James Newman works in
Equity Trade Support at UBS. He volunteers as a mentor on a ReachOut Academy
project in Hackney, London.
I’ve always been interested in volunteering but lost contact
with the groups and people I had worked with as I grew older, wiser and more
boring! I came across ReachOut on an internal newsletter at work. ReachOut
really stood out to me as I’m interested in helping youngsters and wanted to
commit to volunteering for an extended period of time.
The ReachOut Academy project I chose involves an hour of
classroom based activities, normally English or Maths, followed by an hour of
sports for the children. The one-to-one time with my mentee every week
presented a great chance to get to know him, see how I could help him to
improve academically or behaviourally, and see his improvement over time. My
mentee was originally very shy so I had to work hard to build a level of trust between
us. As a result of this trust, he opened up and started enjoying the sessions
more which was very rewarding.
The best part about ReachOut for me was getting out of the
office and focusing on something completely different to what I do on a day to
day basis. The children can be challenging but they can also be hilarious
(normally when they're not meant to be!) and helping them with their academics,
be it algebra or spelling, was something I found hugely rewarding. Taking me out
of my comfort zone also helped develop my communication skills, really teaching me to
think on my feet and to get my points across in different, varying and
interesting ways.
ReachOut is a weekly commitment which is a huge reason why
it is so rewarding as you get to see your mentee and those in your group
develop over time. It can be a challenge to balance this with work commitments,
but I was open with my manager and he was very supportive of my volunteering.
Also, just getting out of the work environment and throwing myself into
something like ReachOut was a great help in some of the busiest times. Giving
my brain the chance to concentrate on something else entirely actually
benefitted me when I went back to work!
I would recommend ReachOut to anyone looking to volunteer as
I have enjoyed it immensely. The combination of a tried and tested method which
works, the passion of the staff who run it, the children themselves and the
other volunteer mentors I met made it a great experience. The more involved and
committed I became the more I got from volunteering and I am sure this would be
the case for you too.
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