Voluntary Work Case Studies
Mary (not real name)
Volunteering since April 2009
A previous career in teaching and qualified to degree level in Finance & Accountancy, Mary wanted to use her degree and explore another avenue of work as change of career. She chose volunteering as an option to gain some experience & build up her confidence in this area and get an insight in what it would be like to work within a financial environment.
BVSC was successful in placing Mary within a financial organisation and after a short time there she was selected for an article in the organisations summer edition of their newsletter. The following is an excerpt from that article.
“With her children growing up she felt it was time for a change and welcomes the opportunity of being a volunteer to gain hands-on experience in working in an office environment. Mary also feels that volunteering at our organisation offers her a chance to refresh herself by working and gaining experience of the office procedures. She can be found working at the counter helping members with enquiries, accessing withdrawals from their accounts and completing application and loan forms.
Mary has said how much she enjoys the warm atmospheres, friendly staff and likes the variety of being a volunteer. She ultimately feels she will benefit from the experience at our organisation by doing accounting and office work, knowing she will be guaranteed a reference when she leaves. She is hopeful that this experience will open the door to future job opportunities and that it will be a stepping stone towards her goal of eventually going into Management Accounting.”
Mary plans to continue volunteering for the provider as well as being self-employed as she feels the training and experience she is getting is invaluable at this time.
Ruth (not real name)
Started volunteering February 2009
A full time mother for the last eight years, Ruth wanted to get back into the workplace yet felt inadequate in skills to do this both socially and technically. She lacked confidence and had low self-esteem due to the fact she felt she had no experience to offer and having experienced a traumatic break-up increased her self-doubts.
“After many years as a single parent, I felt that it was time to do something with my life, as being so cut off from the working world I didn’t feel confident enough to go straight for a job. I thought about volunteering to try and gain some more skills and maybe boost my own self-esteem.
I registered with the volunteer centre and started to volunteer shortly after with BTCV.
Becoming a volunteer is one of the best decisions I have ever made, it has boosted my confidence, made me more active and I have gained a lot of new skills. I have now been offered a paid contract with BTCV and I now look forward to a much brighter future for me and my family.”
Quote BTCV
“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude for the commitment and hard work Ruth has put in during her time with us. The client’s co-operative attitude and good cheer were important and appreciated; she was organised, efficient and always willing to give more of her time. It was a personal and professional pleasure to work with her”
Volunteering has enabled Ruth to improve her skills, train for ECDL and increased her confidence to now be considered in the workplace.
Ruth started her employment on 26th May 2009.
Jim (not real name)
Background
Jim is on incapacity benefits, with additional support need due to a learning disability.
Opportunity
Midland Mencap, which is a local charity, which works and campaigns for accessible and inclusive services for people with Learning Disabilities.
They also provide opportunities for sufferers to engage in volunteering opportunities with the Organisation itself.
Jim was given an opportunity to volunteer with Midland Mencap under the bWell programme.
Due to the nature of clients disability it communication was manly brokered through clients Support Worker.
Following feed back from Jim and support worker it was identified that Jim really benefited from Volunteering at the Organisation with real positive comments and observations found in WEMWBS score and also feedback from placement provider.
Jim's confidence has improved greatly since he began volunteering… Jim has seen the benefits of getting out of the house and getting involved in something new.’
Ricardo (not real name)
Ricardo (not real name) is a 22 yr old Young Person from the BME community. Ricardo has qualifications in sport coaching at basic level but desired to practical experience as he felt that lack of work experience was barrier to gaining employment and lack of industry knowledge.
Opportunity
Ricardo gets an opportunity to volunteer with an Organisation called Start Again, which aims ‘…to support Young People to develop their personal, Spiritual and Social development’.
As a sports coach Ricardo got to use his skills learnt from their level one Sports Coaching qualification.
Post 30 hours Ricardo stated that he was happy to actually continue his development at the organisation as a Volunteer and was now interested to persue a career in Sports Coaching and was looking to get onto a course to gain a level 2 coaching Qualification.
Harjinder (not real name)
Background
Harjinder (not real name), came to BVSC looking for an opportunity to volunteer. She stated that a job would be the aim but felt under experienced and lacked self-esteem.
Client provided with an opportunity at Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre.
Midway through placement Harjinder was contacted and stated to staff that placement was going well. ‘Very relaxed’ and ‘helping self esteem grow’ were comments recorded.
Opportunity
Harjinder completed a 30 hour placement at the end of April 09. In May 09 BVSC was contacted by BARC to say that Harjinder had been successful in gaining Employment for a Child and Family Resource Centre.
There was also a noticeable improvement of the clients WEMWBS scores before their 30 hour placement and after.
