I started my volunteering journey with Ursuline Links in the summer of 2012 when I went to Wythenshawe, Manchester, to help run a week of Day Camps for children from less fortunate circumstances. Here we provided the children with a range of daily activities for them to enjoy in a social and positive environment. This included games, arts and crafts, singing and even a trip to the zoo. Over the course of the week, we got to know each child on a more personal level, each one with a different need. Yes, they saw us as responsible adults, and that we were, but they also saw us as their friends. The immense impact a little recognition and appreciate can have on a child is immeasurable and invaluable. At the end the week, whilst I was devastated to leave all the fond memories behind, I had never before felt so fulfilled as I felt that I had made a positive impact on so many lives.
“At the end of the week, whilst I was devastated to leave all the fond memories behind, I had never before felt so fulfilled as I felt that I had made a positive impact on so many lives.”
With Manchester being the catalyst in all this, I decided to volunteer with Ursuline Links in the subsequent summers. I helped out at various homeless shelters and food banks in London, and during 2016, another week of Day Camps in Thanet, Kent. Just as the children from Manchester and Kent, every homeless person has a different story and a different need. Hearing some of their tales made me realise how any one of us is just a few bad decisions from find ourselves in the same position. If that were to ever happen to me, I would want services as such as these food banks and homeless shelters to help me get my life back on track. We need more volunteers like the community at Ursuline Links to help keep these support services going!
“If that were to ever happen to me, I would want services as such as these food banks and homeless shelters to help me get my life back on track. We need more volunteers like the community at Ursuline Links to help keep these support services going!”
With me now having moved away from London, I have been a less active member of Ursuline Links. However, their mission to enhance the lives of the less fortunate is making a positive impact globally. This will not be possible without the funding by some very generous people and the help of some selfless volunteers. For anyone on the fence about volunteering with Ursuline Links, personally, the single weeks I gave up each summer to make a positive impact to my community is one of my most treasured memories to this day and I strongly recommend you give it a go.