Youth Volunteering

If you're aged 14 to 25 and are interested in volunteering then this is the page for YOU!

Volunteering is more then just helping others, it's also about helping yourself too.

What is a volunteer?

A volunteer is somebody who gives his or her time and skills for free. It can mean anything from working from one day a week in a charity shop to spending a year helping children in disadvantaged areas of the world. The important thing is that volunteers are not paid for their work. It is not the same as work experience, which is where you are employed (and not paid) for a certain amount of time in order to gain experience in the workplace. Instead, volunteers work for organisations that have worthy causes such as helping the environment or those with greater needs than others.

The world of volunteering is such a big one that you that you can do virtually anything that you want to do. However, there are a number of considerations that you need to make.

The list of causes that require help from volunteers is virtually endless. We have opportunities in anything from the

• Environment
• Sports
• Health and social care
• Animals
• Human rights
• Retail
• Your local community
• Youth Work
• Heritage
• Overseas aid

What sort of volunteering do you want to do?

Have a think about the type of work that you want to do. Do you want to work outside? Or would you prefer to work in an office? Do you want to work with people? Or do you like working alone best? Are you prepared to get stuck in and get your hands dirty? Or do you prefer something a little less hands on? It’s often best to consider where your skills lie. If you’re no good at practical stuff but you are great at writing persuasive letters then you’d probably be better of working in a office rather than in a muddy field somewhere.

There are many reasons that people volunteer. Some do it for the love of the cause, some to meet new, interesting people and others do it to improve their skills and chances of getting a relevant job. Make sure that you want to do it for the right reasons and that your fully committed to it. If you don’t go into it whole heartedly you’ll just be wasting everyone’s time including your own. Of course that doesn’t mean that you have to live work and breath volunteering. You could take on a small volunteering job but if the project requires time then you need to be fully committed to it.

It is important that you make sure that you know exactly how much time to give to volunteering. There are many different types of opportunities available to suit a wide range of situations so work out when and how long you can do it.

The great thing about volunteering is that not only are you helping out a worthy cause of your choice but you’ll be gaining loads from the experience too. You’ll meet new friends, learn new skills and if you’re working in a different country, you may get to experience a new culture. All of these things are available in life. Whatever your reasons for choosing to volunteer, you’ll definitely be more attractive to future employers with some volunteering experience on you CV.