As part of the Volunteer Week we are sharing people’s stories and experiences with volunteering! Sharing the insight on why people have volunteered, the kind of roles they have taken on and how it has benefited them, which can vary from gaining new skills, to making connections across the community, to keeping them active and more!

What does your volunteering involve?

I’m a Team Leader for the Beaver section. What that means is I run our section for six to eight year olds at the local Scout group. Each week we meet on Tuesdays, the sessions really vary. This term, we’re outside a lot. Last night, we were doing fire lighting and Tomahawk throwing. A couple of weeks before that, we were having a VE Day street party. So it really varies week to week. The role involves planning those meetings, it’s not just me by myself. There’s a team of us plus a couple of the more senior volunteers who look after the whole group as well. So we are planning the meeting, making sure we’ve got all the materials and everything ready, and then turning up and running the meeting..

How did you become involved?

This goes back to when I was around 15, I did the community service that everybody does in secondary school. I volunteered with the local brownie group and I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I went through until I left University age 21 moved to London, and as you do in your early 20s, pre lockdown, got the big corporate lifestyle five days a week in the office, out every evening, and volunteering like that didn’t really fit into my life, but I kind of knew at the back of my head that I wanted to get back involved.

Skip forward, I had my son in 2014 we were living in Wimbledon. It was a really popular area for Scouting, a really good group.. I knew it was something that I wanted my kids to do. My nan was an Akela, a Cub leader. My dad was very involved in the movement, so I’m sort of third generation. So I volunteered at the time as a trustee, with a baby the weekly commitment was a bit much. We moved out to Reading post-lockdown, and they started a Squirrel drey, which is the age four to six. I dropped my daughter off one of these meetings. I overheard them saying they needed somebody for Beaver team and thought Yes, this is my chance.

Why do you volunteer?

I really enjoy working with the age group. I’m a little bit silly and a bit wacky, and I like to theme things and put stories around them. So working with that age group really suits me. On moving out here I was self-employed. I ran my own events company and you can imagine what lockdown did to that. We moved out here and I was kind of a little bit isolated, a little bit lost. We’re quite rural, so it’s not like I can just walk down to the library and join a community group. Getting involved with the Beaver group was a wonderful way to meet people in the area, to make friends, to get to know the area. Same for the kids as well, it was a really nice way for us all to meet other people in the community and form those bonds as well.

What do you get from volunteering?

The community thing is really big for me, but I genuinely enjoy it. Yesterday I was feeling exhausted. I was feeling a bit drained. You know, just one of those days. How am I going to get through this tonight? I went along. I had an evening in a field with a load of kids chucking foam axes around and lighting fires, and I came home bouncing off the walls like it’s amazing to spend time like this. I love the programming. Some volunteers, don’t. I love it, to spend time putting these sessions together thinking about, how am I going to engage them? How can we make this fun? How can we adapt this? And to put all that effort in, and then to see how much they enjoy it. And obviously that comes back to you, you just get this huge flow of energy back, and you’re like, oh my word, I did all this.

What difference do you think your volunteering makes?

In a nutshell. It’s helping. We’re providing learning experiences, development experiences, social experiences that these kids wouldn’t otherwise have. We have children start with us who don’t want to leave their carers side in week 1 and by week 4 or 5 they are one of the group, barely saying farwell to their grown-up, throwing themselves into everything and asking when their next badge is coming!

There are very visual signs of their achievements with the badges. You know, badges are so important in the younger sections, it’s kind of like having a little superhero emblem. You get your badge, you put it on your uniform. It’s really incredible. You start with this blank jumper, and as you go, just fills up. It’s seeing them grow, develop, just in general it’s a really joyous role.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering but is not quite sure it’s for them?

I would say, just go for it but don’t be afraid to walk away if it doesn’t work. If you’re not happy in the volunteering you’re not going to get the best out of the role, and the role is not going to get the best out of you. Everyone thinks volunteering has to be this purely altruistic thing, but there’s always something we’re getting out of it as well. Don’t be afraid of that side of it. Volunteering is a two-way street, and the more you’re enjoying it, if it’s a people-based role like this, the more they’re going to enjoy it as well.

One of the keys, I think, to really enjoying the volunteering I do is finding the niche that works for me. Rather than going there’s this volunteer gap, I need to volunteer to make myself feel good, even if the role isn’t the right fit.

Are you interested in volunteering?

Please have a look at the Volunteering Opportunities that are currently available by clicking here! The website is updated with new and exciting roles on a regular basis from organisations all around the Reading area!