Fresh insights from volunteering workshops

Published

07 June 2024

Four workshops exploring the opportunities and difficulties of volunteering were held at the University of East London (UEL) on 21 and 30 May 2024. The sessions brought together students, UEL staff and organisations that employ volunteers, with the emphasis on practical ways to address issues connected with volunteering.

The sessions were led by Senior Lecturer Dr Susannah Pickering-Saqqa from UEL’s Department of Social Sciences, with support from Volunteering Co-Ordinator Adrian Patsalos. Specially designed cards, devised by Dr Pickering-Saqqa, were used to help participants reflect on their experiences and provide feedback on the sessions themselves.

The cards form an integral part of Dr Pickering-Saqqa’s research into volunteering, but she noted that they are also useful both for volunteers and the organisations that use them. She said, “Volunteers are a vital resource for small charities, but they are often not equipped to understand and learn from the experiences they have while volunteering. The reflective practice cards we are developing will be a teaching resource for us at UEL as we prepare students before their work placements and discuss their experiences after. But they will also be offered as a resource to all our charity partners.”

Eleven students took part in the workshops, with nine partner organisations, including housing and educational charities, women’s organisations and a charity that supplies food to schools, also involved. They discussed ways to tackle volunteering challenges, such as motivation, training and how to fit volunteering into busy lives. A storytelling exercise was also employed to measure the impact of volunteering on both students and the partner organisations.

Those taking part in the workshops said they had gained a deeper understanding of volunteering and learned valuable lessons about handling potential conflicts and challenges. The students involved said they were even more motivated to make a positive impact through volunteering, having gained valuable knowledge and resources from the sessions. The partner organisations left knowing they had contributed to the development of the cards, a practical resource that Dr Pickering-Saqqa’s research team will share with them later in the summer.