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Host Volunteering Overview

Mary Mags Dinners host volunteering involves coming along on a Saturday night, 5:00pm - 8.15pm to help host dinner

Our mission is to be a place of peace and community over a meal on Saturday nights

Together, we reduce loneliness and hunger for our neighbours, since 1991

  • Arrive at 5:00pm

    We ask all our host volunteers to please arrive at 5:00pm to help set up for the dinner and meet your coordinators and other host volunteers for the night. There’s an overview of the night at 5.30pm run by the coordinators.

  • Dinner Served at 6pm

    At 6pm we welcome our guests and begin serving our first course, homemade soup, followed by mains then dessert. We also make our guests water, cordial, tea, coffee or milo.

  • Takeaways & Pack Up at 7.15pm

    If there is left over food we provide takeaways after dessert has been served. Together all the volunteers farewell the guests and together help to clean and pack-up the night.

  • Debrief at 7.45pm & finished by 8.15pm

    We finish our night with a debrief led by the coordinators. This involves touching base, sharing any encouragements, concerns or needs noticed during the evening. We finish the night with some quiet reflection/prayer and then head home.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN HELPING HOST — 3 STEPS

Email Response Times: Our email inbox is monitored on Wednesdays (time-sensitive matters only) and Fridays — please note we are a volunteer run charity, thank you for your understanding

STEP 1 - ENQUIRING ABOUT HOST VOLUNTEERING FOR THE FIRST TIME

➝ Please contact Mary Mags Dinners about hosting by CLICKING ON THE LINK HERE ➝ hello@marymagsdinners.org and answer all the questions attached to the email link or copy and paste the identical questions below

Subject: Mary Mags Dinners - STEP 1: Enquiring about host volunteering for the first time

Hello Mary Mags Dinners,

This is my STEP 1: Enquiring about host volunteering for the first time

1. My full name:

2. Email:

3. Mobile number:

4. Why I want to help host:

5. All the Saturday dates in the next **5 weeks I can help host volunteer from 5pm - 8.15pm:

6. How I heard about Mary Mags Dinners:

**we only have a limited amount of first time host slots and total host numbers, per Saturday night, you will be allocated to 1x night, according to roster numbers


Age To Host: Please note all hosts must be aged over 16. Hosts aged 16-17 need an adult supervisor for the whole night. The 16-17 year old and adult supervisors’ details need to be entered.

STEP 2 - HEARING BACK ABOUT YOUR DATES

➝ What happens after you send the above enqiury email? You will receive an email response (on a Wednesday or Friday) about which Saturday date you gave works for host volunteering + the names of the host coordinators. The host coordinators will welcome you on your allocated night and guide you through everything involved

STEP 3 - JOINING THE MONTHLY HOST ROSTER

➝ After you’ve come to help host 1-2 times, please note that you must join the roster if you continue hosting

➝ To make host volunteering a monthly rhythm of your calendar, you simply sign up for our host volunteer roster by please CLICKING ON THE LINK HERE➝ hello@marymagsdinners.org and answer all the questions attached to the email link or copy and paste the identical questions below

Subject: Mary Mags Dinners - STEP 3: Enquiring about joining the monthly host roster

Hello Mary Mags Dinners,

I am at STEP 3 - Joining The Monthly Host Roster

1. My full name:

2. Email:

3. Mobile number:

4. What nights I have already helped host:

5. All of the Saturday dates in the next 3x months I can help host from 5pm - 8.15pm (**your nights will be spread out, we aim for 1x a month):


**APPROVAL TO JOIN THE ROSTER: Please note you do need approval from our chairperson, Jeremy Hayman, to join the roster - you being approved or denied to join the roster is simply confirmed via email response, once you have filled out the above questions (this process is to simply stop scammers accessing the roster etc)

STEP 3 EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT JOINING THE MONTHLY HOST ROSTER:

➝ Mary Mags Dinners Annual Calendar? The meals run from February - December on Saturday nights (we are closed the week before Christmas & the whole of January)

➝ Time Commitment? The host roster commitment is 1 x Saturday a month, 5:00pm - 8.15pm (of course you can take a month off etc)

➝ Who Else Hosts? You can see on our volunteer community page the list of our amazing hosts and coordinators (we have 40-50 people on the host roster spread out to approx 10-15 hosts each Saturday)

➝ Roster Creation Rhythms? We create quarterly rosters, asking for everyone’s availability in
advance through a Google Form, however, you can join at any time throughout the year

➝ Learning How to Host? You are supported by our coordinators and experienced host volunteers each time you’re on + we have a white board at the start of each night with information and pictures

➝ Our Volunteer Community? We are an inclusive community and love having new host volunteers join this amazing charity!

Host volunteers enter into these side doors between the church Mission Hall and pub at 5.00pm

If the door is shut, knock and someone will let you inside

Hosting FAQ

  • On Saturday nights from 5pm - 8.15pm

    The meals run from February - December on Saturday nights

    We are closed the week before Christmas & the whole of January

  • Minimum age to come to host volunteer at Mary Mags Dinners is strictly age 16.

    Host volunteers aged between 16-17 need an adult supervisor. With a ratio of 1x adult supervisor to 5x volunteers aged between 16-17.

  • Yes, please follow the information on this page

  • All (adults) are welcome at our table. We have guests who are experiencing and at risk of homelessness, living in government housing, experiencing financial difficulty or simply looking for community.

    Please note the meals are strictly for guests aged 18 years and older, children can not attend Mary Mags Dinners.

  • Yes, please get in touch via email and we can help answer any questions and help facilitate your group coming and helping host

    Please note: We have a max of 5 people per group, per night

    When more than 5 people are interested, we simply recommend groups to be spread out over numerous weeks

    When host volunteer groups are aged 16-17 years old, they need an adult supervisor to be included

    (1 adult : 4 x 16-17 year olds = totalling 5 people in the group)

  • The host coordinators are all volunteers (from all different professional backgrounds) who have been volunteering with Mary Mags Dinners for extended periods of time.

    They have good relationships with the guests, in-depth knowledge of the structures, help keep the nights safe and lead the night for all guests, hosts and cooks.

  • No one is paid, our governing board and all people involved are 100% volunteers.

  • Closed shoes, loose-fitting casual clothing for inside and outside weather.. that might get a little bit of soup or washing up water spilt on.

  • There’s free car parking in the surrounding area. Next door to St Mary Mags Church is paid parking.

  • No, host volunteers do not need to show a police check.

    The host coordinators all have police checks.