Get involved · Volunteering
Volunteer with an NGO in Ahmedabad: the roles we actually need, and what we ask of you
Scapex Foundation is a Section 8 non-profit working in Gujarat. We do not run one-day volunteering drives, and we would rather tell you that plainly than waste your Saturday. What helps a child or a trainee is a volunteer who turns up on the same day every week for a term. This page sets out the roles that genuinely exist right now, the time each one asks for, how we screen and induct you, and what happens after you apply.
Read this first
We are a young organisation, and it changes what we can offer
Scapex Foundation was incorporated in 2025. Our programmes are being set up, not wound down, so volunteering here looks different from volunteering at an organisation with twenty years of operations behind it.
Fewer roles, more responsibility
There is no large volunteer programme to slot into. The roles below are the ones where a volunteer makes a measurable difference to work that is already running or about to start.
Invent a role to fill a form
If we do not have something useful for you, we will say so and tell you when that might change, rather than take your registration and leave it unanswered.
A real reference
Induction before you start, a named contact throughout, and a completion certificate that states what you actually did and for how long. We do not issue certificates for attendance alone.
Open roles
Four ways to volunteer, and what each one asks
Every role below is open to applications. Where a role is child-facing it is marked, because those carry a police verification requirement and a longer commitment.
| Role | What you would do | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading volunteer Child-facing | Read with children in Gujarati or Hindi at a learning centre, following our foundational-learning plan. You need to be fluent in the language you read in; you do not need teaching qualifications. | Two hours a week, minimum one term (three months) | In person, Ahmedabad |
| Mock-interview volunteer | Run practice interviews and give written feedback to a Kaushal skills cohort. Most useful if you hire, or have been hired, in the sector the trainees are heading into. | A half-day session, repeatable | In person or online |
| Pro-bono professional | Back-office work that a non-profit cannot easily buy: chartered accountants on books and statutory filings, data analysts on programme measurement, lawyers on compliance. | Agreed per piece of work | Remote |
| Corporate team volunteering | Structured sessions run with a company, scoped so that they help rather than disrupt a centre. Arranged through the CSR route, not by individual sign-up. | Agreed with the company | Gujarat |
Eligibility
Who can volunteer
You can apply if
- You are 18 or over. We do not place under-18s in child-facing roles.
- You can commit to the time the role asks for, on a predictable schedule.
- For reading roles: you are fluent in spoken Gujarati or Hindi.
- For pro-bono roles: you hold the relevant professional qualification.
- You are willing to be police-verified if the role involves contact with children.
Students and international volunteers
College students are welcome in the reading and mock-interview roles if the term commitment fits your academic calendar; say so in your message and we will match you to a cohort that ends when your term does. If you are looking for an NGO internship in Ahmedabad, this is what we have — a volunteer placement for a fixed term, not a separate internship programme.
We do not run a paid volunteering or “voluntourism” programme, we do not charge volunteers a fee, and we cannot sponsor visas or arrange accommodation. If you are outside India, the pro-bono and mock-interview roles are the ones that work remotely.
The process
What happens after you apply
Five steps. We reply to every application within two working days, including the ones we cannot place.
You write to us
Use the contact form and choose “Volunteering”, or email info@scapexfoundation.com. Tell us the role, the languages you speak, and the days you are free.
A conversation
A short call to check the role fits both ways. If we have nothing suitable, this is where we say so.
Verification
For child-facing roles, police verification and two references. You will also read and sign our child safeguarding policy. This step takes time; we start it early.
Induction
A briefing on the programme, the centre, what is expected of you and what is not permitted, and who to call if something concerns you.
Placement and review
You start, with a named contact. We check in at the end of the first month and at the end of the term.
Certificate
A certificate stating the role, the dates and the hours. Written so that a university or employer can rely on it.
Safeguarding
The rules every volunteer agrees to
Never alone with a child
Volunteers work in open, visible spaces with staff present. No one-to-one sessions behind closed doors, and no private contact with a child or their family outside the programme.
No photographs without consent
Do not photograph or film children, and do not post about identifiable children on social media. Where consent exists, photography is arranged by the organisation, not by individuals.
Report a concern immediately
If anything worries you about a child’s safety, tell your named contact the same day. Our child safeguarding policy sets out how it is handled.
No proselytising, no politics
Scapex programmes are open to every child regardless of religion, caste or background. Volunteering is not an occasion to promote a faith, a party or a commercial product.
Still deciding? Our volunteering and donation questions, answered covers what most people ask before they apply.
Questions
Volunteering questions, answered
Write to Scapex Foundation through the contact form choosing “Volunteering”, or email info@scapexfoundation.com, saying which role interests you, which languages you speak and which days you are free. We reply within two working days. A short call follows, then verification for child-facing roles, induction, and placement.
Not in the reading role, which asks for a minimum of three months because continuity is what makes it work. The mock-interview role is a single half-day session and can be repeated whenever you are free, and pro-bono professional work is agreed piece by piece. Company teams are arranged through the CSR route.
No. Scapex Foundation does not charge volunteers, does not run paid placement or voluntourism programmes, and will never ask you to pay for a certificate. Treat any request for payment in our name as fraudulent and tell us at info@scapexfoundation.com.
Only for roles involving contact with children, where it is required along with two references and a signed child safeguarding policy. Remote pro-bono roles and mock-interview sessions run without contact with children do not require it.
Yes, if your institution accepts it. Tell us the requirement and the dates when you apply, and we will match you to a cohort that fits your term. The completion certificate states the role, dates and hours, which is usually what an institution asks for.
Not as a separate internship programme — we do not run one, and we would rather say so than advertise a placement that does not exist. What we do have is the volunteer roles on this page, and college students are welcome in the reading and mock-interview roles. If your college requires a fixed-term placement, tell us the dates in your message and we will match you to a cohort that ends when your term does. The screening, induction and time commitment are the same as for any other volunteer, including police verification for child-facing roles. We do not charge a fee, and we cannot sponsor visas or arrange accommodation.
For remote roles, yes: pro-bono professional work and online mock-interview sessions. We cannot sponsor visas, arrange accommodation or host in-person placements from abroad, and we do not charge participation fees.
Yes, arranged through our CSR partnership route rather than individual sign-up, so the session is scoped to help a centre rather than disrupt it. Employee volunteering on its own is not CSR expenditure under the Companies Act; the partnership page explains how the two are kept separate.
Apply
Tell us which role, and when you are free
Every application gets a reply within two working days, including the ones we cannot place today.
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