Volunteering has enhanced my skills

Ciara Buckley, Physical Education BA(Hons) student, volunteered for Active Student’s ‘Out of Hours’ programme to teach local school children how to swim and dance. Here she tells us how she has benefited from volunteering.

“My volunteering experience at the University of Brighton has not only boosted my CV for future employment and a place on a post-graduate course, but has also enhanced my ability to communicate and lead. Volunteering allows you to work with a variety of people which develops your social ability to speak to people confidently through building new relationships, something that I knew I needed to work on if I wanted to go into teaching.

“Volunteering also gives you an internal challenge where you can set your own goals to achieve and get what you want out of it. You’re able to do this through helping other people. By giving up your own time to help others, it means that other people will generally have a valuable and positive affect from you and your help, which subsequently is very rewarding. By helping other people, you develop a sense of pride and achievement which essentially helps to boost your confidence and self-esteem.

“Not only are you helping other people, volunteering can also be a good time to take a step back from any work and stress that may be looming in the back of your head and take a break from it. The skills you develop through volunteering are transferable throughout life into everyday situations and it’s important that you have them.

“I would highly recommend getting involved in any volunteering, especially through the University of Brighton. The extensive list of opportunities that you are able to seek really are something you cannot miss out on to better yourself as a person, through helping other people.”

Find out more about the university’s volunteering service Active Student.