Siri Rajesh Reddy is a third-year undergraduate student currently pursuing her degree in BSc Social Sciences. During her first year, she volunteered at ReachOut, a mentoring charity that supports children from disadvantaged backgrounds; but her journey was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As lockdown restrictions were lifted during her second year, Siri decided to give it another go and volunteer at Oxfam's charity shop in Camden as a sales supervisor and till assistant.
Tell us a little about your volunteering
During my first year, I volunteered at ReachOut for about two months before the pandemic hit and I had to stop everything. I was a mentor to a student with learning disabilities, and we ran weekly after school sessions to teach Math, English, and do Sports activities. Then during my second year, after the lockdown sort of ended, I volunteered for Oxfam's charity shop in Camden for two months over Easter break, where I had to manage the till, create displays, provide customer support and help with the day-to-day running of the shop.
How did you find out about the role?
I found out about both roles on the Students' Union Volunteering Directory. I read about them and found them very interesting and aligned to my interests.
Why did you want to become a volunteer?
I have been volunteering since high school as I think it's a great way to have a positive impact, develop skills and meet new people. Most charities are very under-resourced and don't have the means to hire full-time employees to assist them in achieving their objectives. They also tend to work in communities that require the most help, as government resources do not reach them. So I think volunteering is a great way to help bridge that gap and contribute one's time and resources, if available, to such organisations and help them have the impact they hope to have.
What difference do you feel you've made by volunteering?
Volunteering gives you the power to make a difference in people's lives. I remember when I was volunteering at ReachOut, in the beginning, my mentee was very disruptive and hesitant to work with me. However, things changed with time. I was more persistent with him. Hearing how I struggled with Math when I was younger helped him put his struggles in perspective. It made me more relatable to him, which enabled me to break this barrier and encourage him to become involved and engage with the activities I had prepared. Towards the end, he would write the problem sheets or complete the activities with me. He would even come up to me after sports sessions to thank and ask me when he would see me next. That was really touching! It made me understand the power volunteering has and how impactful it could be on others.
What impact has volunteering had on you?
This whole volunteering journey challenged my perspective and broadened my way of thinking. It also helped me get out of my comfort zone. It made me understand what it meant to be a volunteer and help others. For instance, I always thought a volunteer was someone from a somewhat privileged community giving back. However, Oxfam made me realise that this is not necessarily the case. Everyone can be a volunteer. I met volunteers from poorer socio-economic backgrounds who wanted to give back as they felt the impact of other people's volunteering on their lives. It also made me realise that although you might not be making the impact you want to make, you are still making an impact, and any impact is good.
What's the best thing about volunteering?
It was definitely the people, especially at Oxfam. It felt like a community there. I would work three days a week, maybe entire days, and I knew which volunteers were coming. Every day, I would go out for lunch with a new volunteer. I got the chance to meet people from different backgrounds and have conversations with various customers and listen to their stories and experiences, which was nice. I also had two lovely managers who were so friendly and trusting. They would allow us to help lock up the shop, look at the inventories, etc. They would even give us discounts to purchase products or take them home for free. I just didn't expect that much niceness!
And the most challenging? How did you overcome the challenges?
With ReachOut, the most challenging part was encouraging my mentees to trust me. Most of them talked about how they had been abandoned in the past, and they didn't want to go through that again. This is common with volunteers as sometimes they stop coming in. Unfortunately, I also had to do that because of the pandemic. But back then, what I ended up doing was that I just focussed on trying to bond with them, establish a trusting relationship, and show them that I would be here every week. At the end of each session, I told them what we would be doing the following week to give them something to look forward to, which really helped.
With Oxfam, it was when customers came in with challenging situations, and we had to act immediately. For example, we would get people who were mugged, people who needed help to find their way home, people who had lost their loved ones and wanted to donate their belongings. So when these situations occurred, we had to think, react and help out quickly. If I encountered such cases during other times, I would probably have frozen and looked at someone else to help out. But then, the more we met people, the more we encountered challenging situations, the more experiences we gained and became capable of dealing with the subsequent ones. It prepared us to react better and become more adaptable to every situation.
Tell us about something memorable that's happened to you whilst volunteering
Honestly, I have a lot of memorable instances, but I think something that stood out to me was when I was working at Oxfam and an older man came in. He asked me whether I was from India, and when he found out I was, he told me he was as well. He was very close to where I was from. He had migrated to the UK about 40 years ago to study. We had an entire conversation which maybe lasted for 30 minutes, about a novel he had purchased from the shop. It was nice to connect with him and share my and listen to his experiences. I think I needed that as I had been in the UK for quite a long time, and I was feeling homesick.
Would you recommend volunteering? If so, why?
I would definitely recommend volunteering, especially if someone has the time to do it. It helps you develop a wide range of skills and meet people from different backgrounds. Volunteering is a great way to get job experience. It challenges your way of thinking. It helps you meet people you never thought you might encounter, talk to, or be friends with. It will also make you feel good. You're going to feel like you've had an impact, and you really would have had one. Even if you might think you did not. That person you spoke to or helped might think or feel otherwise.