Since 2003, SKIP has been working with disadvantaged families in an impoverished district of the city of Trujillo, Peru. Our holistic program focuses on the educational, economic, emotional and social development of each child and family. It is our aim to foster the capacity of children and families to be the principal agents of change in their own lives.

Please see our website for more details: www.skipperu.org.

We are currently looking for someone with a background in journalism, web design, communications and/or media studies who can develop new communication materials and maintain those that we have (website, newsletter etc).

The position

Under supervision of the SKIP Director, the volunteer will liaise with every department from the SKIP program and carry out visits in order to gain insight into their work, create stories and report accurately on the overall status of SKIP. The Communication Officer will use SKIP website and partners' websites, newsletter, Google Adverts as well as online and offline media in order to report on and promote the work of SKIP. This is an exciting and dynamic role in which the Officer will have a lot of freedom in creating and developing communications strategies, contacting media, writing stories and report.

We are always open to new ideas and suggestions, so there is room for you to use your own creativity in this position! A key to success in this position is to be highly motivated, self-directed and results driven, as there are no set office hours.

Volunteer profile

Required:

• An intermediate level of Spanish;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Relevant studies or work experience in marketing, public relations, advertising, journalism, etc.;
• Interest in our work at SKIP, and our mission;
• Highly motivated, self-directed and results-driven;
• The ability to reformulate ideas through various communication channels;
• Experience in writing reports/newsletters;
• Ability to work to deadlines;
• Excellent organisational skills and problem-solving skills;
• Creativity.

Desired:

• Experience in website maintenance and layout design;
• An understanding of social media;
• Photography skills.

The benefits of volunteering with us

In return for your invaluable participation in our volunteering program, SKIP will provide:

• a thorough induction to the organization, programs, department and specific role;
• structured and relevant training from qualified and experienced staff members;
• mentoring and support in the form of regular supervision and staff meetings as well as informal sessions;
• the chance to be a part of a diverse and dedicated team and a welcoming community;
• a letter of confirmation of volunteer service.

Financial contribution

We normally ask volunteers to pay a contribution to the charity in return for volunteering; however for this position, if a volunteer is able to work with us for six months or longer and meets all the required and desired criteria, we will waive the contribution fee and will ask that the volunteer pay only the accommodation fee, which is 250 Peruvian soles/month.

If a volunteer is interested in this position but cannot stay for 6 months, we will ask that they pay the full contribution fee. Accommodation is provided and the cost of this is included in the contribution - this ranges from £350 to £125 ($540- $190) per month, depending on the length of stay. We know it can seem a bit strange to 'pay to work' but this is how we fund the charity. Please see the annual report for a breakdown of our funding and spending - 59% of our annual budget currently comes from the volunteer contributions and additional fundraising done by current and ex volunteers. Please see the website for more information:http://www.skipperu.org/en/volunteer/contributionfees.

We are happy for volunteers to fundraise the contribution and there is more information about this on the website along with some information about possible grant opportunities.

Watch our video

If you would like to know more about our project, check out our video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7k2YyHy0GA