Did you know that I owe most of what I know today from volunteering at a very young age?
When I graduated with my law degree I couldn’t land on my feet with a job straight away due to the credit crash. I deferred my place for further study and headed home.
At that time I still wanted to do law so started volunteering at my local Citizens Advice Bureau. I did this while also working the breakfast shift at a local fancy country hotel.
I would wake just after 5am, head to breakfast, leave at about 11 and head straight to Citizens Advice.
I stayed there for two and a half years. One and a half of those years as a full time paid caseworker specialising in welfare benefits.
I was exposed to so much with such a small dedicated team.
I learnt:
– How to work as part of a team
– How to talk to people who needed support
– How casework and organisation works in a service environment
– How to work with other organisations to make sure client needs were met
– How a varying number of projects worked
All of this learning and on the job experience for giving my time and working hard.
The principles and values from that time still live with me today and I want to share them with everyone as I believe they fostered a person in me to be more empathetic to the people around me which has helped more and more people come out of themselves and be who they truly are.
If you’re looking for a new perspective on life, volunteer somewhere near you. You won’t be disappointed.
Where will you go to help others and learn skills in the process?
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