Three Rings has been built by volunteers, for volunteers since 2002. More than 28,000 volunteers are managed through Three Rings at over 300 organisations, but – like any voluntary organisation – we’re always glad to have new members of the team! If you want to help make Three Rings even better, why not get in touch?
Our volunteers are split into several different groups – the Board, and the Development, Documentation, Support and Welcome teams. Lots of our volunteers have moved from one team to another, and sit across several teams – which you’ll see in some of our bios below!
We’re scattered throughout the UK (and abroad!), so we mostly work remotely. But, we try to get together now and then, even if it’s just for our Christmas Party, or social and development events like our Support Team Awayday, or Dev Camp.
Here’s a little introduction to some of the people that make Three Rings happen:
Dan came up with the idea for Three Rings while volunteering at Aberystwyth Nightline. He went on to volunteer at two Samaritans branches and two LGBT helplines. He’s occasionally found trying to visit randomly-generated pairs of GPS coordinates.
Ruth started using Three Rings in its first full year at Aberystwyth Nightline and has been writing Three Rings code since the mid-2000s, which she now does alongside her work as an Operational Applications Manager. Her favourite colour is purple.
JTA is an Information Professional working in the civil service, and has been Director of Communications at Three Rings since 2008. He also sits on the board of two UK charities, including one as Chair, where he is actively involved in increasing equality diversity and inclusion.
Chris has been a volunteer with Samaritans for more than 40 years in a number of branches. He enjoys sailing and playing bridge (but not at the same time!).
Paul currently sits in the Dev team at Three Rings. He’s a current Samaritan, and also volunteers on a soup kitchen in Bath. He is fond of electronic music.
Heather started charity work by fundraising for Brownies and her dancing group while still in primary school. She’s also been a First Aider with St John. Now, she spends her time fostering for a local cat charity and planning events for Three Rings.
Geoff has volunteered with Three Rings for 4 years. They found out about volunteering for Three Rings while trying to integrate Three Rings with some internal system as a volunteer for Cardiff Nightline.
Mike came to the Board as a Non-Exec Director as both a Three Rings user, and an admirer of the Three Rings approach. Mike has a 40+ year volunteering life as a Samaritan Listening Volunteer.
Before volunteering with Three Rings, Debbie volunteered with Teddington and Ham Hydro co-operative, as their Company Secretary. Fun fact – Debbie likes to paint pictures.
Doug is one of the Three Rings development team and a volunteer with the Samaritans. When not dodging bullets while running several businesses he enjoys real ale and building with Lego technic.
Beverley has volunteered with Three Rings with various hats since 2013. They currently sit on the dev team, after stints on Welcome, Support and Docs. In their spare time, they enjoy motorbiking, hunting for elderflower and sewing.
Jacob is a sometimes developer and even more occasional helper on the welcome team. His day job is a full time maths teacher in South East London. Outside of work he enjoys sailing and cooking, though not always at the same time
Want to join us?
We are always looking for more people to join our team of volunteers! Get in touch and we’ll have a chat with you about the many ways in which you can volunteer with us.