“When I first started full time work I worked in Management Information Statistics for a large corporate law firm (booooring!). After a while I realised that although I was doing well, it just wasn’t for me. I wanted something that was creative and wanted to work with people.
I quietly started volunteering for a charity supporting young disabled people, as a one-to-one support for a young man called Billy (not actual name). My role was to go along to support him to volunteer. I loved giving up my Saturday mornings to plant trees, attend park runs, distribute leaflets and shake a bucket to raise funds.. anything Billy fancied doing, I went along for the ride and supported him in his striving for more independence.
Fast forward.. I landed my first job in the sector and started work at Stockport’s Volunteer Centre at the old CVS which gave me the opportunity to start people on their own volunteer journey. I continued to volunteer with young people with learning disabilities and autism and picked up a flair for delivering art activities to engage young people in conversations. This led to further career development and a qualification in youth and community studies.
This provided me with the skills, experience and passion to set up my own community interest company with a couple of friends (alongside the day job) to create volunteer opportunities for students in the UK to travel abroad and work in poor rural schools in Bulgaria. This included everything from setting up the placements to influencing change with NGOs and the Bulgarian government. An amazing cause with long standing memories.
Following that I went on to manage a charity supporting the VCFSE (Voluntary, Community, Faith-based & Social Enterprise) sector to deliver quality youth work provision along with providing direct delivery across Stockport.
If it hadn’t have been for the experience I had gained as a volunteer, I would never have had the opportunity to work in a sector I love.”
