
Last October I attended the Cookstown and Magherafelt Volunteer Recruitment Fair at Meadowbank Sports Arena, Magherafelt. I was attracted to a few volunteering opportunities, one was with Agewell and their Good Morning Project and the other was AdviceNI for their Internet Champion Project.
I started volunteering with Agewell in November on a weekly basis. It is a thoroughly worthwhile experience. We call each person on the database at a particular time slot and chat to them about how they are feeling, any plans for that particular day. Some people like to chat for a while, whilst others are happy for a quick hello and be on their way. They are all very grateful for the call, particularly as some are living in rural areas and can be quite isolated. There are some characters and there is always a wee story to be heard. I find it a very uplifting experience and I hope to continue volunteering at Agewell for the foreseeable future.
The Internet Champion role with AdviceNI commenced in January for 12 weeks at Meadowell Fold Magherafelt.
Myself and Sarah from AdviceNI worked together showing a small group of 10 people how to use an ipad. Starting from taking photos, to web browsing, setting up email addresses and Skype. The group were extremely receptive and really found it easy to navigate around the ipad functions and applications. A couple of the group even went out week 2 and bought their own ipads!!
I even learnt a few new things myself which was great. As part of this 12 week programme AdviceNI invited me onto their Age Awareness 2 day course which was really eye opening and I learnt a lot about this topic. I have now completed the workbook and I hope to gain the accreditation for this course.
I recently gained employment with Oasis Caring in Action - Antrim on their Youthways project and I firmly believe the experiences shared and gained through my volunteering helped in getting the job.
I am very grateful for the opportunities that Agewell and AdviceNI have provided me with.
I would recommend volunteering to everyone. Even if you don't have much spare time, sometimes you could fit in some wee thing that could benefit the wider community as well as your own personal development.
I started volunteering with Agewell in November on a weekly basis. It is a thoroughly worthwhile experience. We call each person on the database at a particular time slot and chat to them about how they are feeling, any plans for that particular day. Some people like to chat for a while, whilst others are happy for a quick hello and be on their way. They are all very grateful for the call, particularly as some are living in rural areas and can be quite isolated. There are some characters and there is always a wee story to be heard. I find it a very uplifting experience and I hope to continue volunteering at Agewell for the foreseeable future.
The Internet Champion role with AdviceNI commenced in January for 12 weeks at Meadowell Fold Magherafelt.
Myself and Sarah from AdviceNI worked together showing a small group of 10 people how to use an ipad. Starting from taking photos, to web browsing, setting up email addresses and Skype. The group were extremely receptive and really found it easy to navigate around the ipad functions and applications. A couple of the group even went out week 2 and bought their own ipads!!
I even learnt a few new things myself which was great. As part of this 12 week programme AdviceNI invited me onto their Age Awareness 2 day course which was really eye opening and I learnt a lot about this topic. I have now completed the workbook and I hope to gain the accreditation for this course.
I recently gained employment with Oasis Caring in Action - Antrim on their Youthways project and I firmly believe the experiences shared and gained through my volunteering helped in getting the job.
I am very grateful for the opportunities that Agewell and AdviceNI have provided me with.
I would recommend volunteering to everyone. Even if you don't have much spare time, sometimes you could fit in some wee thing that could benefit the wider community as well as your own personal development.