I’m so glad I volunteered…..

My name is Grace Scivyer, I am 15 and I live in Hertfordshire. I trained during May 2007 to become a Youth Advocate, and also volunteered to help The Children’s Trust Partnership organise a music festival called 3Style. Quite a few of us were involved in arranging the event – choosing bands and helping design posters and graphics to advertise the festival. This event was very important to us as it was the first festival for young people that had been organised by young people.

On the day of the festival, I was involved in getting young people to fill out a questionnaire about things like being healthy and staying safe. My favourite job was going round to the dressing rooms and getting band members to sign one of the crew t-shirts.

The best thing about the day was that there were so many different young people there but everyone got on so well. Young people tend to be passionate about their type of music and it can create barriers between them because of the way they dress, but our event was designed to bring these different types of young people together.

Being a Youth Advocate has given me so many opportunities, and has shown me that I can actually do something constructive and have good ideas. Connexions, who lead on this work for the Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership, have helped me a lot with my confidence. It used to be hard to speak up, but now I don’t mind - I even went to a radio station before the festival to advertise it on air – I was scared to death, but when I got there and started talking it was fine and I was really grateful to have been given such a great opportunity.

Contact Wendy Bristow, Connexions Hertfordshire on 01992 531971 for further information.

I began volunteering in 2005 by running for young mayor in my borough, because I wanted change for young people in my borough and increase safety awareness. I wasn’t successful but I was determined not to give up.

Since running for young mayor I have become chairperson of The Young Advisors which is the Young Mayor’s Council and The Young Commissioners which is the group in charge of the Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds. I have also represented young people in various conferences such as the NYA Youth Summit. I enjoy encouraging people to volunteer, as well as attending conferences and helping young people’s views to be heard because after all we are the future.

The hardest thing I ever had to do was stand in front of an audience for the first time, it becomes second nature to you after awhile, but the trick is to have mental notes and remember adults are more scared of young people, obviously because we’re all great.

During my progression throughout volunteering I have received a lot of help from my local volunteering organisation Youth A.I.D who have helped me progress on to larger volunteering opportunities, and Lewisham Youth Service who has helped the council come up with such great young people initiatives.

I believe without volunteering, I wouldn’t have such a positive perception of this world as volunteering has helped me overcome many issues which I blamed the world for, but now I’m here to voice the needs of young people and make all our communities listen to every young person not just hear us.

For more information, contact Youth A.I.D. at 17 Brownhill Road, Catford, SE6 2HG
Tel: 020 8697 2152

Jenny Commin, aged 22 from Lewes, East Sussex

I volunteered full time for four months, with the British Youth Council (BYC) in London. My volunteering was funded by the ‘v’ charity and accredited by UK Youth Achievement Awards at Gold Level. I found out about the opportunity through the www.w4pm.org site – which lists job and volunteering opportunities in the politics, charity and public affairs sectors. Having graduated from University in July 2006, I wanted to do something that would ‘make a difference’.

During my time at BYC I worked in a press and policy role, writing press releases, briefings, articles and reports. I gave interviews and coordinated interviews with BYC’s team of young media spokespeople to get young people’s voices heard in the media. On the policy side I conducted research and wrote responses to government policy saying how their proposed laws and policies would affect young people. I got to meet with politicians to discuss issues of importance to young people such as voting rights at 16 and the national minimum wage. I felt privileged to be in such a position, where I could speak to people such as MPs, who could make an active difference in changing government policy to improve outcomes for all young people.

I worked with other BYC staff and volunteers to run a campaign to ‘stop homophobia in Poland’. We designed publicity, secured press coverage, arranged demonstrations and a petition, lobbied MPs and MEPs, and worked in partnership with other interested organizations. It was so rewarding to hear from and meet with people for whom this campaign was a sign of hope and solidarity. We also campaigned for free HIV Aids treatment funding from the G8.

My time as a volunteer at BYC provided me with such valuable experiences. I developed my skills and sector knowledge base, which has allowed me to now get a full time job as a Press and Parliamentary Assistant for a big educational charity. I made wonderful friends through my volunteering experience and I learnt so much from the other young people I came into contact with.

I know that my volunteering will make a positive difference to the lives of many young people. I relish the fact that I had the opportunity to work for causes I cared about, giving people who would otherwise feel marginalised and disengaged a voice. I am so grateful that my experiences have enabled me to now make a career in a field I care about, so I can continue to do work that matters to me, and that will have continuing positive implications within society.

For more information on the British Youth Council, see www.byc.org.uk

When people hear the word referee, it usually conjures up images of a man in black on a football field holding up a red card. So when I tell people that I am a swimming referee they are often a bit confused. I have been volunteering as a swimming official since I was sixteen, when I qualified as a timekeeper, and have continued to officiate at various swimming events ever since. There are several officiating qualifications to take, as there are many different roles for officials in swimming, starting with timekeeping, then judging, starting and refereeing. Each involves a written exam on the laws of the sport and practical experience, and assessment, of how those laws relate to actual races. The practical experience is vital, not only to give you confidence in what you are doing, but you also meet people with whom you will be working in your local area. I have met lots of interesting people, from a wide variety of backgrounds, through swimming and that is one of the main reasons I have been officiating for so long.

