Roger@Volunteer Centre Camden
Roger is a volunteer Event Planner at the Volunteer Centre Camden. He found out about volunteering while doing a course at St Mungo's hostel for homeless people aimed at helping people get into work. During this course Roger looked around for volunteer opportunities that would allow him to gain useful work experience. Since starting at Volunteer Centre Camden he has been able to engage in work that he feels passionate about including his first major project, which was a recruitment fair for the Volunteer Centre Camden.
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"The benefits of volunteering are all around, the experience, the training, plus giving back of yourself to the community, which is a very important part of it." |
How did you get involved in volunteering?
I was doing a course at St Mungo’s, which is a hostel for homeless people, where I was living, called Personal Best. Personal Best tries to help people into the work force. It aims to increase confidence and self-esteem and to give you transferable skills that can be used in employment.
As part of the course I was required to give 20 hours of volunteer time.
There were several options, one of which was helping with the Volunteer Centre Camden …….I applied to join them and was accepted and have since been volunteering as an event planner.....I also attended a one day induction at the Volunteer Centre which I found enlightening and useful…
I am currently doing a course at St Mungo’s, which is one of the first organisations that I got involved with to get training, and I am now delivering the training. I am also a volunteer for Living Well for people who are HIV positive. As a result of being in St Mungo’s I attended the City Lit. I am doing a PTLLS Course which prepares you to teach (in lifelong learning) – this is to back up my volunteering. I am hoping that this will lead to training and facilitation on a more regular basis.
Volunteer Centre Camden opened my eyes to a lot of volunteering opportunities. Being involved and discovering all this, it’s brilliant. … To gain training, self-development, networks, to be part of a team. These all lead to gainful employment. For people without training, volunteering can open possibilities…. but I see the barriers that hold people back. The risk of losing benefits, being deemed capable of entering work and being forced into the workplace.
What would you say to potential volunteers about volunteering?
Volunteering offers more of a self activitating challenge than actual employment. … the opportunity to explore to whatever extent you choose to…to engage in your passion. Whatever your passion is, there is a volunteer opportunity that is there to welcome and embrace you, and in turn to help others engaged in that passion…You’re not doing it for a pay packet but rather for a love of something. You should enjoy your volunteering.
It should start with something you proactively want to engage in, then you can explore the options. It is a way of meeting like-minded people. Sharing with others and learning from them.
How did you feel after organising the 16 June outreach event for the Volunteer Centre Camden?
Brilliant. Self-fulfilling from start to finish. I felt rewarded in knowing that as a result of my involvement people did actually become volunteers. It was great going out to convince people to come and explore and then seeing them come in, engaging, finding volunteer opportunities. The Volunteers Walk added tremendously so that people could see the actual projects. It gave the connection – you could see the actual place (where people could volunteer) and the actual people. It was something that you don’t get from a database.
It would be good to do another Volunteer Walk for a specific area.
Aim for the stars and more will happen…
See the full interview with Roger here.
