Lyn Swindlehurst

LAST Saturday I accompanied our Town Crier, Bill Lomas as he gave a cry to celebrate the children and young people in our community. One little girl and her brother about to embark on walking up Snowdon for the Ukraine appeal, another a young man selected to represent Scouting in South Korea, together with several beavers, cubs and scouts making a plea for volunteers.

There are so many organisations in Leek supported by volunteers for which we are extremely grateful.

I have volunteered in many organisations from school days onwards and found the experience valuable and rewarding not only for the individuals I worked with, but also as a learning and self development excessive for me too. As a lecturer whenever I spotted a potential University student was a volunteer this stood out.

The qualities of giving of yourself, freely to benefit others is a social one. Volunteers are people who want to bring about change, they want to make a difference in their community, they have a valuable positivity about them that affects those around them. Meeting people outside your usual family and friendship groups makes for a more rounded, broader, more inclusive individual who is excepting of differences and diversity of others.

Challenging yourself to try something different leads to a new found confidence that in turn builds a sense of achievement. Becoming a volunteer involves

learning new skills, a sense of self awareness and experience, and sometimes a qualification, valued and valuable in an individual’s progress through work and life. Into the mix, volunteers also have fun!

Saturday’s focus was on Scouting. Think about volunteering if you are over 18, even if it’s only a few hours a month. Helping to develop the experiences of children and young people is an investment in all of our futures. Give it a thought.

A Sherry Anderson quotes that hangs in the Foxlowe says it all. ‘Volunteers aren’t paid - not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.’