We're changing the world and you can be part of it.
At MAG, we’re proud to work with a community of amazing volunteers – and we’d love you to join us.
From helping out in our annual Thankathon to cheering on our marathon runners, we have a whole host of opportunities available for you. You'll meet like-minded people, develop new skills and gain valuable experience.
Whatever you decide to do, you’ll be joining a movement committed to saving lives and building safer futures.
Why volunteer?
As part of MAG's volunteer community, you’ll play a vital role in helping to make life safer for communities affected by war and violence. And we’re convinced that you’ll be enriched in return.
Inspire others
Share your passion and enthusiasm to help create a safer future for everyone. Whether you’re joining MAG as a volunteer speaker or helping us out at our Manchester headquarters, your voice will encourage support for our work.
Develop your skills
Our volunteer roles offer an opportunity to develop your skills and gain valuable experience that could help you in the workplace. You could hone your public speaking, flex your organisational ability or gain insight into the daily running of a busy charity.
Meet new people
Volunteering is a great way to socialise and meet new people, both within your community and with other volunteers. We’re developing a network of friends, and we want you to be part of it.
We’ll invest in you
If you volunteer for MAG, whatever your role, we’ll ensure that you receive training and our full support, to make sure you really get the most out of your time with us. We know your time is valuable and we want you to feel like every second, you’re truly making a difference.
I began to volunteer with MAG as I was disgusted that people, particularly children, continue to be killed and wounded at the rate of one person every hour by these hideous, invisible weapons. I enjoy being able to raise awareness of MAG’s important work - let us all work for a mine-free world by 2025.
MAG volunteerRichard Outram
Become a MAG Network Speaker
Could you represent and promote the work of MAG within your local community?
Volunteer speakers will use their skills and passion to encourage engagement and support for MAG. This could involve a 20 minute presentation to a rotary club, a school assembly or an informal chat and cup of tea with local businesses or churches to ask for their support.
Becoming a MAG Network Speaker is a rewarding opportunity to make a difference, encouraging public awareness of landmine issues, whilst meeting new people and strengthening valuable skills. You’d be supported by the team in HQ, who would be on hand to deliver training and guidance to ensure you have a positive experience with MAG.
You would be instrumental in helping to grow support for MAG at a grassroots level and establish vital connections with communities around the UK.
Your questions answered
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How can I find a volunteering opportunity?
Fill in the form below to register your interest and let us know the type of activity you’d like to do. Our team will then be in touch to give you more information on the opportunities available
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How can I apply to become a MAG volunteer?
Once you’ve registered your interest and chosen an activity, you’ll have a chat with the team in HQ and we’ll send over the relevant paperwork to get you signed up with MAG.
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Can I volunteer for MAG overseas?
We do not send volunteers from the UK to any of our overseas programmes. This is because MAG trains and employs staff from the countries in which we work, developing skills and capacity locally and providing opportunities to the communities who need our support.
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Does MAG offer interships?
Please see our Vacancies page for any current opportunities.
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Do I have to be a certain age to volunteer?
You’ll need to be over 16.
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Do you pay expenses?
We will pay some reasonable expenses if you incur costs whilst volunteering on behalf of MAG. These must be authorised by us first so please give us a call to discuss.
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My question hasn't been answered
If you can’t find an answer to your question then please contact Ellie@maginternational.org and we’ll be happy to chat!
Start your MAG journey today
Please email ellie.coult@maginternational.org or call us on 0161 236 4311 (+44 161 236 4311 if you're outside the UK). We look forward to hearing from you!
Karen Brown
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Chair of trustees
Karen spent 20 years working in the creative industries first at Granada Television and then Channel 4, latterly as Deputy Director of Programmes and Managing Director of 4Learning (1997-2001). She became a consultant in Whitehall and with several public bodies including the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew. She has served on public, not-for-profit and commercial boards. In a voluntary capacity, she is committed to international development, and over the last 15 years has chaired ActionAid, been vice chair of ActionAid International, chaired Oxfam and now chairs MAG.Imagine your world wrecked by war and afterwards by the fear of the unexploded mines and shells still concealed in the landscape around you. I deeply admire MAG’s work clearing these unexploded weapons, thereby enabling people to rebuild their lives.
