So much of what we do as a charity relies on the invaluable contribution of our wonderful community of volunteers. So, during Volunteers’ Week, we want our volunteers to feel extra special and appreciated.
In this post, we’ll cover:
What is Volunteers’ Week?
Volunteers’ Week is a national campaign that annually celebrates volunteers in the UK.
It takes place from 1 to 7 June each year and is aimed at celebrating all volunteers. It’s a way of recognising them and thanking them for their contribution, whether they volunteer for big name charities or small organisations.
Volunteers’ Week 2023 is all about highlighting the diversity in volunteering. There is more than one way to volunteer and we’re seeing lots of people exploring what it means to be a volunteer and helping in whatever way they can. In doing so, the people of the UK are strengthening the voluntary sector.
Each year, volunteers do so much. Not just for charities, but for their local communities as well. They give their free time, their belongings, and money to helping other people and helping the environment they live in.
They don’t ask for anything in return. But, we think they deserve a big thank you. And, that’s why Volunteers’ Week is so special.
Why volunteering is important
The organisers of Volunteers’ Week say that volunteering not only helps others, but helps the wellbeing of the volunteers too.
Helping someone else often leads to a feeling of fulfilment. And, on top of the good feeling that comes from volunteering, it’s also great for meeting new people, learning new skills, and possibly opening up new opportunities.
But, from our point of view, we simply wouldn’t be able to do all the things that we do without our incredible volunteers. So, we’d like to take this opportunity to say a massive THANK YOU!
What volunteers do for The Brain Tumour Charity
Volunteering at The Brain Tumour Charity takes many forms. Our volunteers help across so many areas of the team, enabling us to do that much more.
Here are some of the ways that volunteers contribute to The Charity. We have:
- Involvement Champions, who use their personal experience of brain tumours to help inform our decision-making and shape our work
- Young Ambassadors (young adults aged between 18 and 25), who support others, raise awareness and campaign for change
- Cheer Champions, who attend our events to cheer on our fundraisers
- Charity Ambassadors, who raise awareness and support fundraising initiatives in their local community
- Office Volunteers, who come into the office to help with admin and other tasks, like packing brainy bags for our Support team
- Support Line Volunteers and Counselling Volunteers, who speak to people in the community who are looking for information or someone to talk to during a difficult time
- Research Volunteers, who support our Research team with grant application testing
- Data Volunteers, who support our Data team with projects such as BRIAN, the app we developed to help people manage their diagnosis and treatment
- Salesforce Administrator Volunteers, who support our Dev team in managing our software, Salesforce
- Website Volunteers, who help improve our website through work on user experience (UX) and search engine optimisation (SEO)
- Photographers, who attend events to capture the brain tumour community in action
- Policy Campaigners, who help us to drive change for all those affected by a brain tumour
- Motivational Callers, who call our fundraisers in the lead up to events to wish them luck
Plus much, much more!
What volunteers do for The Brain Tumour Charity
Volunteering at The Brain Tumour Charity takes many forms. Our volunteers help across so many areas of the team, enabling us to do that much more.
Here are some of the ways that volunteers contribute to The Charity. We have:
- Involvement Champions, who use their personal experience of brain tumours to help inform our decision-making and shape our work
- Young Ambassadors (young adults aged between 18 and 25), who support others, raise awareness and campaign for change
- Cheer Champions, who attend our events to cheer on our fundraisers
- Charity Ambassadors, who raise awareness and support fundraising initiatives in their local community
- Office Volunteers, who come into the office to help with admin and other tasks, like packing brainy bags for our Support team
- Support Line Volunteers and Counselling Volunteers, who speak to people in the community who are looking for information or someone to talk to during a difficult time
- Research Volunteers, who support our Research team with grant application testing
- Data Volunteers, who support our Data team with projects such as BRIAN, the app we developed to help people manage their diagnosis and treatment
- Salesforce Administrator Volunteers, who support our Dev team in managing our software, Salesforce
- Website Volunteers, who help improve our website through work on user experience (UX) and search engine optimisation (SEO)
- Photographers, who attend events to capture the brain tumour community in action
- Policy Campaigners, who help us to drive change for all those affected by a brain tumour
- Motivational Callers, who call our fundraisers in the lead up to events to wish them luck
Plus much, much more!
Volunteer stories
Here are just two of the inspiring stories that come from our community of volunteers.
Baljit’s story
Having lost her mum to a brain tumour, Baljit is a volunteer for The Charity. In fact, she played a part in developing our new strategy.
Recently she was invited to take part in a fundraising event held by the Atwal family, who sadly lost their daughter to a brain tumour.
During this event, Baljit put aside her fear of microphones and gave a speech about the vision of ‘Living Longer and Better’, which is part of the community co-created strategy. She also spoke about her work as a volunteer. And, even though she was there to give, she received the gift of revitalising her connection to her language and culture.
Find out more by clicking the link below:
Becs Gill’s story
Becs Gill also has first-hand experience of brain tumours, having lost her sister to one after a battle of nearly 5 years. After her passing, Becs kindly offered her time and expertise as a UX expert to help make our website more accessible.
Becs worked at the renowned UX design consultancy, Bunnyfoot, for 15 years, having been a leader in the organisation. Since then, she has moved on to become a freelance UX Consultant and Design Educator.
We are lucky enough to be able to work with Becs on improving the user experience on our website as well as our app, BRIAN. She helps with everything from offering her opinion on our ideas to helping us understand our audiences and actively improve their experiences.
Find out more below:
Find out how you can get involved as a volunteer!
If you’re inspired by these stories, then you’ll be happy to know that you can get involved. There are lots of different ways to volunteer, and we’d love to help you explore the right one for you.
Click the button below to find out more about the different ways you can volunteer, how you can use your experience, and how you can create some new experiences!
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