Hi my name is Salome and I would like to share with you how volunteering has changed my life.
I have been through so many difficulties in my life and I am also an asylum seeker, being new to this country made things even worse because I did not know anyone. I started volunteering for the first time in my life in October 2007. I had some knowledge of what volunteering was but I did not know what it involved and what I had to do to become a volunteer until I started college where different volunteering organisations came and I signed up with many organisations but only one replied me which was when I joined the Vinvolved team at FOCUS.
When I started volunteering with FOCUS I had low self esteem, I did not even have friends at college, and I just felt like everything was getting on top of me. When I joined the Youth Action Team (YAT) everyone was very welcoming and friendly this made me feel free and happy to finally belong somewhere.
Being part of the youth action team has changed my life completely because I have discovered so many things I never knew about myself, it helped me to be more social meet other young people and I take part in different kinds of activities. As for my self esteem well, it is not low anymore, I can now tell other young people about volunteering and what it involves.
Before I started volunteering I did not think I could achieve anything in my life but now I have achieved so much. I have achieved the V50 Award - which is a nationally recognised award and it will help towards my university application and job application in the future.
Being part of the youth action team has opened up so many opportunities for me and I am glad FOCUS replied to me because I have gained lots of new friends that I cherish and would not want to trade them for anything.
I feel if volunteering has changed my life it can definitely change yours.
