Have you ever thought of volunteering your time?  Doing something for someone else or supporting an organisation or an individual?  You might be thinking, no chance, why would I want to do that, what’s in it for me?  “So much!” shouts Megan McCart.  Here she explains what she gets out of volunteering and just why you might like to consider doing something completely different with your spare time.

What I get out of volunteering: I’ve been doing volunteer work for a while now, through a youth club at my local church and at a local brownies group. I really enjoy both ‘jobs’ and love getting to know the different kids and all the other volunteers.  With volunteering I learn how to deal with different situations, observe others in different roles, work as a team and develop my people skills and abilities.  All these things I know are going to make me more confident and skilled in later life.

Skills: I also wrote a newsletter with two of my pals with info like local clubs and special events.  We had a real passion for it despite not getting paid, so much so we almost stayed up all night doing it! We got donations for every issue and raised around £35 for each, for different charities.  It was loads of fun and has given me valuable experience for real work and an insight into fund raising, collecting information, layout design, teamwork and so much more!  Future employers may really appreciate these skills, no matter what work I may go into.

Rewards: Apart from really enjoying the work and having loads of fun doing it, knowing I’m helping to benefit others and not just me, is a really satisfying thing!  Doing a good job makes you feel really good about yourself too. I used to think it would just look great on my CV and that’s it, but now I have come to do it for the pure pleasure of helping people!

Ideas to get you started

There are so many ways to get into volunteering, here are some ideas to get you started locally:

Youth groups and other clubs often need volunteers.  That’s quite cool because you can often attend a club as well as help out!  So many brownies/cubs need young leaders too, because we can interact better with younger kids and have a different perspective on decisions! Also (when you’re older) becoming a youth leader is such a rewarding experience as Richard Atkinson told me, “I love my job!”

Old people’s homes, perhaps there’s someone who has no family and would appreciate a little company once a week, and if you missed out on grandparents, even more reason.  You could really brighten someone’s day just by hanging out with them.  You can have some deep conversations and gain wisdom and new perspectives from older people. Jenny, 13 told me“I visited this old guy for ages when it was only meant to be for two months! I enjoyed it so much I decided to carry on. Each week on Sundays we’d spend an hour having great chats and playing cards, mostly German whist, which he taught me. Harry had recurring heart problems and during those nine months I spent with him he had no pain and his charts showed good recovery.”

General church work You don’t have to be religious! You can still wonder into your local church and see if they need any help.  There are loads of general things they need help with and you’re sure to be appreciated. “Originally it was to help Lisa, because she needed some more leaders but now I go because I enjoy doing what I do!” Emma Renwick.

Help out at events - such as a festival, a marathon, (handing out water etc.)  Without people to volunteer at these things, they may not happen.

 

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WIDER VOLUNTEERING (the sky’s the limit!)

As you get a bit older you might want to try something a bit…bolder!  Here’re some suggestions:

International voluntary work- There are many different organisations doing international volunteering and you can find loads of info on the web. “I’ve loved volunteering abroad because you learn loads about a culture as an insider, rather than a tourist.  It’s also a good way to travel alone abroad as you always meet people through the work to travel with after.  It gave me masses of confidence, insight and life changing memories I wouldn’t have got any other way.  I think it’s also helped me to get jobs and do a better job in them, I can’t recommend it enough.” Vicky, 32

Local volunteering organisations –Sam Greenstreet, Manager of the Volunteer centre on Sheffield’s trendy Division St. told Cube Journalist Tom Sadler “We’ve got a volunteering database that can match you with opportunities.  Come on down to the volunteer centre and we’ll help you in any way we can.”  Visit their site at  www.vas.org.uk

Voluntary placements in real jobs - this can lead to employment or at the very least valuable experience in the area you’re interested in! “I spent a year working for the Kings Centre for free, working as a youth leader and that became a job.”Rich Atkinson.

Environmental activities- We need to restore our world to its natural state and there are so many charities and groups trying to do this like There Must Be a Better Way, the practical environmental charity. Look on the WWW for local groups.

Lastly….google it
Here are some good websites to check out:
www.charityfocus.org or www.do-it.org.uk

These are just a few ideas we’ve had here at Cube. Lastly, if there’s something you really want to do and you’re not sure if a place takes volunteers, our advice is… ASK!

 

 

 

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Why volunteer?

  • Make new friends - with who you help AND who you help with.
  • Transferable skills - in other words skills that are useful in lots of different situations and jobs.
  • Build your confidence - This one is so important at our age, when you build your confidence you realise you can do ANYTHING!
  • CV experiences - Plenty of different experience and new skills to write on your CV and impress future employers with.
  • Shows people you have initiative and that you are motivated – very desirable qualities for future work.
  • Learn about future work and leisure time options – You could realise your true calling.
  • Build your knowledge and interest in the world and people around you! – Life skills, awareness and open mindedness are important for real life after school.  These are the things you can’t learn through classroom work.
  • Enjoyment - you are having fun as well as helping others, how good is that?!
  • Fulfilment – the satisfaction of doing something for others.  They say young people are selfish, prove them wrong!
  • Insight into lives and situations – so much better than reality TV!
  • Passion - helps you to feel passion and inspiration for other things!
  • Boredom zapper! - Something to do, if you’re sat twigging thumbs.
  • Maturity - Helps you to become a better person generally- being thoughtful/more helpful.

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So what’s stopping you?!!!

Excuse 1: I won’t know anyone…
I thought helping out at brownies would be weird because I didn’t know anyone, but because of that it was actually more interesting. I hadn’t experienced that kind of situation and that is how it would be in a work place so I’m building my confidence early!  If you’re really nervous you can ask a friend to go with you the first time.

Excuse 2: I don’t have much spare time…
The beauty of volunteer work is that it’s a flexible thing, you can do it whenever you like.

If you start volunteering there’s no excuse to say ‘I’m boorrrred’ ever again.  Volunteering is something different and can benefit you as much as the cause you are helping.  What would you prefer to do - sit on you bum and watch TV for hours on end regretting what you’re not doing…or actually do something interesting and never look back!?

By Megan McCart

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