Volunteering
Using our Volunteering in North Yorkshire (VINY) directory helped Lesley begin her volunteering journey and reconnect with her community.
What was the challenge?
When Lesley returned to Tadcaster after five years away, she was looking for local volunteering opportunities to help her to reconnect with the community. To begin with, she found it difficult to find volunteering opportunities and struggled to know where to start looking. However, a Google search for “volunteering in Tadcaster” led her to the Volunteering in North Yorkshire pages of our website and the Volunteering in North Yorkshire (VINY) directory.
How did Community first Yorkshire help?
Community First Yorkshire’s Volunteering in North Yorkshire directory is a free to use online resource for organisations in North Yorkshire seeking to recruit volunteers. The directory allows organisations to add and edit details of volunteer opportunities and respond to enquiries from potential volunteers.
Potential volunteers can search for opportunities by geographical area, the time or day they would like to volunteer, or by the type of charity or cause they would like to support. Once they have found an opportunity they like, they can message the organisation directly.
Among the opportunities listed on VINY, Lesley found an advert for a volunteer gardener posted by The Barn – a community centre for people living and working in Tadcaster and the surrounding villages.
“Once on the site, it was very straightforward and very clear to use. I enquired about the volunteer gardener role, and not very long after I heard from David at The Barn who offered to meet with me and explain the role. I had also contacted a befriending charity too - and that is pending!”Lesley, volunteer gardener, The Barn
What does the future look like?
Lesley says: “Since starting at The Barn everything has gone smoothly, with a volunteer agreement in place and I feel comfortable here, working with a nice team, with common goals and lots of opportunity to make my mark. I feel at home.”
Lizzie, a development officer at Community First Yorkshire, says: “We’re delighted that VINY enabled Lesley to find The Barn and start her volunteering journey. While volunteering is often thought of in terms of helping others, the act of volunteering itself is associated with enhanced wellbeing, both for individual volunteers and for communities as a whole, so we’re thrilled that volunteering is helping Lesley to reconnect and make some new connections with her community after time away.”
About The Barn, Tadcaster
The Barn is Tadcaster’s community venue offering opportunity and space for everyone in Tadcaster and the surrounding villages to grow, learn and care. The centre is open to all Monday to Friday and most weekends. It has a games area and skatepark, and offers mums and toddlers groups, youth groups and activities, adult education, as well as a venue for meeting and parties. Find out what’s going on at the Barn here.
How we can help you
If you’re a charity or community group looking for volunteers, or you’re looking to volunteer yourself, we can help. Have a look at the range of services we provide or email volunteering@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk for more information.