Supporting a Cause

Image from Pinterest

 

How do you choose a cause to support?

This is a question I am considering at the moment. The most important thing to think about, I think, is what is important to you. There are many causes, charities and organisations who support a variety of causes whether it be people, research, animals or the environment. Have you or someone important to you been impacted by an issue or illness? Is there an area that you want to learn more about? What do you enjoy doing? What would you like to give? How much time do you realistically have to give?

Having searched Google for volunteering opportunities I have come across a number of responses for people of all ages, young people, under 18 and up to 25 as well as many opportunities for those of us who are 25 and older. I have found a number of organisations that promote volunteering and provide search engines that link voluntary opportunities and volunteers in their areas of interest and location. A well known organisation is do it.org Do-it.org. If this does not feel like the right approach for you, or you cannot find opportunities that interest you, you can always research local organisation within your community and contact them directly to enquire about voluntary opportunities. Sometimes they do not advertise roles on websites such as Do-it.

What is next for me? 

I mentioned that recently I have been asking myself the question of how to choose a cause to support, and although I have done it before, I feel as though I am at a place where I am questioning what is next for me. Where do I go from here?

I will continue to volunteer with the Night Shelter until the project closes in March for the year. If I follow my own advice and think of causes that I am passionate about, I think of individuals with disabilities, children and adults. I believe that individuals with disabilities should be valued within society for who they are and what they can achieve and contribute. I believe that society should be more disabled friendly and that adequate care and support should be provided that suits the individual, their needs and wishes. If you have seen some of my other posts you will be aware that my Grandad has a disability and I support my family in their caring role, perhaps this is where my passion comes from.

Another passion is family carers, from my own personal experience as well as what I observed while working as a home care assistant, being a family carer, although very rewarding, can be challenging and restrictive if you do not have the right, necessary support.

Next, the question of time. With my job at the moment I do not have a lot of free time, even if I leave work on time I won't get home until about 6.30. I could offer to volunteer for an evening a week from about 7-8 but is that needed or helpful to the organisation or the voluntary role? As I have done with the Night Shelter, I prefer at the moment to say I am available for a period of time at the weekend once a fortnight. This allows me to have some time off to relax, see friends and catch up on any household chores.

My Idea

Image from Pinterest

For ages I have wanted to spend more time with my camera, learning how to use it properly instead of leaving it on auto. I want to be more creative, raise awareness and make a difference. I am thinking that I could combine the two.

Have you done anything creative to raise awareness of a cause?

Searching for a Cause to Support: The Reasons Why

As I like to plan and have something to work on I thought I would take a look through my 30 before 30 list and see what I could make a start on. Something I enjoy and that is important to me is supporting charitable work. This has taken a bit of a back seat in the last few years as other things have had to be a priority. Things such as supporting my Mum to care for my Grandad, university work and my student placements.

Now that I have finished university and am beginning to settle into my new job (although I still have moments of panic and feeling that I don't know what I'm doing), I am thinking about my time outside of work and how I want to fill it. I still help support my Mum and Grandad but this is now more likely to be over the weekend so that my parents can have some time together away from their caring responsibilities. I have noticed that if I don't have plans for my evenings I am not strict with myself about leaving work on time and can stay until 6pm or later, by the time I get home my evening appears to disappear in a blur of tv.

In my 30 before 30 list I have said that I would like to do some volunteering and support a cause. I think these two things can be the same as well as being different. Obviously by volunteering for an organisation you are supporting their cause but I would also like to be involved in campaigning for a cause and support change in policy and legislation. I enjoy volunteering because I see this more as working with the individuals you are supporting, although this does not always have to be the case.

Some people ask me why I give to charity, either financially or through volunteering.

The simple answer is that I want to make a difference.

However, is it really that simple?

Volunteering as well as my paid job gives purpose to my life, what I do is part of my identity, part of who I am. The part of me that is the type of person I want to be (there are other areas of myself that I want to work on). It  makes me feel worthwhile.

Being involved in supporting charitable work has also given me a lot of other things too. It helps and reminds me to be appreciative of my life, to value what and who I have rather than focusing on what I don't. Volunteering has aided my understanding and challenged my perspective on a number of issues such as addiction and homelessness and allowed me to grow as a person. My 30 before 30 also included meeting new people and making more friends, volunteering is a good opportunity for this.

Other reasons to volunteer

Health benefits: a study by United Healthcare found that 94% of people who volunteered in the last 12 months say that volunteering improves their mood, 96% says volunteering enriches their sense of purpose in life, 78% says that volunteering lowers their stress levels*

Employment: the study above also found that 49% of people said that volunteering has helped with their career in the paid job market and 87% felt that it had developed their people and teamwork skills. I think that you can also learn about an area of work through volunteering and gain valuable experience and understanding before applying for a paid position. It can also allow you the time to see whether the role is for you or not.

Have you volunteered before? What were your experiences?

Images from Pinterest

*study included in picture found on Pinterest. Full study at unitedhealthgroup.com/SR

Turning Twenty Five

As you can probably guess from the post title, I turned twenty five this week. For some reason I feel that twenty five is an important birthday, much the same as a persons eighteenth, twenty first or thirtieth. Is it because it's half way to fifty? That to me is a scary thought because these twenty five years have past so quickly.

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I also think it's a great time to reflect, now mid twenties, if there is something you are not happy with or somewhere else you would like to be by the time you are thirty, you can start making changes now. I recently watched a TED talk by Meg Jay, she spoke about using your twenties wisely, to experiment and learn in a productive way, to gain valuable experiences. When I was watching and listening I thought that I had done quite well, I have gained different experiences through paid and voluntary work, university and travel (holidays with friends and family any my little solo road trip not a few months or years travelling around the world). Then I stopped and thought, I'm only twenty five what now? I still have another five years of being in my twenties and as we are always told, we are always learning.

I decided to have a look at a few 'what you should know by the time you're 25', '25 things to do before you turn 25' and '30 before 30' posts to help me reflect on what I had achieved and give me some inspiration on what I could still work on.

So here's my Thirty Before Thirty

1. Study, get a degree and graduate
2. Find a hobby, one that I will enjoy and stick with
3. Make new friends
4. Be healthier
5. Do some charity/volunteer work

6. Do something that scares me
7. Travel to Africa
8. Take a trip to Budapest
9. Take a trip to Scotland
10. Live in a different county or county for a year

11. Travel alone
12. Travel with friends
13. Travel with a group of people I do not know
14. Watch more documentaries, learn more about people and places
15. Get involved and be part of a campaign. Support a cause

16. Learn how to take good photographs
17. Make a short video
18. Be more creative
19. Do a piece of research
20. Read a 'classic' novel

21. Find a faith
22. Meditate
23. Practice yoga
24. Be kinder to myself
25. Be kinder to others

26. Be more spontaneous
27. Be aware of and value the little every day moments
28. Enjoy life's simple pleasures
29. Sleep under the stars
30. Go on a retreat