Here at Primeserve, we love to volunteer to help local community projects and charities, it is part of our Giving Back philosophy. We encourage our Team members to engage in their local community and to offer their skills to projects that rely on goodwill and volunteers to make a difference to other people’s lives. So we were interested to learn that the benefits to our Team members of becoming a volunteer will help them to become happier and healthier as individuals, not to mention the fun and laughs that we always have along the way.

The benefits of volunteering are:

Making new friends and becoming part of our local community

We have met some really lovely folk during our community projects work and some have become friends. Often we don’t know the people that we live alongside unless we have an opportunity to come together at community events. Making firendships is good for us all, but particularly for people that live alone, have been bereaved or are new to an area. It stops us feeling isolated and lonely. There are times in all of our lives when, due to life events, we can feel a bit lost and unconnected to others, and volunteering can get us out of the house and give us a sense of purpose and direction.

Learn New Skills

There are so many opportunities to broaden your skills when you volunteer, as charities and community groups are all so varied. So maybe you could extend your knowledge of animals by helping out at a pet rescue centre, or learn about history and conservation by giving some time to a National Trust property. Belvoir Castle in Lincolnshire for example regularly needs volunteers to help with the Spring Clean that they give the Castle every winter when closed to visitors. Caring for old historic buildings requires great care and special techniques. It would be unlikely that you would ever have the opportunity to work on such beautiful places without being a volunteer. You may decide to pursue new hobbies and interests as a result of this experience. For young people particularly it is a way of building a CV and demonstrating to future employers your new found skills and concern for the wellbeing of others.

 Achieving a work life balance

We often hear talk of the work-life balance, and at some point we all feel too wrapped up in the daily grind, and too busy to pursue hobbies, but is that good for us? Research suggests that having a hobby or spending time away from work is vital to our wellbeing. We all need time to relax and switch off and when you are volunteering, you are usually so immersed in the task in hand, that you really do get a break from your everyday stresses. It can give us that sense of escape from normality that re energises us.

 Gain confidence

Learning new skills and meeting new people gives us a confidence boost, which for many people can be an important step in starting or furthering our career. If you have been out of the workplace for a period of time, it is an easy way to brush up
on skills that may be a bit rusty or where working practises have moved on with technology. Many women who take a career break to have a family say that they have lost their confidence and this impacts on their ability to find work at an appropriate level. Also if someone has been unemployed for a while, they may be feeling rejected and may also suffer with a lack of confidence. A stint at volunteering can give them the positive self esteem they need to get back into work.

So with all the benefits that come from giving up a little of our spare time, can any of us afford to miss the opportunities that volunteering can bring to ourselves and our businesses?

For more information and volunteering opportunities see Do-it.org