Why I volunteer for Save the Children

I have been volunteering for the UK programme for just over 3 months now and here are a few of my first impressions and feelings about the organisation.

What first attracted me to volunteer here was my shared belief that vulnerable children should be protected. I looked at numerous different organisations which each provide a valuable service but I was impressed with Save the Children’s global reach and the power it had to influence the powers that be.      

On my first day I was shown around the building and was surprised by just how many different projects were currently being worked on simultaneously. Just from where I sit, I can see the International Operations, Health and HIV, Education, Child Protection and Hunger Reduction teams before the names start to fade into the distance and that’s without counting the operations going on in the other two floors! Prior to volunteering here I knew that Save the Children provided aid and support to children around the globe, but ever since I started I have been able to see first hand the sheer magnitude of the work that goes on.

Within the UK programme I have been working on the End Child Poverty campaign, which for those not in the know aims to make the government keep their promise of eradicating Child poverty in the UK by 2020. From the outset I knew that this was a big issue that many people feel strongly about, which was highlighted  weeks before I joined when over 10,000 people marched on Trafalgar square to demand an end to Child Poverty.

While this was a big show of public support, many more people have signed petitions and action cards adding their voices to the cry to end child poverty. Being an enthusiastic and particularly perky volunteer, one of my first tasks was to keep a record of the aforementioned petitions and action cards. Whilst it may not be the most glamorous of jobs, without it the number of people lending their voices to a noble cause would be much less significant… or so I reassure myself. Ever since my work has become more varied including assisting in the writing of internal bulletins, campaigning on social websites, various research topics surrounding Ending Child Poverty and generally helping out wherever I can!

I enjoy my time here and it’s great to say that I volunteer for such a prestigious charity on such an important campaign. I’m only too happy to lend my time to an organisation which is serious about creating a positive and lasting change for the children of tomorrow. Hopefully the hard work being put in by everyone involved will show in 2020 with child poverty being a mere myth in the UK and at the risk of sounding like an after school special I can say that I played a small part in creating a brighter future.