The value of volunteering

10/12/2009

Stuart West is awarded his certificate by Chris Mente after clocking up an impressive fifty hours of voluntary work!

Media student Stuart West has been presented with the v50 award by Youth Volunteer Adviser, Chris Mente of Outset Youth Action, after clocking up an impressive 50 hours of voluntary work for Oxfam.

Stuart went to an Outset Youth Action session held in the Crawley Library in June because he was looking for some part-time or voluntary work over the summer break. He sat down with Chris and following a discussion about what he was interested in they decided working for Oxfam would be suitable for him.

During the summer he worked on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and has continued work in his spare time at the Oxfam shop in Crawley during term-time. Stuart currently works as part of a team of over 20 other volunteers including a few other students from the College, and is involved in all aspects of running the shop including customer service, till work, pricing, stacking shelves and sorting donated goods.
Stuart clearly enjoys his volunteer work, although he was initially hesitant about the placement. He says "I wasn't sure I would enjoy working at Oxfam when Chris first told me about it, but I'm so pleased I decided to go ahead with it! It's great to receive a v50 certificate for my voluntary work - I'll definitely add it to my CV, and I'm going to carry on working at the shop for as long as I can."

Youth Volunteer Adviser, Chris was at the College on Thursday 3 December, as part of the Diversity Week activities at the Crawley campus. The group launched their 'Festive Favours' campaign, which encourages young people aged between 13-25 to donate a 'Time Token' through the organisation, as a free gift to members of the community. They were also raising awareness of the opportunities for voluntary work locally.

After presenting Stuart with his certificate, Chris said "Stuart approached me at a Library event we attended in the summer because he was interested in getting some work experience under his belt. I chatted to him about the opportunities available and we agreed volunteering for Oxfam would be just right for him."