Volunteer of the Month - June

Rand has won June’s Volunteer of the Month. Rand ran the highly successful Cashpoint  project Artful Children to provide a creative time for Syrian refugee children. She was nominated by her cashpoint coordinator Jenna.

Here’s what Jenna had to say about Rand:

The art sessions that Rand delivered had 15 young people attending. These children benefited from being involved, as they were able to learn new artistic skills and express themselves in a creative and supportive space. It had a positive impact on the community as it gave the refugees something positive to celebrate and enjoy.

How does it feel to be our Volunteer of the Month winner?

I was very surprised when I found out but also very happy. However, it wasn’t just my efforts that made our project successful but also all the hard work of the volunteers that supported me, my sister and of course vInspired and my coordinator.  

Tell me about your volunteering?

I have been involved in lots of different types of volunteering in the past 10 years with different organisations. The project I did with vInspired was called Artful Children and it was designed for Syrian refugee children in Manchester to last for a period of 6 weeks.

The project was art therapy for the children since many of them experienced very traumatising situations due to the Syrian conflict. The course also aimed to enable them to learn some new skills, express themselves through art, meet other children like themselves and have fun in a friendly, comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. 

That sounds like a fantastic project! What’s been your most surprising or memorable volunteering moment to date?

My most memorable volunteering to date is probably the volunteering I did with Join In and ITV for the Brazil 2014 World Cup when a sand football pitch was set up with screens so the public could watch the games live from Manchester. It was quite a unique experience and I had never been involved with anything like it before. 

 Have you had any awkward volunteering moments? How did you cope?

When I was volunteering as Olympic Ambassador in 2012, I gave a group of tourists the wrong directions to the football stadium. A few minutes later I realised it was wrong and ran after them before they got on the bus!

 Nice save! What skills have you gained through volunteering?

My team working skills have developed as well as my communication skills, organisation, time management and I have made many great friends on the way.

 Is your volunteering part of a wider goal or aspiration? (i.e. to break into a particular type of work or raise awareness for an issue or campaign)

I like volunteering because of the way it makes me feel. It makes me feel helpful and happy and I get to take part in a range of fun activities too. I would also definitely now consider working in the charity sector in the future because the work is so rewarding.

What would you be doing if you weren’t volunteering (i.e. overdosing on Netflix)?

I’m not quite sure! Most likely something that isn’t as useful as volunteering.

And finally, what would you like to say to the person who nominated you?

I would really like to thank Jenna for nominating me; she has been an awesome coordinator and was extremely nice and supportive. She really deserves recognition too! I’m so glad she was my coordinator and I wish her the best!