Volunteering by Amy Waite
How can we truly help those in need? Is it as simple as putting spare change in a donation pot? Signing up to sponsor someone? Or perhaps WE can truly make a difference; besides an anonymous donation. What if we could truly make our mark? And there’s a simple way to achieve this; it’s volunteering.
On average, 15.2 million adults volunteer at least once a month. Volunteering has increased in recent years however the average time spent volunteering per day has fallen. Between 2000 and 2015, volunteering increased from 39% to 41% for men and from 39% to 42% for women. However, the average time spent volunteering decreased from 12.3 to 11.3 minutes for men and 16.3 to 15.7 minutes for women. Students are both more likely to volunteer and also spend longer per day volunteering. In 2015, 58% of students volunteered over the year for an average of 16.3 minutes per day, compared with 42% of those in paid work who volunteered for an average of 9.6 minutes per day. This proves young people can make a difference and make changes to society contradicting a negative stigma of young people.
A local volunteering organisation I would like to mention is VANEL (Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire) which develops, promotes, informs and supports the voluntary sector in our local community. They are responsible for gathering numerous volunteers to provide vital support for our local community. How you can get involved in a large range of volunteering opportunities can be viewed on their website here.
So, why do people volunteer? It can be a selfless deed with simply wanting to help others and perhaps give back to your community. Other times it can highly benefit your CV and make yourself more presentable. Perhaps your college or workplace has offered to get you involved or you wanted to experience what it was like? From what I’ve heard from many others, it can be a fulfilling and enriching experience; making you feel like you personally made a difference; besides digging in your wallet for spare change. You can strongly say you went out there and made a change.
However, volunteering may not spark peoples’ interests and perhaps label it as a boring or dragging experience. Although this may not be the case; volunteering can truly be a life changing experience. Not only is volunteering in England, but you can go abroad too! Some schools provide trips for students to go to Africa and help with the local communities. Many have even built houses for families and helped the local area! Today, over 40% of people living in sub-Saharan Africa live in absolute poverty. That’s almost half the population. Knowing you helped at least one person lead a better life can be one of the most rewarding experiences you won’t want to take for granted.
So, why don’t more people volunteer? From what I’ve seen I believe there is not enough awareness on volunteering and people simply don’t know where to sign up although wanting to somehow make a difference. I believe there should be more awareness of helping people in the local area and bringing a positive change to the town. Not only are you making a difference, you are providing charitable organisations vital help, plus it looks great on your CV!
Overall, I believe it is great to consider volunteering. See if anything catches your eye on the VANEL website and you might find an opportunity to start something new. You may be applying for a job or applying for university and want to make your personal statement look as great as possible. Not only are you helping others, you are helping yourself and enriching your experiences. If you want to learn more about volunteering locally, go to www.vanel.org.uk/volunteering
What will you do?
Article by Amy Waite, a Grimby Telegraph Young Reporter