With it being Volunteers Week, I thought I would share my own personal experience with volunteering.
Circa 2018, my life was a merry-go-round of the same routine
– Wake up, feel anxious, play video games, feel anxious, try to go outside, go to sleep, and repeat. 365 days a year, over a decade of being in this awful cycle. I didn’t have the belief or courage that I could handle anything more than this, I felt the option of actually working had moved too far beyond me.
I was handed a flyer for Give Get Go at TLC by an advisor after me telling them, that my main goal for the future was to be ready for work. I didn’t have any confidence in my abilities to be able to handle a work routine, or in all honesty, if anyone would want me after being out of work for so long. I was told that I would be able to move at my own pace and that there was the option of a volunteer placement where I could gain experience for my CV and build confidence back up in my own abilities.
This was the glimpse I was hoping for, the pressure free environment where I could try out something new, and see what I was really capable of!
*Fast forward a month or so*
After going through the weekly wellbeing sessions and chats with the group, I was feeling a bit more confident about my upcoming volunteer placement! I had been placed in Liverpool University, with the Mail and Recycling team, something I’d never done before. One day a week I would be traveling all over the Liverpool Uni campus across the Liverpool City Region – This took me so far out of my comfort zone, I could feel my confidence and hunger growing. Before I knew it, I was asking TLC if I could do extra days volunteering to give me a fuller week!
Soon, my 10-week volunteer placement was coming to an end, but my motivation for finding more volunteering had not! I asked TLC if they needed a hand with any admin/social media work (as that was where my real skills were) So I was able to keep my routine going and my confidence that I COULD handle this. There was still a gap in my work week, so I went looking for further volunteer opportunities. I was able to get a placement helping with the database at Roy Castle (definitely look them up, it was a wonderful place to work).
My weeks had become so full! My old routine had been replaced with something that gave me a purpose, that was giving me confidence every day – and filling up my CV with tons of experience! I knew there was a next step for me now, these placements had given me everything I needed to get my foot on the ladder, on the way to my goal.
I started paid work at Kensington Vision where I got to teach the elderly how to use computers, help school classes with projects, so much enjoyable work! Then the opportunity for 2 days paid work at TLC came up, a chance to work WITH the people who helped me get where I was at that point. I snapped it up!
Fast forward to 2022, I’m working full time with Transform Lives Company with a partner and newborn daughter at home. It all started with Give Get Go, it all started with volunteering at Liverpool Uni and then I was on my way to being so content with life, I can’t believe what happened.
Take the chance, who knows where you’ll be in a year?