Volunteering | Careers and enterprise

Volunteering at Mud Pie Explorers was key to my professional development… and lots of fun!

hannahnuttall | 31 May 202221 June 2022

by Natalia Jarvis, BSc (Hons) Psychology

I spent ten months volunteering for Mud Pie Explorers, a Bristol-based Community Interest Company, that runs Forest School sessions for children in local green spaces. Forest Schools are child-led and offer a holistic way for children to develop skills and improve their confidence in a woodland setting.

My journey to becoming a Forest School Support Volunteer

Whilst looking for a psychology-related volunteering opportunity to enhance my CV, I came across an advert on UWE InfoHub for a Forest School Support volunteer. I would definitely recommend InfoHub as a platform for finding volunteering, work experience or paid jobs, as there are lots of great roles are posted on there – including ones that you can’t find on a generic online search. It is also really easy to use the filters to find what you are looking for.

I had never worked with children before but I love the outdoors and had become really interested in developmental and child psychology, so I thought that this role would be really enjoyable and beneficial to my career pathway too. After successfully applying, I met with Nickie, a Level 3 Forest School Leader and the manager of Mud Pies, who matched me up with two weekly sessions. One for home-educated children with a range of additional needs, and one for girls with autism.

We spotted lots of wildlife at Forest School (I never got a photo of the deer!)

My experience of volunteering with Mud Pies

My role as a volunteer was to work with Nickie to facilitate child-led play. This meant giving the children freedom to explore and let their natural curiosity flourish, rather than deciding what they do or organising structured activities. A typical session for me might involve encouraging a child to climb higher in the tree, supervising them while they practice with a flint and steel, or joining in with their “velociraptor mum” game! It was really rewarding developing relationships with the children and seeing them grow in confidence and ability. I had so much fun at Forest School and it was always something to look forward to in my week.

I loved embracing the outdoors and sharing this with the children; the smiles on their faces when they realised how muddy they had become after “mudsliding” in the rain were just priceless.

What did I gain from my experience?

Becoming a Forest School support volunteer was something completely new to me and a chance to leave my comfort zone, which in itself really built my confidence and self-belief. Volunteering was also a way for me to bring my university studies to life and apply what I had learned. I actually wrote an essay for my Psychology course on the benefits of Forest School for child development.

Volunteering with Mud Pies undoubtedly played a massive part in my success in gaining my sandwich placement, an exciting role working within the clinical therapy team at Cotswold Chine School, which I am hoping will in turn maximise my employment prospects when I graduate. I really believe that being a Forest School volunteer has had a massive positive impact on my professional development, and I loved every minute of it.

Some of the nature art that I attempted at Mud Pies!

I feel very proud of my small part, volunteering with One25

Careers Team | 14 April 202214 April 2022

Chloe Horton, UWE Bristol Mental Health Nursing Student

I feel very passionately about helping to protect the women One25 support.

One25 is a charity providing support for the most marginalised women in the Bristol community. Their service users are street sex working women. I have volunteered at the drop in where the women can access emotional support, a hot meal, condoms, underwear, a nurse, a GP and also caseworkers which have a range of specialisms including domestic abuse and drugs.

At the drop in I spend time in the kitchen serving the women and also talking with the women, seeing how they’re getting on and supporting them with practical tasks such as accessing their GP.

I more often volunteer on the outreach van which goes out in evenings to serve a particular area where sex workers work. Women can call the van, or we spot the women, providing them with a hot drink, food, warm clothing, condoms, harm reduction packs for drug users and emotional support. The women REALLY appreciate the van and the support they gain from it. Some women will just pop to the window and get their needs met and some women will come on to the van and sit, have a hot chocolate and a good old chat. The women are sometimes intoxicated and One25 work closely with local organisations to ensure the safety of the women.

As a student Mental Health Nurse volunteering has helped me develop my skills hugely. Just spending time with the women, that at times can be distressed, has benefited my practice. It has enabled me to gain more confidence and also to use the skills I am learning on my course with the women I am speaking to.

I have always been interested in working with vulnerable people and having now volunteered for One25 my desire to do this has increased.

I absolutely love volunteering and feel very proud for my albeit small part of One25.

