Oli Gregory
University: University College London
What are you studying? MSc Urban Studies
(Before BA Geography and Politics at Durham University)
My first volunteering experience was when I volunteered for Tenteleni, a South African educational charity. My role was as a teaching assistant in a township primary school, where the emphasis was on providing support teachers. It was this experience that provided the initial spark into getting involved with volunteering.
As a student I was involved in numerous voluntary related activities, where as time progressed I became more involved in leadership roles. However, my involvement with CATSS, a student led residential project for ‘at-risk’ young people was quite spontaneous. A friend was a leader on the project asked me to apply. The project was intensive, often highly challenging, but absolutely amazing as we were responsible for around 15 children for the whole week. As well as running loads of activities, such as climbing and horse-riding we had to ensure the kids were fed, looked after and put to bed on time, which was a definite challenge! This experience then led me to take on a leadership role for the project organising all the activities.
In my third year, I had the opportunity to take these experiences to a higher level, contributing to a ‘Student Advisory Board’ on the value of student volunteering, promoting volunteering to students on a national scale. One thing led to another, and via a 1 day a week volunteering placement at Volunteering England, I have been given the responsibility of ensuring the Student Volunteering Week 2012 is a success! I never had a single motivation for starting to volunteer.
When I arrived at university I was overwhelmed by the different activities on offer, and so didn’t have a concrete idea about what sort of volunteering I wanted to do or how I was going to do it. My belief in the value of volunteering has strengthened overtime, not just in terms of how it can benefit others, but how it can be seen as a mutually beneficial activity. It may sound clichéd but I don’t feel I would be the person I am today if I hadn’t volunteered so much whilst I was a student. I have gained in all areas of my life, both in a sense of personal fulfilment as well as a sense of satisfaction at having created a benefit that extends beyond myself.
Personally, I have gained through gaining skills and awareness of the world that has helped my professional development, forged life-long friendships, and felt charged at being a part of a group with a common purpose. Realising that volunteering actually does makes an impact has come to me when I though what if we weren’t running this project? What would happen then? It is then that you realise that you are actually contributing towards something positive.
Considering I am now employed to help run Student Volunteering Week 2012 I definitely feel more employable! Volunteering has given me skills in a variety of areas, including dealing with people from all backgrounds; various ‘softskills’, such as teamwork, leadership and communication; working in challenging situations, for instance dealing with unruly children in the small hours of the morning.
If my volunteering didn’t have a positive impact others I wouldn’t be motivated to do it. My volunteering with ‘at risk’ children has been the place where I have felt the most positive impact. This is because I have seen where direct impacts of my volunteering. To me it is the little things that make the effort worthwhile, for instance seeing an activity that I helped plan for ages finally happen. However, the sense that you are making a positive impact is not always obvious, as sometimes things take time to pay off. I do think it is an important question to hold in mind, to ensure that what you do always benefits the intended recipients.
Volunteering has been challenging to me in many different ways, which at times has been difficult but on the whole has been a positive learning curve. Challenges have included dealing with difficult situations, learning how to juggle different priorities, and adjust to the world of the office! I have overcome these challenges by using the support of others and through trial and error, realising that you make mistakes but learning from them. The thing I would tell other is get involved! There are so many different ways of volunteering, that there is bound to be something that you are interested in. Volunteering needn’t be a big commitment and can work around your life; the important thing is to find something that fits. Whilst the process of starting to volunteer may seem confusing, ie. filling in CRB checks, don’t be put off because once you start these confusions are no longer a problem.
