area of Berkshire. This allows us to build meaningful local relationships and increase our presence across the whole county.

What you'll be doing

Your main focus will be getting to know your local community, building relationships, and spotting opportunities for BLSAR.

This could include:

• Building relationships with local businesses, clubs, societies, schools, and community organizations
• Identifying potential sponsorships, Charity of the Year partnerships, and other corporate opportunities
• Finding local fundraising opportunities such as events, collections, and community initiatives
• Identifying events where BLSAR could raise funds or increase awareness of our work
• Approaching organizations and starting conversations about how they could support BLSAR
• Helping arrange community talks and presentations about our work
• Developing and maintaining relationships with local supporters
• Sharing local opportunities and contacts with the Fundraising Lead and wider team

You'll also help coordinate local fundraising and community events. This could involve arranging volunteers, equipment, and other resources, completing relevant administration, and ensuring activities are properly planned.

You won't be expected to personally attend every event you identify or coordinate. Your role is as much about opening doors, creating opportunities, and making things happen as it is attending activities yourself.

What we'd like you to achieve

There aren't rigid fundraising targets attached to the role. Instead, we'd like our Community Champions to gradually develop a strong network within their area and create a sustainable pipeline of opportunities for BLSAR.

Success could mean establishing a new relationship with a local business, securing a Charity of the Year partnership, identifying a valuable community event, arranging a fundraising collection, or simply introducing BLSAR to an organization that hasn't heard of us before.

You'll have plenty of autonomy to develop your area while being supported by the Fundraising Lead and wider volunteer team.

Ultimately, the relationships you build and opportunities you create will help generate the funds and community support needed to keep our Search & Rescue volunteers trained, equipped, and ready to respond when someone goes missing.