Why should young people volunteer locally?
Volunteering requires giving your time to aid a cause for free. So why should you volunteer? Not only is volunteering a great way to give back to the community, but it can have many benefits-especially as a young person.
Building life skills. A less discussed benefit of volunteering are the skills you can gain, ones which will stick with you for life. Confidence is a wonderful tool to those who have it, and a mysterious labyrinth for those of us who don’t. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is confidence! But by volunteering you can build that coliseum one brick at a time. Communication is a key skill across all professions across the world. It can be difficult to communicate effectively, especially if you struggle to articulate yourself. However, by volunteering you get to spend time with people in an environment which will help build these skills. Having confidence in yourself and the ability to communicate with others are two among many of the life skills you can gain from volunteering.
Personal statements. If you plan on going to university, volunteering can boost your personal statement and give you valuable real-world experience of interest, especially if you choose to volunteer in the field you are interested in exploring. You have an invaluable opportunity to experience different fields on a ground level.
Most importantly you get to spend time doing what you love. Volunteering isn’t always what you might imagine. We might think of working in a food-bank or perhaps a charity shop. But the truth is there are many opportunities locally to volunteer doing something you love. One such volunteer is seventeen-year-old Amelie Richardson who spends 2 hours on a Saturday helping assist teaching dance to 5-8-year-olds. ‘It feels like hardly any time, and I really like doing it’, Richardson states, ‘I get to do what I love-dance- and help younger students to enjoy it as much as I did.’ Just an hour a week can help you and your community grow.
But where to start? In many cases opportunities to volunteer may be made apparent to you through family, friends, school and the local community. But what about the times they are not? It may seem daunting, but after you know what kind of volunteer work you want to do, you can e-mail or enquire to an organization online. Many organizations will advertise such opportunities on their website and then you’re there!