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Volunteer stories
  • Leanne Donaghy

    My name is Leanne Donaghy and I am 24 years old. I got involved in volunteering when I turned 16 in February 2002. My first volunteer role was in Save The Children charity shop in Bangor. I volunteered there for six years in total. Throughout my time there I gained a lot of experience. (read more)

  • Joanna's Story

    Joanna Jones, 32 from Lisburn has been a volunteer with Guide Dogs for over four years ever since she completed a tandem sky dive for the charity and wanted to get more involved. (read more )

  • I would recommend volunteering to anybody!

    When I first started volunteering with CVNI I had no interest in conservation work, I didn't even want to get my hands dirty, but that all changed. I have gained qualifications I didn't think I would get and I have never looked back and I would recommend volunteering to anybody. (read more )

  • The Wonderful World of Volunteering

    I read an ad in the newspaper and it intrigued me. Little did I know just what I was entering into.... the wonderful world of volunteering.... a year that was going to give me direction, confidence, where I would meet lots of amazing people and best of all, have plenty of fun and laughter along the way (read more)

  • Make New Friends Whilst Helping a Worthwhile Cause

    Mount Stewart House is a National Trust property near Newtownards. The National Trust relies on the support of volunteers to maintain some of their best-loved sites and buildings as well as some of their 'hidden gems' (read more )

  • Rachael Sewell

    Rachael Sewell, 21, from Belfast has been a volunteer with Mencap's Shout Out Self-Advocacy Group for the past four years. Shout Out is about young people having the right to shout out and develop their self-advocacy skills and take part in consultations, campaigns and workshops. (read more)

  • Cathy Gallagher

    I was brought up in a 'volunteering' family where my mum, dad and other relatives were all heavily involved in our local club. That was probably my 'grounding' in volunteerism. (read more)

  • Catch the Volunteering Bug!

    Before I went away I never really did any volunteering at all, I always thought that there were other people out there who could do it. But I have now learnt that it is everyone's responsibility to get involved in some way. (read more)

  • Overseas Volunteer Finds Magic Volunteering

    It's in Northern Ireland where I have felt most at home and where I've experienced like nowhere else an overwhelming understanding that we are in fact able to change things if we all work together with one goal in mind: helping others. (read more)

  • Millennium Volunteer Gains Career Insight

    Rachel Moore is a student at Lumen Christi College and has been volunteering at Altnagelvin Hospital since October, as part of the Millennium Volunteers programme, which recognises sustained commitment to volunteering. (read more)

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Joanna's Story

Joanna and Orla

Joanna Jones, 32 from Lisburn has been a volunteer with Guide Dogs for over four years ever since she completed a tandem sky dive for the charity and wanted to get more involved.

Joanna said, "I was the organiser of the largest fundraising branch in Northern Ireland, which was also the second most successful branch in the UK last year. I booked collection days and coordinated volunteers to attend them. I gave talks to schools and clubs and coordinated speakers for other talks in the province. I helped organise sponsored events such as a Blind Drive, sponsored walk etc. The local calendar featuring local Guide Dogs was my idea and I organised the locations, dogs and publicity for it. I attended collection days and sold merchandise at agricultural shows, I sold Christmas cards in hospitals and did pretty much anything to raise the profile of the charity. Guide Dogs is funded totally on voluntary donations, and the difference a Guide Dog has made to me is priceless! I volunteer every day and at one point was putting in 60 to 70 hours a week!

I enjoy the fact that no two weeks are the same and I get to meet and talk to lots of people. The highlight of my volunteering to date has been raising around £57,500 last year, as well as seeing new branches take on their own events and become more confident in their own abilities.

I would advise anyone thinking of volunteering to come along to an event and see what we do, there are many different things you could do to help us, it's not all out there on the front line, there are many roles behind the scenes if you are a bit shy!"

For more information on volunteering with Guide Dogs contact Lindsay on 0845 371 7771.

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