Global Goal 5 Gender Equality and 3 Good Health and Wellbeing

Empowering change for women’s equality.

hannahnuttall | 5 November 202121 June 2022

by Bassmala Elbushary, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science

There are numerous reasons why I wanted to volunteer. Firstly, I wanted to use my passion (helping others) to make a positive impact and explore where my passion can be useful. That’s why when I found out about the volunteering opportunity at FORWARD, I did not hesitate to get involved. FORWARD strives for African women’s rights and I was so keen to amplify the voices and challenges African women encounter. Furthermore, I wanted to get involved in change-making and have a positive influence on people’s lives. This could be from raising awareness to writing letters to MPs. Lastly, I wanted to meet people who have similar mindset and want to make a difference in this world.

How I got involved in volunteering

It was 2019 when I found out about FOWARD. My mother has a friend who knew the manager of the organisation and the organisation was promoting their volunteering opportunity. I was so keen to apply.

I got involved by completing an application form. It was open to all African women living in England and Wales. Then, I completed a three-days training in Cardiff. After completing the training, I became a youth fellow in the organisation.

My Project

During my training programme, I was asked to work as a group to find solutions to some of the issues African women face. At the end of the training, I was asked to create a social project.

For my social project, I decided to make a Facebook Live exploring the issues Sudanese women face and discussing solutions with them as a group. In the Facebook Live, I got my mother and my little sister to discuss their opinions regarding women’s rights. The Facebook Live was very successful as I had over 5000 views.

The second part of my social project was to hold a discussion group with the Sudanese women and men. I booked a venue, and I invited all the Sudanese women in my local area to discuss the issues Sudanese women face and I asked them to work in groups to come up with solutions. Then, I went to London and conducted a discussion group with the Sudanese men and how men can support the women and influence policy makers in Sudan.

I highly recommend volunteering to everyone because you gain plenty of experience and skills.

Community Impact

Primarily, my volunteering has helped the audiences that I gave my talk to about Sudanese women’s right and most of them agreed with the points I spoke about. The feedback from the discussion group were all positive. Some stated they ‘can make a difference’ in their lives. Others said they felt ‘empowered’. Secondly, some of the audience from the focus group asked me to conduct another focus group because they enjoyed it and found it very beneficial.

How volunteering has helped with my career goals

During my training, I developed my confidence to engage with wider audience and the support that I received from the organisers made me believe in myself. In my chosen career as an Biomedical Science Lecturer, I will need the confidence to perform presentations and focus groups.

I also learned teamwork and communication skills through the group work and the discussions I did. This links strongly with my chosen career because I will have to work in a team to conduct experiments/produce a research paper.

Most importantly, I learnt time management skills because I had a deadline to complete the social project by. Time management skills is highly favourable in my chosen career as all the work has a specific deadline.

Finally, I built a strong network which is very essential if I want to progress further. Having a strong network is vital for references and to gain advice from experts. As I became a youth member at the organisation, I am in the process of launching my own international project in Sudan developing the rural area. The organisation’s manager is supporting me to finalise my proposal for funding.

How my experience with pro bono work has impacted my career journey

charlottecolvin | 17 March 202121 May 2021

Kashif Imambaccass, UWE Law Student, shares his experience of pro bono work at UWE

My interest in pro bono was initially piqued in my first year and I ended up joining in my second year, after using Blackboard to compare different pro bono opportunities and attending the Pro Bono talk. It was there I heard about African Prisons Project Pro bono group. I was immediately impressed by the work that they do and the impact that they have on the justice system in Africa. They teach inmates in African prisons how to access justice by assisting them in undertaking Law degrees remotely. I approached Kelly Eastham and Nakita Hedges, who were involved in the leadership of the group at the time, and asked if I could take a leadership role as I had had prior involvement in social activism in Mauritius. They agreed and at the start of 2019, I began having meetings with them on strategy and formed the three subgroups – fundraising, media and blogs and teaching. We also nominated leaders for each individual group and I was nominated to lead the teaching group.

Working with the group was amazing – our faculty contact Kathy Brown was the backbone of the organization and has motivated us to develop the organization further after handing over the group to us. We invited new members across the university to get involved and organized both a bake sale and a book collection for our students in Kenya.

In January of 2020, our group had grown significantly, with 70 new members. We had also started developing podcasts to support the learning of the inmates. We were also beginning to plan for the visit of Morris, one of APP’s graduates who had been wrongfully sentenced to life for aggravated armed robbery. We set up a visit at UWE on the 10th of February for him to give a talk, which ended up being so successful that we ran out of space in the lecture hall. Morris spoke about his fight for freedom and how he has freed over 300 inmates since.

