Simon Davis, Independent Visitor to a young teenager in care What does an average working day look like for you? An average working day for me is getting up about 7 o’clock after putting my alarm on snooze 3 or 4 times since 6:30. I usually don’t want to get out of bed but if…
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Leeds City Council’s ‘Independent Visitor’ scheme offers young people in care an older role model. Volunteers offer few hours of their time each month, taking part in activities such as football, go-karting, or a trip to the cinema. They get to see a young person develop, grow in confidence and have fun, away from the…
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The Skelton Grange Environmental Centre and Conservation Volunteer project is one of our child friendly Leeds ambassadors and have provided regular updates on what has been going on for their volunteers through some amazing blogposts. As we haven’t heard from them in a while, we asked Rosie Snowden, a young person who is currently volunteering at the centre,…
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Volunteering is a fantastic way to make the link between your academic results and the world of work. The government-funded International Citizen Service aims to make international volunteering opportunities available to any young person in the UK, whatever your background. So from Lofthouse to Wetherby, Pudsey to Kippax,, whether you’ve got an NVQ or a…
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This week Leeds City Council’s Independent Visitor scheme launches a new campaign, asking you #WhoWasYourRoleModel when you were growing-up. Leeds Rhinos players Jamie-Jones Buchanan and Zak Hardaker have been getting involved in some fantastic videos, and you can too on Twitter by letting us know who your role models are and using the hashtag. In…
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The Skelton Grange Environmental Centre and Conservation Volunteer project aims to promote an understanding of environmental issues to Leeds children and young people of all backgrounds and abilities. Over the school holidays the centre is always busy running a range of fun activities getting children and young people involved in conservation. Because it’s the half-term…
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For many of us January is a time for setting ourselves targets for the year ahead. Though these goals can involve anything – from cutting down on the amount of chocolate we eat, to reading a new book – the beginning of the year is a time for us to make changes that have been…
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Unpaid work can make you happier. Not a fact, admittedly, but I get many of my kicks off volunteering. In Leeds, I’m in very good company. To me, it’s truly a volunteering city. One example – from many I’d hazard – is illustrated by Leeds City Council staff. Selfless means more with this council crew.…
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Volunteering is one of the ways young people help to improve the communities they live in whilst acquiring the skills they need to get the job they want. Today’s blog was written by Gemma, a university graduate who decided to volunteer at the Skelton Grange Environmental Centre in order to improve her employability and gain…
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I first became aware of the Independent Visitor (IV) scheme in January of 2012. At this point in my life, I’d admit that I had lost direction. Having graduated from Uni a year previously, I was living in Leeds, working in a job which was both completely unrelated to what I actually wanted to do for a…
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