The Advantages of Volunteering
Why should you volunteer?
What are the advantages of volunteering? The first question everyone asks when thinking about volunteering is “why should I volunteer”? Volunteering is a benefit to everyone involved with the opportunity. The first benefit is to the project you are volunteering with, for example a volunteering opportunity to pick up litter will help fulfil the projects aim of ridding an area of litter. This can help an organisation to reach their aims and objectives and help them to continue on more community projects.
Another benefit is to yourself, you can gain valuable skills while volunteering, gaining these skills while being a benefit to those around you. Soft skills are the most commonly built upon skills during volunteering, things such as social skills, communication and your personal development.
You also benefit the community by volunteering. An example of this would be helping elderly individuals. There are many projects out there to help elderly specifically during this COVID time where isolation is a big problem for older individuals. These projects could be arranging a meeting between a few volunteers and elderly individuals to get them some social contact during these tough times.
What opportunities do we have for volunteering?
We have a few projects open to volunteers as well as possible research and office work. We are always looking for more individuals who would be able to help us research for our projects, for example a recycling project.
At this time, we are looking for volunteers who can help us to distribute and take part in a survey around LGBTQI+ individuals. Our survey is for those who work with, or who are in the LBGTQI+ community.
Our sister organisation LAW has recently worked on a COVID-19 project where we gained information from our volunteers to know which way to point the project. We went with awareness of things such as mask wearing, fact checking, hand sanitizer usage and more. They are now looking for individuals who can help on their plastic usage project.
What benefits do you get from volunteering?
What are the advantages of volunteering? Many often ask what they get out of volunteering, and we always say that you will gain a lot from the experience. Benefits could include a multitude of things, but the first gain would be your skillset. Volunteering offers you the opportunity to see your weaknesses and work on them – depending on what you are volunteering for.
Another benefit would be the good feeling you get for helping others. Volunteering can be special in that it offers you the opportunity to do good in your local community. On completion you can often feel very good about what you’ve managed to accomplish with your fellow volunteers.
The final benefit we will mention is that you are able to gain experience through volunteering. If you are young, it can offer an opportunity to gain experience in areas which you haven’t experienced before. Things such as working in a team, working towards a common goal with others and other such experiences.
Why is volunteering and are volunteers important?
Volunteering is an important part of society. It offers individuals a chance to help improve their communities at the very ground level. Volunteering is an important part of many social entrepreneurs and companies who do not make profit. Volunteers help accomplish project aims that otherwise may not be possible.
Without volunteering, there would be many social projects which wouldn’t be able to go ahead. For example, many individuals put time away on their weekends to volunteer and meet up with elderly individuals during COVID. This is to provide social support for the elderly who may not be able to meet with others due to COVID, if not for these types of projects.
What does your local community gain from your volunteering?
By volunteering you can help to improve your local community, and the environment around it. Projects such as picking up litter can help to keep wild areas clean and beautiful. Projects that aim to help younger people can improve their lives for the better. Without volunteers many of these projects go unfinished, volunteering is important for you and your community!
If you’re interested in joining us as a volunteer, or if you would like more information on what that could involve, please do contact us on 029 21 156 603 or email Info@CareerChangeWales.co.uk
