Submitted by Carrie Brookes on 13 Jun 2024 - 12:41pm
You helped us make a poem about volunteering! We came together in June at the Volunteers Week celebration event and fed our stories, experiences and benefits of volunteering to Aisha Lamb of Write Yourself Well.
She collated all of these during the celebration and created an amazing poem. You can hear the poem read out by volunteers in a video we shared on Facebook.
TO BE A VOLUNTEER
To be part of something
no matter how big or small
that would cease to exist without you
To be a supporter supporting others
whilst being supported at the same time
To make friends/make a difference/make connections— To be a changemaker!
To have a sense of humour
and bring energy, light and hope
to those who are needing it the most
To be rooted in kindness and love and to
have buckets upon buckets of compassion
whilst never knowing what
is going to come next.
To take the ‘T’ out of can’t
to build self esteem
to have evidence that you can.
To share skills
and pass your knowledge on
To wear many hats
and balance the load
To build resilience,
change your mindset
and improve your wellbeing.
To provide safety, security and smiles
To boost confidence,
to give a purpose,
to be a friendly face
To give back to society
and have that come back to you.
To meet diverse groups of people
to find things in common
where you’d least expect
To connect with those who make decisions
about your life, my life, our lives—
education leaders, councillors
CEOs and CFOs.
To gain love and confidence
To discover a new meaning of life
To see gratitude, grins and gratefulness
shine through from others.
To be an advocate, an ally
and most importantly,
A friend.
To find somewhere you belong,
to be given an opportunity,
to be given a chance,
To laugh, to cry, to give your energy
and of course,
to drink lots and lots of tea.
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Inspired by the words of volunteers,
Collated by Aisha Lama of Write Yourself Well.
