Volunteers Week

Volunteers Week is an annual campaign which is taking place this week and celebrates the fantastic work millions of volunteers make. You can find more details can be found here.

Since I was a teenager, I have always felt compelled to help others and undertake voluntary work; it's something that I really enjoying and feel a lot of satisfaction knowing that what I do is making a difference.

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to volunteer for a number of charities over the years and have been able to learn a great deal from each and every single one of them.

At the age of 16 I was given the opportunity to go to Africa for a month, and despite feeling very nervous and worrying about sleeping in a tent with very little running water, it was an amazing experience. I spent a week out of the month helping at a school with a little bit of teaching as well as helping to paint a new class room. It was a real eye opener and a fantastic experience. I still recall the school motto which was "educate or perish," quite scary when you think of it, but unfortunately that is very very true in Africa!

Photo Album of Africa

I have also worked with an organisation helping children and teenagers with learning difficulties and / or disabilities; I attended a residential holiday where I helped to support the children with the aim of boasting their confidence and self esteem.

Over the last few years I have spent some considerable time helping at my local rape crisis centre where I support women who have been raped or sexually assaulted. I feel incredibly blessed that I have been given opportunities to help change peoples lives around; to witness the change in people over a period of time has been really amazing.

Recently I have become involved in working with Pregnancy Sickness Support; you can read more about the voluntary work I am currently undertaking, in my recent post.

I love volunteering, its a two way relationship; you can help an organisation or charity and at the same time, they can help you by giving you the opportunity to acquire new skills and experiences etc. People always ask me how I manage to find the time to do all that I do; there is no magic answer, somehow I just do! I can never see me giving up volunteering, its a part of me and I encourage everyone to consider being a volunteer, it is very rewarding and you can help to change peoples lives.