Finding Purpose Through Volunteering: Jakki's Story
Volunteering can make a real difference, both to the community and to the people who give their time. Through Volunteer Inverclyde, CVS Inverclyde helps connect local people with volunteering opportunities that match their interests, skills and experience. In this blog, volunteer Jakki Gregory shares her experience of volunteering with CVS Inverclyde and the impact it has had on her life.
Jakki’s experience in her own words
I am Jakki Gregory and I have been a volunteer at CVS Inverclyde for just over a year now. I was looking for something where I could take my skills and utilise them in Inverclyde when I stumbled across CVSI. The welcome and acceptance I experienced from CVSI helped me to build my confidence, enabling me to get involved with volunteer work once again.
Since I got involved, I feel valued within the office and part of the working environment. I have supported four projects, including:
Mapping rural volunteering opportunities
Research for Inverclyde Life
Mapping rural transport links across Inverclyde
Listing the different meeting venues available across Inverclyde
There are many reasons that I enjoy volunteering. It helps me to socialise, it makes me feel valued as a disabled person, and I am contributing to CVSI’s work in a positive way.
I have done volunteering throughout my life both in England and now in Inverclyde. Volunteering opens up my world a little and decreases isolation. It is about putting something back into the community in which we live. It can empower you; you use and learn new skills and make new friends.
How you can get involved
Jakki's experience highlights the many ways volunteering can benefit individuals and communities. Across Inverclyde, volunteers make a vital contribution to local third sector organisations, helping deliver services while gaining valuable skills, confidence and connections.
Volunteer Inverclyde works with organisations across the area to promote a wide range of opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. Whether you have a few hours to spare or are looking for a longer-term commitment, there are opportunities to suit a variety of interests and experience levels.
If Jakki's story has inspired you to get involved, visit Volunteer Inverclyde to explore current opportunities and find out how you can make a difference in Inverclyde.