Jen’s Volunteering Story

Jen, one of our student volunteers, explains why she wanted to volunteer with Aberlour and what she loves the most.

“My name is Jen, I’m 29 and I have been volunteering with Aberlour Children’s Charity since around May 2019.”

“I wanted to get involved in volunteering since starting at University. I study Psychology as my main degree subject and through learning about social and brain development in children I knew I had to try and see it first-hand. What I found out was essentially children are strange, and I love it! They ask the questions adults are too embarrassed to ask and they think very differently, which always makes for an interesting evening at the youth club.”

“The experience can be nerve racking, like anything when you do it for the first time, but the amount of training you receive is in abundance, and very much useful (which I couldn’t be more grateful for). I enjoy working as a youth club volunteer as it allows me (not only to play, like most adults want too) but to help guide and encourage young people towards new and exciting experiences in life that they might not otherwise be exposed to.”

“During my time at the club so-far we have spent a lot of hours doing crafts and making things (fun for everyone involved I’d say), which is great, but I do like being able to ask the young people what they would enjoy doing and seeing if I could manage to make that happen. They are very interested in making slime (they never miss an opportunity to tell me), so I have tried to work along the lines of what they already enjoy doing but expanding it slightly. It can be a lot of fun just simply talking with them, as seeing the world through a child’s eyes can be eye opening for an adult.”

“Although I like children, I never expected to have as much fun and enjoy this experience as much as I do, I genuinely look forward to the youth club every Monday evening.”

“If you have never worked with children before or have and want extra experience Aberlour is the perfect place to gain that. My advice to anyone wanting to volunteer would be to take all the training on offer, not only do they give you the necessary training for your role but offer extra training as well, which I imagine would cost a lot other-wise. Also do not be put off by the difficulty that working with children can bring. You get so much support through the charity for yourself personally that it makes the experience an extremely worth while one, and this experience is one of the most rewarding I’ve ever had.”

Could you change a life and become an Aberlour volunteer? We have roles available across Scotland.