I qualified as a referee when I was twenty-one and have enjoyed officiating at many different events since then. The most recent was the UK School Games, an event for elite athletes of school age, which was set-up to imitate the atmosphere of a major multi-sport event such as the Olympics. The atmosphere at the Games was incredible, with many international athletes acting as mentors to the young people, presenting awards and offering encouragement. It was a thrill to be involved and work with a great team of officials to ensure that the swimming event ran as smoothly and fairly as possible.

To find out more about the UK School Games, see http://www.ukschoolgames.com/index.php

I first got involved in volunteering through Southend Youth Council, which meets once a month to discuss issues affecting young people in the area. Whilst working as a member of the youth council I organized lots of events such as a quiz night to raise awareness for Millennium Volunteers and the Youth Council. This involved writing to local companies asking for donation of prizes, which included gift vouchers, Southend Utd tickets, a digital camera and even a cuddly toy! I also orgainsed a charity car wash in aid of a local hospice and arranged for 25 volunteers to come along and help. The group raised £224.50 for Little Havens hospice. Arranging these events meant using my organizational and communication skills to a high standard.

I continued my voluntary work by helping in the Southend MV office where I put forward my opinions and help the team make decisions on what other young people would like to get involved in.

As a result of my work with the Youth Council I have managed to get a part time paid position working for Southend Youth and Connexions Centre, attending Youth Council meetings and helping recruit new members.

Southend MVs made me an MV Ambassador as I am dedicated to the work and help recruit new MVs. If I have free time the MV team invites me along to recruitment fairs where I encourage and chat to other young people.

I have now received certificates for 100, 200 and 500 hours of volunteering and am still continuing.

For further information on MVs contact Southend Association of Voluntary Services (SAVS) on 01702 356063 or go to www.mv4cv.org.uk.

RJ Collins, aged 17, tells youth action magazine how and why he got involved …

‘ I’ve been a keen skater for over nine years and have tried in the past to get a skate park built as a place for young people from the local area to meet up and practice our skills. Unfortunately nothing happened first time around so when I heard about plans to improve Darton Park about 18 months ago I thought I’d go for it and decided to get involved in the whole project.

Back at the beginning I went along to a series of consultation events organised by Barnsley Youth Service. I enjoyed the experience cause it gave me a chance to help out and try out new stuff. Most of the young people attending agreed that there was not enough to do in the village of Darton and, from this, we formed the ‘Parklife’ group, set up to look at ways Darton Park could be improved. The group met regularly and organised events in the park including a trial skate park which was a huge success. We then began our campaign for a permanent skate park and had a great time visiting other skate parks and making a DVD on our work to support a grant application to the council’s ‘Green Spaces’ fund. We were all really pleased when we heard the grant was successful and we were allocated £93,000 for a permanent skate park to be built. The group then got to work clearing the site and removing graffiti from the walls. Soon after, I also helped put together an application to Barnsley’s Youth Capital Fund which allocated us a further £15,000 towards lighting in the park. Building work is now well under way and the skate park is due to open toward the end of October.

I think the skate park will be a really important development for young people around this area – not just skaters and BMX riders but a place for everyone to hang out. The sense of achievement has been really great and I think involving young people from the start has made it more successful because we know what will make it work best. We were also nominated for and won the Barnsley Community S75 Award for our work. Seeing how our efforts have led to such major changes is really satisfying and I’m sure it will motivate me to take more action to improve things for young people in the area in the future’.

Contact Phil Lane, Barnsley Youth Service on 01226 771818 or visit www.youthworkideas.com for further information on the skate park. Further details on how to apply for Youth Funds in Barnsley can be found at http://www.bypv.com.

JUST one year ago Liam Rayner was at war with the world - and wouldn't have been a likely candidate for this celebratory edition.

The teenage tearaway was at loggerheads with his parents, out of school and unwilling to listen to anyone who offered him help.

But in just one year he has tried to turn his life around. He is now a committed volunteer and has embarked on a new course.

Reflecting on his past the 17-year-old former Claydon High School pupil said: “I was living at home in Sproughton and I wasn't too great in school. I was getting into trouble a lot. It got to the point that they could have expelled me.

“I thought I knew exactly what was right for me and wouldn't listen to anyone else so I ended up dropping out.

“My relationship with my parents broke down too so I moved out and sofa-surfed for a bit.

“I went to work in a farm for a bit but I was lazy.”

Then Liam went to live at the Foyer in Ipswich, a charitable organisation which helps youngsters into independence and gives them a place to stay. The experience of having to fend for himself shocked him, and made him determined to get his life back on track.

He started volunteering with fellow young people as part of the Millennium Volunteers and is in the process of producing a music CD.

He is now studying agriculture at Otley College and is hoping to go into farming eventually.

And Liam is convinced he has changed for the better, and for good. He added: “I've changed my life - it's put everything into perspective.

“I realised I took everything my parents did for granted and it must have been hard for them to deal with me. It has made me a better person.”

For more information about volunteering visit www.wearev.com.