Connection · Friendship & community
Common Ground: find your community through volunteering, clubs and groups
Six short lessons: what you want from a group, how to score options for connection, where to look in Australia, the UK and the US, what to check before you say yes, your first month, and keeping it sustainable.
About this course
Find your community: volunteering, clubs and groups.
Starter · About 1 hour of learning · 6 lessons · 13 quick checks · 1 download
Who it's for
Adults in Australia, the UK, the US and elsewhere who want to find a community through volunteering, clubs or regular local groups.
How it works
6 guided lessons in your browser, with worked examples, exercises and a quick check after each lesson. Progress is saved in this browser only, and you can restart at any time. You start with just your first name and email, and you can take one whole course that way. After that, a free account lets you continue past lesson 1.
Sources we rely on
21 published sources, mostly regulators and official bodies, listed below so you can check the original guidance yourself.
By the end you can
- Name what you want from a group or role
- Score options on fit and on the three friendship features
- Find real options near you from official starting points
- Ask the right questions and spot a role that isn’t genuine volunteering
- Plan a first month that leads to familiarity, and a sustainable commitment
Downloads
- Community finder workbook .xlsxFull versions of the course exercises: fit check, options near me with automatic scoring and AU/UK/US starting points, questions to ask, first-month plan and review.
Rules by country
Learning time
About 1 hour of learning. May count towards your CPD or professional development; check your professional body's rules. Estimated from reading time, exercises, quick checks and downloads.
Sources
Check the originals.
How these courses are made. Spotted an error or out-of-date rule? Send a correction.
Not therapy or counseling. If you're struggling, please contact a support service. In an emergency call 000 (AU), 999 (UK), 911 (US/Canada) or 111 (NZ). Anywhere else, call your local emergency number.
- 5 steps to mental wellbeing · NHS (UK)
- Definition of volunteering · Volunteering Australia
- How to make friends? Study reveals how many hours it takes (on Hall, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2018) · University of Kansas (KU News)
- About Volunteering Australia · Volunteering Australia
- Volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses: find volunteer opportunities · GOV.UK
- Volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses: volunteers’ rights · GOV.UK
- Volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses: when you can volunteer · GOV.UK
- Volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses: pay and expenses · GOV.UK
- Screening (checking) people working with children · Creative Workplaces (Australian Government)
- Volunteer · AmeriCorps (US federal agency)
- About U3A Australia · U3A Australia
- u3a: who we are · u3a (Third Age Trust, UK)
- Australian Men’s Shed Association · Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA)
- UK Men’s Sheds Association · UK Men’s Sheds Association (UKMSA)
- About parkrun · parkrun Global
- Lifeline crisis support: 13 11 14 · Lifeline Australia
- Contact a Samaritan · Samaritans (UK and Ireland)
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline · 988 Lifeline (US)
- Triple Zero · Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (AU)
- Contact the police · GOV.UK
- National 911 Program · 911.gov, NHTSA (US)
Publisher
Who publishes this course.
Published by trainyourself.org, a trading name of Combine TRS Pty Ltd (ABN 42 112 983 678), Brisbane, Australia.
How it's made: researched from published official, public-health, university and support-service guidance (general education, not counselling or therapy), then run through automated quality checks against our course depth standard and automated source checks that match each rule to its official source, listed above. Read how these courses are made.
Last updated:
General education, not counseling, therapy, medical or legal advice. If you are struggling, contact one of the support services named in this course; in an emergency, call your local emergency number. Spotted an error or an out-of-date rule? Send us a correction.
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