Over the past few years, I’ve volunteered at a few different charities, fundraised through the London marathon and campaigned at university. All of these activities have benefitted causes I care about, and at the same time developing my skills and employability.
I contacted Yellow Door to gain more experience in the charity sector. After university, I would love to continue working in the field of charity communications. Specifically, I wanted to volunteer for a charity which supported survivors of domestic and sexual violence, so I found Yellow Door!
At Yellow Door, I feel I’ve been able to contribute in a small way to the important work they do, as there are lots of opportunities to volunteer around your interests or goals. I’ve always enjoyed writing and wanted to contribute to a charity that supported survivors of domestic or sexual violence, and Yellow Door was happy and supportive in providing this opportunity.
There have been so many personal benefits to volunteering; I have gained so much by just giving a few hours every week. I’ve learnt so much about issues I really care about and developed loads of new skills.
As a third-year university student, committing time to volunteer can be daunting when there are deadlines (and lots of them)! But there was no need to worry, as Yellow Door has been accommodating and flexible of when I’ve been able to volunteer, and I have never felt the pressure to do more than I can. This highlights what the environment at Yellow Door is like for volunteers; everyone is welcoming and supportive.
Despite any trepidation I had about committing time to volunteer during busy periods at university, volunteering has developed my skills and ideas which have benefitted my degree. My dissertation focused on how young people learnt about consent, so volunteering with Yellow Door developed my own thinking and understanding of sexual violence which refined my ideas for what I later researched.
I improved my writing and editing skills. This will help me in any later jobs I get, but it also helped me when writing (endless) essays for university. Yellow Door has been really supportive and enabled me to consider and refine how and what I’m writing.
I’ve developed much better time management skills, balancing university with volunteering and part-time work. Volunteering has been an opportunity to take breaks from my academic work, whilst still feeling and being productive.
Volunteering has helped in job interviews: I have a lot of talk about and I can draw on my volunteer experience to employers. I am happy with what I have written for Yellow Door and they provide examples of my writing and communications experience to future employers.
Volunteering can be challenging for so many reasons, especially when volunteering for charities that deal with upsetting issues. Yellow Door is so supportive of your needs though (I had a phone call to check I’d be okay before even starting!) It’s great to be involved. You have the opportunity to learn so much and be proud of what you’ve contributed. If you have some spare hours, I’d definitely recommend volunteering.
Find out more about Volunteering opportunities with Yellow Door, visit our Volunteering page.