About GoldStar 
| Name | Age |
Project |
|---|---|---|
 Case study B |
Volunteer Centre Westminster |
B first heard about the Volunteer Centre about two years ago and got involved with the Volunteer Centre specifically in relation to the Active Futures Project (specifically for homeless people and refugees and asylum seekers).
All volunteers on the Active Futures Project have issues of homelessness or are refugees or asylum seekers or both. B first made contact with the Volunteer Centre as a result of housing problems that she was experiencing.
B identifies the contribution that volunteers make to the project in the following ways:
“Without the help of volunteers this project would not be able to run as effectively as it does. It does involve a lot of paper work, a lot of report writing”.
“We are involved with clients and we try to organise with organisations to accept volunteers who they would not normally consider, because of their issues. This is a great help for some of our clients. They may need more attention, more support, more time”.
B also identifies a number of benefits to herself of her involvement in the project including regular talks and support sessions and access to job opportunities. B commented:
“We get training on anything that may be relevant for our voluntary position, but also in relation to any career opportunity or (information) relevant to our career prospects”
“What I am getting here is specific training, relevant training to my career prospects”
B emphasised that the social aspects of the Project are particularly beneficial.
“First of all you are appreciated for your work and not feeling like a burden to society… You improve your self-confidence and this is extremely important. Especially in this place we meet people from different backgrounds so you are confident to deal with the public. So the social aspect is very important”.
B also indicated that Volunteer Centre Westminster recognise the contribution she and other volunteers make. She commented:
During Volunteer Week the “The Volunteer Centre did a volunteer lunch which was very nice and much appreciated”.
“You feel it on an every day basis through the work that you are doing and through the relationship you have with your co-workers. So celebrating and feeling that you are involved is very important”.
B also stressed the importance of volunteers being treated in the same way as paid staff. She indicated that each project usually has an event and that the Active Futures Project organised an afternoon involving paid staff and volunteers.
“And it is really a way of feeling no difference between the workers, paid and unpaid members”.
“It is because I think that it is important to first of all remember your position. But at the same time it is very important to be part of the organisation and it is the best way to celebrate it”.
B also highlights how she gets involved in decision making as a volunteer, including bi-monthly meetings. She commented:
“It is because we are giving out time coming to this project. So it is much appreciated our views can be heard and we can discuss. It is not one project coordinator asking for things to be done. It is very much a discussion from the beginning to the end”.
