Belinda Evans

Volunteering – what has it done for me?

Well, my entire youth work career started off with working voluntarily at a youth club in an estate in Wigan. A friend of mine was the full time worker in charge and she said, why don’t you come along – it’s a laugh – so I did – and it was. One of the first things that attracted me to youth work is that young people’s engagement is voluntary – if they do not like/respect/trust you then they just walk off and that felt so equal especially as I was in the middle of doing a teaching qualification where I sometimes felt constraints in what I was trying to achieve in the classroom.

Another real advantage was the training that was on offer. When I was a voluntary youth worker there was an awful lot of money around for training – much more than there is now. However, I think we are good in Haringey Youth Service as we will offer our volunteers the same training opportunities as paid staff – so you have a lot to gain.

The nicest thing that happened to me as a volunteer

Stopping a young person from being permanently excluded. I had a really strong relationship with a young woman who expressed her anger a lot in school – and I was able to advocate on her behalf. That gave me a real thrill and so I successfully applied for a part time post and then gained a full time post and the rest, as they say, is history.

Belinda Evans