His talk sparked a lot of interest and APP was invited to a dinner at Lincoln’s Inn in London, along with Morris. I was able to network with judges, barristers and solicitors who were intrigued by APP’s work. We also set up a fundraising event at a local pub a few weeks after, raising over £300.

And then Covid-19 hit. I had to leave the UK on the 16th of March. The borders were closing and the airports were insanely busy. Luckily, we were able to continue our work with APP and adapted our work to provide remote learning over Zoom. All of our current tutees passed with flying colours. With our fundraising money from March, we were able to make bail for four female minor offenders. We also received some sponsorship from the law firm, RPC, at this time.

Despite the barriers posed by working in different time zones and trying to navigate social activism in a new world, APP continued to thrive. In fact, we began to rebrand APP as EFJ – Educating for Justice, a completely independent non-profit. We broadened our offer as a group and began to work with inmates in more communities. We have been working with Justice Defenders and have established a subgroup at Oxford University. As chairperson of EFJ, I have been responsible for liaising with all of our affiliates, as well as assisting with launching our new initiatives, in particular our programme based in Mauritius working with juvenile offenders.

Overall, pro bono has opened so many doors for me. Through my work with EFJ, I have been able to secure a mini-pupillage with the Directors of Public Prosecutions Office under Mr Santokee. Through this role, I have been involved in research work, bundling and court prep and juggling EFJ, a pupillage and university feels like great preparation for a career as a barrister. I could not recommend pro bono work enough to any Law student looking to develop skills for a career in the legal industry.

For more about EFJ, go to https://educatingforjustice.org.uk/.

My Volunteering Journey into Public Health

Careers Team | 5 February 202021 May 2021

Whilst studying Biological Sciences at UWE Bristol, Emma Sheeran has used valuable volunteering experiences to shape her career goals

My experience with the Royal Voluntary Service as a Befriender has been invaluable, not only due to the friendship I have formed with my client Gwen, but also by developing my skill set and helping me to focus my goals towards a career centred around improving healthcare services.

I was drawn to working with the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) when I learnt about the history of the organisation, which was previously known as the Women’s Voluntary Service. They are committed to tackling social challenges by supporting hospitals and communities nationally.

How did your volunteering journey begin?

I initially supported as a Home from Hospital volunteer with Gwen, an elderly woman to support her re-adjustment to life following one month in hospital with Pneumonia. I then moved in to a Befriender role so I could continue visiting Gwen, as we had developed a strong bond. We have been seeing each other weekly ever since.

Gwen lacked confidence to go out alone on shopping trips, or to doctors appointments. My visits ensured she would leave the house at least once a week to get essentials, lift her mood, and exercise. Her health was a common obstacle to her independence, on one occasion I had to call an ambulance and remain with her in hospital for the day as she became suddenly unwell before making it to the shops.

Especially around the time of her poor health, my support gave her reassurance and encouragement to leave her home. Working with Gwen improved my communication skills, as well as emotional resilience as I learnt not to dwell on or take home concerns about Gwen from our visits.

My experience of the NHS with Gwen, like the consequences of their successes and failures in her particular case, inspired me greatly to commit to pursuing a career in public health.

Where did your volunteering experience take you next?

The RVS was the first organisation I had volunteered with in Bristol, so taking encouragement from the impact and enjoyment of my work with RVS, I began furthering my volunteer experiences.

I became a mentor for refugees and asylum seekers with Borderlands. I designed and conducted a study into student experiences accessing sexual health services with Healthwatch. And I wrote strategy plans for the African Health Organisation.

I had a long time ambition to learn Arabic to aid my career in global health; focusing on Middle Eastern regions. Last year I was accepted onto an Arabic course at Tel Aviv University. To fund the course fees and accommodation, I applied for, and was granted, the WRVS Benevolent Trust Youth Bursary. (Volunteering over 50 hours with the RVS meant Emma was eligible to apply for this fund towards her career development.)

This greatly contributed to further opportunities, including a successful application to a Global Health Summer School with IPPNW/Charité in Berlin: Health Between Ethics and Economisation.

What’s your next steps?

Both by building my skills for the future and experience within my own community through volunteering, my role as a Befriender and the Arabic course work as examples of my commitment to a career in improving health. This has now led to an opportunity extended to a position on the organising team of the next Global Health Summer School: Migration and Health 2019.