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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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Overseas Volunteer Finds Magic Volunteering

Hanging in the air like the scent of blooming roses at Botanic Gardens, swirls an unflinching spirit that heralds the change we've been longing for. A change that the citizens of Belfast have made possible by pushing aside their own needs to concentrate on those of others less fortunate. A change that drags crowds from all over the world for bigger causes than themselves without a second thought, no matter if that may mean taking part in a leg breaking marathon or dressing up as a Meteor dancer for the city carnival. Any opportunity is as good as any other to go the distance and try to make a difference.

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. Throughout the city there are various groups and events that welcome anyone who will be willing to lend a helping hand and that even if you attend as a tourist will delight you and enhance your travelling or living abroad experience to a more meaningful level. From festivals to music at the parks, there are so many things going on that you'll find it difficult not to get involved one way or another and would be glad to do so because you'll never guess how much you get in return when you put something in.

Volunteering not only gives you the chance to make the community you live in a better place but allows you to draw a curtain to a side of Northern Ireland that I never dreamed of while packing my suitcases, for example the amount of people that I've met since I began volunteering at Action! magazine for VSB. It was by chatting to these locals that I learnt the most interesting facts about the city and not by what travel guides or brochures tried to sell me. You also get to experience another side of a country when you get involved in their traditions, like when my friends volunteered for the Belfast City Carnival. Watching them parading along the streets, plastering smiles on strangers' faces and making the world spin at a merrier rhythm for a brief yet intense period of time will forever be one of the highlights of this life changing trip. I can be almost certain that it won't be only my favourite highlight but also a favourite of those who were touched by my friends. That's part of the magic that comes with volunteering, it makes you exist in other peoples' lives forever and while you remember that moment with a smile on your face you can be sure of one thing: so will they.

Ariane Apodaca, 24

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