This week (1-7th June) is Volunteer’s Week! A time to celebrate the contribution so many people make through volunteering. To kick off the week, the Employment and Recovery Services spoke to Ruby, a colleague who joined us and made a huge impact through volunteering.

Hi Ruby, introduce yourself!

“My name’s Ruby, and I am a Loneliness Vocational support worker on the Lets Talk Service.”

 Tell me about your journey with Let’s Talk

 “I started off in the Let’s Talk team as a volunteer late last year. I had just finished my degree in Psychology, and had completed my dissertation around loneliness during the Covid-19 Pandemic. It opened my eyes to the amount of people experiencing loneliness, of all ages, and the impact it was having on existing mental health problems and some individuals were experiencing poor mental health for the first time. I saw the job role for ‘Loneliness Vocational Specialist’ advertised and emailed in to see if there was any voluntary roles available within the team, as I wanted to try and help with tackling this loneliness epidemic.”

What did you enjoy most about volunteering?

“I really loved getting to know the team, they were so welcoming and made me feel like I had always been there. They supported me such a lot in showing me not just what our team does, but linking in with other internal teams including Individual Placement Support, to gain insight into what they do within their job roles. They also supported me in my development by helping me to complete many different types of training, including walk leader training, which allowed me to lead on the walk and talk groups we host for clients as a volunteer.”

What would you tell someone who is thinking of volunteering?

“Go for it!! It gives you such great experience and gives you an insight into what you would be doing if you wanted a job within that area. From my volunteering, I feel I gained a lot of confidence and learnt such a lot about the service, and have now gone on to be employed within the service.”

And finally, what are some of the benefits of volunteering?

“Volunteering is such a great way to get a taster of the role, and gain the knowledge, training and experience you can take on to future employment.”

“I would just to take this opportunity to thank everyone on the Employment Services for making me feel so welcome during my volunteering, and for their continued support during my employment.”

 It was great to hear from Ruby, our Loneliness Vocational support worker on the Let’s Talk team. If you want to know more about volunteer’s week, visit the website.