Local charities that need software/IT support?

Hello everyone,

Sorry if this post is a bit vague but I'll do my best. I'm a local software engineer who's in the process of having a mini career crisis/approaching a fork in my life and have gone through a process of re-evaluating my values, what I want to spend my life doing and what I'm actually passionate about.

I'm in the information gathering phase of this, and one of the things my heart is pulling me towards is working in the charity sector.

Just to clarify - I'm aware that many charities struggle enough for funds as it is, and are not in a position to pay someone for software services, so I'm not interested in solely paid opportunities but also learning more about any unpaid volunteer opportunities.

I'm also aware that some charities may not even advertise their need for software or IT solutions, so I think it's going to be a matter of me reaching out to them, or asking around as I'm doing here.

Some larger charities handle everything at a national level (some head office in London or elsewhere) so it's a lot harder to get a foot in the door so to speak and actually be able to talk to the right person. Therefore, I'm interested in helping a local charity. I also think that any help given is likely to have a larger impact.

Given all this, I'd appreciate if anyone has any insight for these questions.

1 - Do you know of any Sheffield based charities that are in need of or would benefit from any software/IT solutions? Given I'm only one person, I can realistically only help with so much, but just want to get a rough idea.

2 - Generally, what problems to charities usually face? I assume the priority for most charities is just getting more funding and people working in charity shops, but I wondered if there was anything else that's more reliant on having these kinds of skills or knowledge.

3- Do you know if there's anywhere better that I can ask for this sort of information other than here on Reddit or emailing/calling/knocking on doors of individual charities, like some sort of local charity hub or similar.

I have specific technical experiences and skill sets which would ideally need to match up with what they need, but depending on the nature of their problems, this may not be a massive issue, and is something I would look at as a follow up.

And again, I'm very much still in the information gathering stage to see if this even realistic or feasible, or where to start.

Thank you