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The adventures of a new volunteer
Posted Thursday 21 July 2011
Since I was little, I’ve had a passion for psychology and a particular interest the field of mental health. Often, I felt I should do more than just attend lectures at university, particularly as I would love to be a psychologist in future; so this year I began volunteering with Mind.
I went along to the training sessions in Februrary. They were interesting and informative evenings with much debate and discussion among the group, and there was a great sense of support from the training team and from the new volunteers-in-training themselves. I left feeling excited for the challenge ahead and eager to begin.
After delays that were mostly the fault of my MSc schedule, a couple of weeks ago I set off for my first time volunteering at a Meeting Places session at the Herts Mind Network.
Driving there I was definitely nervous: was I going to be any good at this? Would it be too difficult to get talking to someone? How would people react to me once I told them I was studying mental health at university? Would anyone even want to talk to me for long enough for me to have the chance to have a conversation about university!? Would anyone talk to me at all?
I arrived before the start and was shown around the different rooms that would be open: music room, art room, a room with computers, a pool table, inside seating, outside garden area and of course, the kitchen. Impressed (and hoping I wouldn’t be called upon to demonstrate my negligible musical skills) I helped set up drinks and biscuits in the kitchen and settled in front of the Wimbledon coverage to wait.
I really needn’t have been nervous in the slightest. A steady trickle of people began to arrive, and it felt as though each was more than happy to be introduced to me, or have a quick chat about me being a new volunteer and introduce me to someone else who had come in. And thus began a very happy afternoon of meeting friendly people and talking about anything and everything, from Wimbledon to Christmas cracker jokes to Marc Bolan and T-Rex.
I had a wander through the music room and watched a banjo lesson, caught up on who had won various games of pool, made myself cups of tea and enjoyed sitting out in the sun and chatting with people.
The whole afternoon had a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and I felt so welcomed, despite everyone knowing each other already. I’m most definitely looking forward to going back again this weekend.
If you’re thinking of volunteering for Mind, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. You really won’t feel like the newbie for long.
Emma Cernis, @PsyBubble
4 Comments
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I'm in the last few weeks of my doctorate in clinical psychology. Volunteering for MIND was my very first experience of working with people with mental health issues. It led onto paid employment in the nhs, then psychology assistant posts and ultimately a funded training place. It's a good place to start if you fancy this kind of work and enables you to gain experience whilst still a student.
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I too volunteer with my local Mind (Hartlepool). I am also an ex-service user. I wanted to give something back to a service that gave me so much.
Along with one of the well being practitioners, we have recently set up a job club for service users. It has only been going for a couple of weeks, but already have about 25 people using it regularly. We have also been in contact with the JobCentre Plus and have created a rapport with them, they are going to work with us. We are in the early stages of giving JobCentre staff been given mental health awareness training. Staff will signpost potential clients to us, and we can accompany clients to JobCentre interviews etc.
As Emma said in her blog, I would recommend volunteering to everybody. I certainly hope to be doing it for a long time to come. -
Hi Emma,
sounds like th ings have changed since I went to a daycentre. It was great fun but there was also alot of aggravation, w hich made it a bit like a soap opera!
I'm pleased to hear that the jobcentre will be getting training. I didn't know that you would be signposting clients to them. I think most people will have to go there every 3 years for 6 interviews is what I gather. With only 5% of claimants being exempt. Althouth its not necessarily about getting you into work but just seeing if there is something you can do along that line to help you for the future.
thanks for listening
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I volunteer for Solent Mind as Time To Change Volunteer and going to events to take photos. I havent had a job for a few years because I've been unwell so volunteering is a big stepping stone towards employment. I've met some great people and I'm starting to get a little bit of confidence back. Thak you Solent Mind for giving me this opportunity!
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