Diane Reid
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Vice chair of trustees
Chair of the Governance, Nominations & Remuneration CommitteeDiane is the former Head of the BBC’s Corporate Responsibility & Outreach Department. Prior to that, she worked in broadcasting production and management for more than thirty years. Voluntary sector roles have included Board membership of L’Arche UK and HCPT, where Diane has specialised in areas including strategic development, governance and risk management. She has been Chief Executive of the Community Media Association, the sector body for Community Radio and Television and also worked for Comic Relief. Diane is a qualified fundraiser MInstF(Cert) and an experienced Executive Coach & Mentor PG(Cert).
MAG has been for many years, and continues to be, absolutely committed to a safe future for those affected by conflict. This commitment is professional, persistent and, above all, practical.
Chris Kemp
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Trustee
Director Group Security, News UKChris is the Group Director of Security for News UK (the Times, the Sunday Times and the Sun newspapers). He has over 30 years of safety and security experience. Chris is a former Army Officer and then Senior Security Advisor for the UK Government’s Stabilisation Unit and most recently, three years as the Head of the BBC High Risk and News Safety team.
MAG makes a difference to the lives of people struggling to forge futures in the aftermath of war and violence.
Jane Marriott
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Trustee
Director, Joint International Counter Terrorism Unit (Foreign and Commonwealth Office / Home Office)Jane is an expeditionary diplomat with a focus on Middle East and international security issues. She has served as HM Ambassador to Sana’a, Yemen and as Deputy / Acting Ambassador to Tehran, Iran. She has been posted Afghanistan, twice to Iraq, and to Washington DC as an advisor to the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. She joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2001 and has also worked for the Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office and Home Office.
I believe MAG’s work is incredibly important. In my day job, it can takes years to see the (hopefully positive) impact of some of our work. The fact that MAG makes lives better on a daily basis is a wonderful contrast.
John Michael Shinnick
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Trustee
Chartered Accountant, NLP practitioner and EMCC Coach-MentorJohn was a partner with Grant Thornton for 21 years working with entrepreneurial entities in an advisory and assurance capacity. He now runs a coach-mentoring-advisory consultancy, working in the corporate space, developing and guiding people and working on projects with them. He holds a number of non-executive director positions predominantly in commercial enterprises.
I lived for a period in East Africa and was aware that there were places that people could not go because of the scourge of landmine contamination. It did not feel fair. I was given the opportunity to learn more about MAG and was consumed by the commitment of the people and the impact that we have on peoples' lives.
Kathy Peach
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Trustee
Independent innovation and futures consultantIn addition to being an independent innovation and futures consultant, Kathy is also the Interim Head of Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design - exploring how human and machine intelligence can be combined to develop innovative solutions to social challenges. Prior to Nesta, Kathy was the Head of Innovation and Foresight at Bond, the network for global development organisations. In this role she spearheaded the use of futures techniques to open up thinking about new development pathways and pioneered work on business model innovation for international NGOs. She’s held leadership roles at a range of non-profits, including disability charity Scope, international development agency VSO and the public body, Healthwatch England. Kathy is a member of the 2018 Newton Fund Prize Committee. She was named one of the top 40 most influential international development leaders under 40 by sector website Devex.
Matthew Sherrington
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Trustee
Independent charity consultant, Inspiring ActionMatthew has more than 25 years’ experience of charity marketing and leadership. he spent 14 years at Oxfam, working on the South Africa programme in the early 1990s before working in fundraising, and with Oxfam International coordinating marketing activities across several countries.
Matthew was then Fundraising Director at Greenpeace USA for four years, led a charity-focused creative agency, and since 2013 he has ran his own consultancy Inspiring Action, working with charities big and small. From 2016-17 Matthew was Interim Communications Director at Oxfam. He lives with his family in Oxford.
