Why I Volunteer
There are a whole range of reasons why I volunteer at Discovery SVS, but the most important reason is for the greater good of our community. I am in a very fortunate position where I have access to a good education, a warm home and food on my plate however, this has not always been the situation for me.
I am a mature student who has always lived in South Wales, I am passionate about Swansea and ensuring it is the best place in the world to live! However, my life has not always been this simple.
There have been times where I have had to use a food bank, access temporary housing and I have had to rely on the goodness of other services to provide me with these necessities. The food banks, temporary housing and a range of other services rallied around to ensure I had what I needed to firstly provide myself with a steady environment.
This is where my passion for volunteering began the goodness of other people’s hearts allowed me to continue my journey to a better place. I realise how lucky I am to be in the position I am now in, and I realise there are a lot of individuals in Swansea who are a lot worse off than me. I just want to return the favour and ensure that I can do as much as I can to make the most vulnerable lives easier.
My love and compassion for the elderly
I was fortunate to spend 3 years in a community caring role, where I provided self-care to a range of clients in South Wales. My admiration for the elderly began here, I fell in love with all the stories, the hardship, the sheer determination and will and all the work they have done in their lives. It’s wrong but quite easy to put the elderly all in one box, but this really is not the case. Every individual is unique, with their own stories. These individuals give to our communities for years, they were teachers, policemen/women, doctors, nurses, labourers, factory workers any many more! Our generation could all learn a lot from their admirable stories, and I could assure you if you got involved in a project where you got to befriend a service user, I promise you too you will fall in love with the character and bravery a lot of them show! I completely understand that we will all grow old one day and will rely on the compassion of the younger generation to help us when we need it most.
Discovery allowed me to gain a partnership with Age Cymru – I have weekly phone calls with an individual who was feeling lonely during the lock downs. These phone calls now are the highlight of my week, I have developed a deep friendship with my friend, and I cannot wait to hear what her week has been filled with.
Since becoming involved with Age Cymru I was astonished by all the hard work being done in Wales! I am now involved in the Christmas shoe box appeal, Digital learning for the elderly and weekly phone calls. I love every single minute of it! There is something so rewarding about knowing you are making a difference!
These activities have not only helped the service user’s mental health, it has helped my own. The past two years of learning online, living in a pandemic has meant that a lot of the social aspects of being a student has disappeared. Discovery has equipped me with loads of new friends, a shoulder to turn to and just a good support network of amazing people!
Employability
When I started volunteering with Discovery, my CV was quite basic without any work experience for the past 5 years. Since volunteering with Discovery my CV is now very jam packed with a whole range of experience.
During my MSc course I had to apply for 12-week placements/internships. I was very lucky to receive 4 offers for different organisations. This is solely down to all the amazing work I have done with Discovery. It has made me more employable and given me a range of different topics to discuss during interviews which allows me to highlight why I am a great candidate for the job role. I feel that since becoming a part of Discovery I can walk into a range of jobs, and I am not concerned at all about my future career opportunities.
Leadership Skills & Development
Discovery allows its students to develop, I am now the project coordinator for the digital media project and have 7 lovely volunteers who I am responsible for. Discovery believed in me and my abilities and advised me to apply for the role. Now two months in and I am absolutely loving the responsibility and the chance to develop my leadership skills, I have enjoyed the organisation of a team so much that I am now excited to plan to develop further In Discovery into a trustee role.
I only began in 2020, I am now 130 hours in and the growth and development in myself as an individual is incredible. All thanks to Discovery! Every opportunity is very appreciated.
What’s next?
Well, what are you all waiting for? Sign up and get involved today. Build your self-confidence, your CV and become very employable all while completing very rewarding work for the community.
To find out more about our volunteering opportunities, check out our website at https://discoverysvs.org/ or send us an email at discovery@swansea.ac.uk.