Volunteer for Reprieve

Reprieve runs a very active volunteer programme which adds hugely to the amount of work we’re able to do. Volunteers can either work in our London office or in the USA.

“I’ve loved volunteering at Reprieve – the staff and other volunteers are all brilliant and dedicated, and I am kept constantly busy with interesting and challenging work.”  Hannah Crowther, Reprieve volunteer from July 2008 - present.

Volunteering in the USA

Reprieve places keen volunteers in non-profit capital defence offices in the USA, where they work either assisting with the representation of impoverished defendants facing execution, or on research and litigation directed towards systemic reform.

The volunteer placements are completely self-funded, that is, the volunteer must pay for all costs of travel, accommodation and living expenses. The minimum duration of a placement is 3 months.

The work performed by Reprieve volunteers has proved vital to the law offices that host the placements. Each of the offices supported is a non-profit organisation working in a notoriously under-funded field. Reprieve volunteers perform a critical role in enabling staff attorneys at these offices to meet the demands of their caseloads. To date Reprieve has placed 250 volunteers in 14 different offices across seven states, this equates to over 64 years of work at no cost to the offices.

Returning Reprieve Volunteers describe feeling richly rewarded by the experience of working in the Southern United States and learning about the local criminal justice system, and by the knowledge that they have brought help and hope to men and women on death row.

If you’re interested in applying to volunteer in the USA, please click here for more information and click here for an application form. 

Volunteering in the London office

Volunteers are involved in all aspects of Reprieve’s work and contribute enormously to keeping the office running and ensuring we do the best for our clients. A placement might involve helping to manage client case-files, doing direct investigation work, answering phones and dealing with post, keeping our database up to date, working on press and website development, assisting with events or any one of a huge variety of other tasks.

At the moment we only offer placements to those who can come into the office. We’ve found that this works best for us and for the volunteer. We also ask that volunteers give a minimum time commitment of either one day per week for 6 months or 3 days per week for 3 months. From time to time we may make a request for a shorter term volunteer, so it’s sometimes worth applying even if you’re unable to offer the minimum.

There is generally quite a lot of competition for volunteer placements in the London office. We ask anyone who’s interested in applying to fill in an application form and send into info@reprieve.org.uk. This form is then stored on our system and the applicant’s email added to a list of those interested in volunteering. This list receives an email notification of new placements as they become available, and individuals can then respond if the placement is of interest to them.

We also run a summer intern programme to account for the larger number of people who are able to help over the summer period. This programme works similarly to the general volunteer programme, except that we ask for more of a time commitment: usually at least four days a week for three months. Details of how to apply for this programme are posted here when the programme opens for applicants in March of each year.

If you’re interested in applying to volunteer in the London office, please click here for more information and click here for the application form.

If you can't become an in-house volunteer but would like to donate your skills, you can add your name and details to our skills bank. Send an email to info@reprieve.org.uk with 'Skills bank' in the message title. Give a short summary of what skills you feel you could offer to Reprieve and what your availability is. We'll add this to our system and your email to a list of potential skilled volunteers. As and when a particular task comes up that could be fulfilled by someone in the bank, we'll get in contact. The skills you might have to contribute could be anything: graphic design, legal expertise, financial skills, design flair, photography and a million other things.

Reprieve is now accepting applications for summer 2010 internships.  Please click here for more information and how to apply.  Please note vacancies will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Reprieve currently has a vacancy for a Thai speaking volunteer to assist on the death penalty team. The work would likely be on an ad hoc basis, for a few hours a week. For more information please email caroline@reprieve.org.uk