Volunteering with Project Turnover

This time last year we were in our first national lockdown, the whole of the world was forced to stay at home for the greater good. 

During this time I was thinking of how I could make my year as valuable as possible. I felt the community spirt during the lockdown was impactful and I really wanted to carry on helping the community in any way I could following the lifting of restrictions. Therefore when I was searching for a placement for my work placement module I was taking in my first semester, I wanted to spend my time working with an organisation which was giving back to the community in a valuable way.

One of the lead lecturers at St Marys University introduced me to Project Turnover. A local charity based in Feltham who work with vulnerable young people. Who due to varying circumstances, do not attend school or become entangled with the police.

The charity aims to deliver direction by either helping the young people return to school or into work. This is done by combining life skill training and playing rugby, the charity holds the key values of rugby at the centre of its courses. Such as: respect, team work and integrity and believes this helps the young people to succeed.

Work by the charity reflects that of a current news story regarding Marcus Rashford. His campaign during the second lockdown to end child food poverty, requesting the government to provide one meal a day to children in need. Similarly Project Turnover also aims to provide direction for the more vulnerable young people in the community to offer help and support. 

During my time with the charity I was able to make meaningful connections with the young people meaning they felt that they were able to open up to me and communicate more freely as they progressed through the course.

I was also able to set targets with the support of the staff to help progress my development specifically to my future goals. I ran sessions on a weekly basis. Such as team building sessions, which allowed the boys to relax and become more comfortable as a group as well as equipping me with leadership skills and adaptability as we allow the young people to direct sessions ensuring they maintain engaged, skills which can be invaluable in teaching.

The work of the charity is amazing and I have been lucky enough to be a part of the support network working directly with the young people at the charity. As well as seeing the positive work the charity does I also really enjoyed my time volunteering. So much so that I clocked a further 50 hours over the required hours for my placement and further more I still volunteer once a week out of my own time. As a result I was lucky enough to win the Work Placement and Internship Excellence award at the 2021 awards evening.

These achievements recognise skills I have developed while volunteering at the charity, which include: reliability, communication and time management. These skills will not only benefit me at university but also post graduate when I’m looking for a job, as employers love to see examples to provide evidence of skills which I can now provide confidently.

Furthermore the positive work of the charity helps prevent offending and helps improves the life opportunities of these vulnerable young people, giving them best opportunities to set them up for the future.