National volunteers week
Happy National Volunteers week! Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, learn new skills and enhance your CV. We offer a wide range of volunteering opportunities – from cleaning up community gardens to aiding children with learning difficulties, opportunities to tackling homelessness you can find something that will be of interest to you.
Student volunteers 101
We spoke to two of our current student volunteers Taylor and Aaron who are dedicated to their volunteering practises. Taylor, who volunteers for Merseyside and Dee Young Archaeologist Club at the Museum of Liverpool told us ‘I’m passionate about inspiring the next generation of Archaeologist, as I myself dreamed of being one at their age and wished I had something/someone to inspire me back then like YAC does now’. Taylor studies Forensic Anthropology, so her volunteering has enhanced her studies and professional experiences.
Similarly, Aaron volunteers at Reach Out as a mentor to young people in under-resourced areas who need a positive role model to grow in character and confidence, sparking change in themselves and society. Aaron’s ambition to work in professional policing and being a driving force for community engagement encouraged him to become a mentor. He told us his mentorship is important because ‘it strengthens you through various skills, networking opportunities and allows you the opportunity to empower others’.
Get rewarded for volunteering
Both volunteers recently won awards at our annual Societies and Volunteering Awards and were praised for their contribution to their communities. Taylor was shocked she’d won an award, and told us ‘It was incredible, I had not expected it at all but I was made up! I felt very proud of myself for the accomplishment’. Aaron expressed similar views, explaining that he ‘was honoured to be successful in receiving such a prestigious award, as it made me feel my hard work had been rewarded and recognised’.
Take their advice
Finally, we asked our volunteers for some advice for students who are thinking about volunteering. ‘Go for it!’ Taylor said, ‘It's so rewarding as you're doing it from a place of interest rather than for monetary gain, and I think that's the best way to really appreciate things in life’.
‘If I had one piece of advice I'd say’ says Aaron, ‘find out what you want to get out of it and how you'd be supporting others and believe in yourself’.
If you would like to learn more about the opportunities on offer, head to our volunteering portal and sign up today.
