Three Rings has been built by volunteers, for volunteers since 2002. In 2022, our 20th year of operation, we supported over 47,000 volunteers at nearly 600 organisations – enabling them to deliver more than five million hours of volunteering… and we did all of that with our own team of volunteers!
Like any voluntary organisation we depend on our own people to make that happen, and we’re always glad to have new members of the team – so if you want to help make Three Rings even better, and leverage your time to deliver millions of hours of good works, 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, so we mostly work remotely. But, we try to get together now and then, even if it’s just for our Christmas Party, or for social and development events like our Support Team Awayday, or DCamp.
Here’s a little introduction to some of the people that make Three Rings happen:
Want to join us?
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 UK Engineering 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’s involved in a number of Safeguarding roles, including volunteering as a Trustee of the Family Rights Group, is a School Governor, and sits on various other Boards where he enjoys a mix of strategic discussion, work on diversity and inclusion, and coffee.
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.
John is the Data Protection Officer for Three Rings CIC, a former Nightliner, and an enthusiastic tester for new versions of the system. He lives in Norfolk, where he helps run a cattery.
Ele first used Three Rings as a member of Aberystwyth Nightline, before moving on to a spell as a Samaritan. Since 2010, she’s been the creative force behind the Three Rings Christmas Card, which gets sent to our users and close friends of the project every year
Beverley has volunteered with Three Rings with various hats since 2013. They currently lead 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
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.