It’s really easy to get stuck with deadlines, or how many things you need to do as a student but don’t underestimate just how therapeutic being in another environment is, especially one that is run at a much slower pace compared to university. It really allows you to take a step back and relax.”
Carol Thomas, Biomedical Sciences Undergraduate and LinkAges volunteer
Volunteering has the power to make real change occur, but not just for the communities we support. For Loneliness Awareness Week we are sharing how volunteering with LinkAges was a transformational experience for Carol Thomas, a University of Bristol Biomedical Sciences undergraduate.
Carol volunteered for our LinkAges Tech & Talk programme. Every Friday, she would meet with the other volunteers at Westbury Fields Retirement Village and help some of the residents with any technical problems they had, including email management, online booking, editing word documents, downloading apps and more!
Getting to know people that are completely different from me was such a refreshing change from university. I built relationships with some of the residents and developed interpersonal skills communicating with people from different sets of age groups. These sessions greatly developed my confidence and ability to help people. It was a really good experience, I’m really glad I got to take part in helping the residents and to make their lives easier.”
What skills did it offer her?
Carol felt that her volunteering offered her more than just giving back to the community, for her it meant developing skills to talk to new people:
When I first started, I was completely lost! I was meeting people from a completely different age group as well as not from my culture. Getting to know them also meant understanding their culture and how different their lives are from how it would be in my culture. It was really interesting and nice to get to know more about their lives. However, reaching that stage was really intimidating for me because I didn’t know what to expect, I had never interacted with these people before. I am glad I succeeded! These interactions ended up being very insightful and I very much enjoyed it.”
Not only did she feel that sharing was a valued experience, but it also supported her to reflect on other aspects of our life:
Volunteering was actually really, really new for me. In my first year, I was extremely introverted: I didn’t have a lot of friends and never put myself in social situations. This came from the anxiety of moving to a completely new environment. At the beginning of my 2nd year, I knew I wanted to get involved with something…I felt drawn to the Tech and Talk placement because I wanted to have something hands-on to do with the senior residents. I was also pretty skilled at tech, especially to help older people as I had experience helping my grandma in the same area.
So I went for the first time and really enjoyed it! You do something as simple as responding to an email and everyone is amazed and asking ‘how do you do that?!’. It’s a fun environment and I really liked that for once I was teaching something useful to others. I never would have thought I’d be interested in taking the initiative to apply to an opportunity like this but I was pleasantly surprised with how well this whole experience turned out to be…
…by joining Bristol Hub and meeting other people, it has really improved my confidence to another level. When I realised I can talk to older people, I know I can also talk to other age groups, it’s really not that hard…It’s made me more open to talking to different people, exploring different opportunities!”
How did it impact her university experience?
University can be overwhelming, busy and challenging at times. For Carol, volunteering offered many benefits that built her confidence beyond her degree.
Volunteering provided a space away from university
I remember coming back from my first volunteering day thinking ‘Wow! Now I have something to look forward to’. The quietness of the residents’ village was such a soothing change from the busy environment of the university. I really appreciated the difference…the placement helped me with how demanding university can be. During the exam period it was a really nice break from studying. I am really glad I had that to look forward to every week this year”.
Volunteering built connections with other students
I made friends with the other volunteers and I could talk to them about the residents as we got on the bus, and we would chat about the workload – it was just a nice venting session at the end of the week.“
Volunteering built connections with the community
There is one lady I always meet; I’ve been helping her for such a long time. As I volunteer with her now, I don’t just focus on Tech…for instance, I compiled a directory of all her family’s addresses and phone numbers, making her life so much easier as she used to have to carry around lots of pieces of papers with their personal details.”
Volunteering brought new perspectives
you get to go to an entirely different place without paying for it, you get to experience so many different people there with so many different walks of life, learn about different cultures that you might not be used to. Connecting with people from a different age group is so beneficial. The residents share their own life experiences and there’s so much to learn…you may have your parents to guide you but there is also so much wisdom from being around older people.“
If you are interested in volunteering, explore the opportunities that are available and get connected with Bristol!