I have been a volunteer board trustee for MAG since 2013 and visited Lebanon in 2015. I am committed to international development, the charity sector and organisational effectiveness, and am inspired by MAG’s vital humanitarian mission to free people from the fear and danger of landmines.
Judith Greenwood
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Trustee
Independent ConsultantJudith is an independent consultant and was previously the first Executive Director of the CHS Alliance. Based in Portugal, she has over three decades experience in the humanitarian sector. Between 2002 and 2015, Judith held senior management positions at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva and in the field, including in the Occupied Territories, Sudan, Chad, and the Regional Delegation in the Pacific. She has worked for Concern Worldwide in Sudan, Angola and for the International Rescue Committee in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, East Timor, Indonesia and Afghanistan. A health professional by training, she holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics.
Having worked in Angola, I have seen first-hand that before during and after a conflict, landmines and other unexploded ordnance can devastate the lives of people and communities affected by crisis. The work of MAG helps to save lives, build futures and above all, gives hope to people who have had to endure so much suffering.
Prof. Bertrand Taithe
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Trustee
Executive Director Humanitarian And Conflict Response Institute, University of ManchesterBertrand Taithe studied in the Sorbonne and Manchester and has been working at the University of Manchester since 2000. Bertrand researches humanitarian practices and organisations. He founded the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute in 2008 and is a trustee of UKMed and a scientific committee member of the MSF thinktank CRASH in Paris. He has worked and is working with IFRC, SAVE, HI and ALNAP in the humanitarian sector. His writings are on the history and the current policies of the humanitarian industry. Bertrand co-edits a book series on humanitarian affairs with Manchester University Press and an open access journal, Humanitarian Affairs.
MAG is an organisation with a specific mandate, a clear role in the world and considerable ambitions. It is a growing organisation at a crucial phase in our changing understanding of wars and conflicts. The work it does is extremely technical and necessary. In terms of clarity of purpose and significance it stands proud among very few organisations of the humanitarian world.
Neil Turton
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Trustee
Managing Director, Sugro WholesaleNeil is an experienced CEO with significant executive and non-executive experience on the boards of large value-driven organisations (Nisa Retail, Co-ops UK). For the last few years, Neil has organised fundraising cycle rides for MAG in Asia with a growing network of retail and wholesale executives.
It’s a privilege to work with MAG. Their culture and the purpose of the MAG team is special. They have such strong values alongside an effective governance structure.
John Malik
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Trustee
Chief Operating OfficerJohn is currently Chief Operating Officer at Rothschild Wealth and has 17 years' experience in advising emerging and developing market corporates, financials and sovereigns. Previously, John practiced law at Allen & Overy.
MAG's mandate is practical: the benefits to impacted communities are real and there is a palpable sense of the contribution that one can make. That's both unique and motivating.
Anthony Collier
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Trustee (treasurer)
Chartered accountant and insolvency practitionerAnthony is a chartered accountant and insolvency practitioner with over 15 years experiencing in advising corporates and stakeholders in times of financial or operational change. He uses his transaction and restructuring experience to deliver M&A/turnaround support, cash and working capital management and profit improvement projects to improve, preserve of restore value for clients. Anthony joined the board in January 2017 and has recently visited the Lebanon project to see first-hand MAG’s humanitarian mine action work.
MAG saves lives and provides a platform for other NGOs to deliver humanitarian relief in some of the most hostile environments in the world.
Dominic Kendal-Ward
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Trustee
General Counsel - Co-op Insurance, Funeralcare and Life PlanningDominic is a solicitor and is currently General Counsel at Co-op Insurance, Funeralcare and Life Planning, based in Manchester. Previously he was Counsel within the Corporate team at international law firm Linklaters LLP, where he had 12 years’ experience of advising a range of multi-national clients on corporate and transactional matters.
What is truly incredible about MAG is the people. From the teams in the field to the staff supporting programmes across the world to HQ colleagues back in Manchester, there is a single-minded dedication to MAG’s vital work.
