The Perks Of Volunteering

Volunteering – My experience

Having graduated from university last summer I have had little joy in finding a job within the field of my study which was journalism, mainly because I do not have sufficient work experience. As the search for employment continued I began to lose my self confidence.

The thought of volunteering didn't occur to me as I was looking for paid work and didn't believe that volunteering would be beneficial to me.

I was wrong.

I joined the Hackney Host Volunteering team in March and since then I have been involved with some major projects which has boosted my confidence and my employability.

I found out about the Hackney Host Volunteering project at a jobs fair at the Hackney Town Hall. After speaking with Karthiga Kulendran who is a volunteer peer be-friender I immediately dropped all scepticism. Karthiga talked about the different types of projects that were up and coming as well as a list of opportunities that would benefit me greatly.

My interest in media, writing and reporting stories were taken into account and she encouraged me to apply for the role with Hackney 2012 Unit who were looking for a volunteer to work with them on reporting about community projects and events.

Not only were these projects exactly what I wanted to get involved in, but there were a list of training programmes and volunteering opportunities as well as learning about the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Not to mentioned that I was going to be a representative and an ambassador for Hackney, a host borough for the 2012 Games, it was all very exciting.

Since joining the Volunteering team I've had first aid training from the British Red Cross, I am now a qualified first aider, an opportunity I wouldn't have had if I hadn't joined the team.

I have visited the Olympic site twice, which was an incredibly experience.

I have also had Hackney Olympic Champions training with Kaizen Partnership. This training has had an amazing effect on me personally. The training involved looking at opportunities, leadership, goals, responsibility, judgements, attitudes, and limiting beliefs. The training programme enabled me to think outside the box and stop limiting myself which helped me to regain a lot of my self confidence. The way in which the training was delivered enabled the group of volunteers to open up and become very friendly. After the first day of training the group had become very friendly, talkative and expressive which was quite the contrary at the beginning of the programme.

I have also been involved in web and content management training with Poached Creative which resulted in the creation of the Hackney Host Blog site, this again was an opportunity to get involved in the creative and journalistic side of things which I have enjoyed immensely.

Working with the Hackney 2012 Unit has also had an impact on me, I have been able to write about volunteering as well as film, interview people and other volunteers.

The training and volunteering is not the only thing which I have thoroughly enjoy, meeting fellow volunteers and working alongside them and making friends has been the highlight. The group of volunteers that I have met are an amazing group; they are genuine and passionate about volunteering and believe in making a difference.

Volunteering as a host has had a tremendous effect on me, I've met some amazing people and I feel valued and that is a great feeling.