I'm a volunteer

Charlotte uses her spare time to work with disabled children. She tells us what this means to her...

Disability is part of the world we live in, and we can either work to make these people's lives more enjoyable, or try to ignore their existence. I chose to make their lives more enjoyable, this is how I did it...

After an inspiring talk from WWV at my school, I got in touch with our local voluntary service, and filled out an application form. Later on, I found out through a friend about a play scheme for disabled children.

If I'm honest at the beginning this didn't appeal to me too much. I knew little about children with disabilities, and was worried about how they would react to me, and I to them.

It was fear of the unknown, and it was taking me out of my comfort zone. I decided to speak to the voluntary service, and they arranged for a CRB check, things were moving faster than I expected, so I decided to just try something new, and see where it took me.

“They uncovered the child within me”

Expectations reverted

A few weeks later and I was on my way to the school during the summer holidays, ready for my first day volunteering. Everybody there was really helpful, and it was great to be part of such an enthusiastic team.

We were each asked to pick a child to work with one-to-one. They recommended I picked one of the less challenging children, and so I chose a little six year old with Cerebral Palsy.

I was expecting a little girl who was quiet and subdued, I knew she was blind and wheelchair bound, and thought she would have little to smile about.
When the young girl arrived she had the biggest smile across her face, she kissed her mum goodbye, and giggled to herself as I pushed her wheelchair outside for her to enjoy the warm summers day.

I gained so much

I soon learnt the things she loved, and was able to make her smile. She was far from my expectations.

Another girl loved to play hide and seek, quite a difficult game for two people, but nothing is impossible.

I used my imagination amd pushed her chair to a tucked away hiding place, then pretended I was unable to find her, watching as she laughed loudly. These disabled children, although not physically able get up and run around, were able to smile, and make me smile. They uncovered the child within me, which has been hidden behind text books, and burdened by rules.

I started volunteering expecting to get some extra sentences for my personal statement. I can't tell you how it ended, because my volunteering experience is far from over. And thanks to WWV, I can choose to help people from all over the world.

Get involved

I would recommend anyone reading this, that you too can make a huge difference, and it can be really enjoyable to volunteer, you meet new people and learn new things.

I hope this story can show you volunteering does not have to be boring and tiresome; there are so many opportunities that there is something to suit everyone!

Volunteering can even take you abroad, and with lots of financial aid available money shouldn't limit you.

Remember when it comes to volunteering it's not how much time you have to give, it's what you do in that time.