Volunteer Mediators

Join our team at Devon Mediation Service and serve your community by becoming a Mediator.

Founded almost 25 years’ ago, Devon Mediation Service (DMS) is a charitable, not-for-profit organisation making a vital contribution to the resolution of disagreements and disputes throughout Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

Using a structured and well tested process, people in dispute are assisted towards resolving their issues by entirely neutral and impartial ‘mediators’ who create the opportunity to clarify the issues from all perspectives and help to explore possible solutions.

A wide range of community problems are addressed including noise, boundary disputes, parking, behaviour of pets, sharing of communal space, rubbish, privacy issues, gossip, harassment, garden maintenance and the like. Our mediators are volunteers who give up their time to the community freely save for recovering expenses.

Many of the cases referred to the services are made by organisations such as the police, housing associations and local councils but some are from individuals who contact us directly. Mediation is growing in popularity as a means of conflict resolution because it takes up much less time and cost than other alternatives and it seeks to find solutions that are to the mutual benefit of the people involved.

We are actively seeking to increase our pool of mediators to respond to the increasing demand. The amount of volunteering you do is up to you but a commitment of about a day per month is typical.  

If you live in Somerset or Devon and would like to explore the opportunity to help provide this vital community service, then please do get in touch. You will need some previous experience in a field requiring excellent communication, empathy, resilience and a non-judgemental approach. We will ensure we provide the training and mentoring so you can become an effective support for people who are finding it difficult to resolve their problems.