Why Volunteer?
Who Volunteers?
Volunteers come from all walks of life, representing all ages and demographics. The photos you see on this site are all of real people engaged in real volunteering activities. People volunteer for many different reasons and offer or develop vastly different types of skills and services. Go to the 'Have you thought of this' page to get lots of ideas about the sort of volunteering you could be interested in doing.
What are the benefits of Volunteering?
Volunteering is a two-way exchange of skills and experiences. By volunteering you are helping an organisation do something that they wouldn't have otherwise been able to do. In return you can gain a whole host of things. Try it!
Why do people Volunteer?
- Gain new skills
- Build confidence, self esteem and give structure to life
- Try out a new area of work
- Build contacts to help find paid employment
- Get a reference
- Meet new people
- Help people
- Experience different cultures
- To learn, grow and change
- Have fun!
Quotes from volunteers
The following quotes were all given by volunteers to Volunteer Centres Devon staff in response to an evaluation of the Volunteer Centres and their experiences of volunteering in general.
- "Volunteering is one of the most rewarding and satisfying things I have ever done and above all great fun!"
- "I feel like I am giving something back to the community."
- "This is a very useful source of information regarding opportunities for volunteering with empathetic and helpful staff."
- "A very well organised and easy route to volunteering."
- "It was very quick and easy to use the Centre with no hassle and they found me a position that I really enjoy with which I'm gaining a lot of experience."
- "Volunteering has been very important to me at this time as I could not cope with the pressures of a paid job."