"It feels like you're not just giving all the time, but you're also getting a lot of back."

Would you be able to introduce yourself and the volunteering that you have been doing?

My name is Sarah. I'm currently a first year in BSc Psychology and Education at UCL. I actually started in 2020, and I did a year and a bit of Neuroscience and then I swapped over.

I've always been very interested in climate change. I was born in Russia, then I moved to Belgium when I was nine, and then to London when I was 11. Russia, at least when I was there, was very much not environmentally friendly. I hadn't even heard the concept of recycling. The water is unsafe to drink from the tap, so you always have to buy big plastic bottles. I remember when we moved to Belgium and I had a unit about plastic pollution, they showed us all these documentaries about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and about turtles and plastic. I was just absolutely appalled. I went home and I was like, there's no way we’re going to keep buying plastic. In Belgium, you can drink water. I got my grandparents to start boiling their water back in Russia too, instead of buying the plastic bottles.

I had a unit about plastic pollution, they showed us all these documentaries about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and about turtles and plastic. I was just absolutely appalled.

I was always involved in all kinds of school projects for environmental justice and reducing the impact of the school on the environment, like banning plastic or Styrofoam cups. I graduated school in 2020, which was when the Extinction Rebellion Protests started. I kind of hated it, because I was there the whole time, trying my best to get everyone engaged. In that school, I led this initiative to make one week every half term – every six weeks – without any beef in the school cafeteria. It was quite a big school, like 1200 people, so it was quite a big impact. I did all the maths, I had to give a billion presentations to the school board and all the other kids kind of made fun of me for it. And they were like, ‘Why do you care so much?’ And then as soon as XR started, everyone was like – ‘Are you striking this Friday? Let's go out!’ And it was like – no, because you don't actually care, you know? I got very demotivated with the climate change movement, and I guess how much I felt I could impact it. At the same time, I was studying economics and it really felt like there was not much that we could do before there was systematic change.

When I was studying over Covid, I was working in NHS mental healthcare for a year and taking care of my ex-partner. I was a carer as well as having this fulltime job, and it was really intense. When I went back to university and I quit my job, I had a bit more time for myself and I realized that climate change is something that I am still really passionate about, but I don't want to go back to just doing small scale campaigns. I used the UCL Volunteering Directory, which I think is so well organized and you can filter by the cause. And I came across this opportunity.

Now I am volunteering with a social enterprise called the Volunteers for Future, which have partnered with a different organization called UK Youth Climate Coalition, to create this workshop around what climate justice is to deliver to Year 7s and 8s for free. We go into schools and talk to kids about what climate justice is and how it's really important to consider social inequality, both on a global and a local level. That’s something I was never taught at school. For me, it feels like something that I can do that is within my reach, in terms of studying at the same time and doing all the other things that I want to be doing, but also still has an impact.

You can really see that some of the kids had never thought about this before and it's definitely going to stick with them. I think it's so important to help young people feel like they can do something about climate issues. It's really nice because it's both linked to my degree, in terms of education, but also to me wanting to do something about climate change that doesn't feel pointless. The community there is really nice as well. I've already made some really great friends. Everyone is really involved in different things, so I now feel a lot more inspired to get back involved into the campaigning and action.

... it feels like something that I can do that is within my reach, in terms of studying at the same time and doing all the other things that I want to be doing, but also still has an impact ... I think it's so important to help young people feel like they can do something about climate issues.

How many hours a week are you usually volunteering for?

It depends because we're very dependent on the schools booking the workshops. At first there was just a two-hour training session and then a Christmas session to meet the other volunteers. The workshop that I do is also is really new, and I think it's taken them a while to spread the word out about it. We had the first workshop only a few weeks ago and then we had two more the next week. For the first one I shadowed Coco, who works there. And then for the other two I co-delivered it. There is another one I’m doing next week!

There's never any pressure. I've signed up to all of them so far because I'm really enjoying it and I have the time, but they're very chilled out. If you can only do one a month, that's fine.

Are the volunteers that you work with also UCL students?

Yes, I was quite surprised actually. So many people are from UCL and we’d all found it through the volunteering directory. There are some people who are working or UCL alumni as well. It's nice to have this mixed community.

Are there like any particular moments or experiences that you've really enjoyed?

Yeah! The work that we deliver is the same every time, but obviously the kids are all different. There's this really nice activity that we do at the end where we have a worksheet for them to identify something they're really passionate about and then how they can campaign for it. It’s really nice to see how many different ideas they have.

I think it can be easy to look at 11-year-olds and just think that they're tiny, but actually they have so much to say and so many different ideas. As soon as you start like talking to them as a bit more of like an equal, they have so many things to say. Sometimes they will not be involved with some of the activities, but instead they'll draw the most amazing drawing of lots of animals and plants and stuff. And it's really cool just to see how many different talents people have.

The other thing I've really enjoyed is the more social aspect of it and getting really involved. We're having a brunch potluck thing on the weekend, which I'm really excited for. And we had a Christmas one. There's also a group chat where people send different events that they've seen that other people might be interested in. And then depending on who's available, we'll get together. It feels like a really nice community as well, because of course it can be quite difficult with eco-anxiety and getting burnt out from just constantly worrying about it, so to actually have all these people who are really interested in the same thing helps with that as well.

Have there been any challenges that you have encountered throughout your volunteering?

I think my main one is trying to not get too involved, and to remember I do actually have other things going on. Another charity that I used to volunteer for back in 2020/21 was a very small food waste charity. I would go in and cook meals from ingredients that supermarkets have donated that they would otherwise throw out. They were really tiny and there was so much demand and they were just constantly overwhelmed. I got really over-involved in it, and in the end, it was too much. So I'm trying to be really conscious of that. But I think VFF is much better than that other charity was at having boundaries in place. Whenever I sign up to anything, if it's quite a lot in one go, the volunteer coordinator, Coco, will ask, ‘Are you sure? Do you need some time to just chill?’

Do you think this opportunity is something you will be involved in for quite a long time?

Yes, definitely. It's a really nice way of combining the different interests I have. In terms of academics as well, like looking for next year, there is this module that I really want to do for part of my degree and it's super competitive. You have to write a mini personal statement about why you want to do it, and it links so perfectly to this volunteering. It really makes me consider what I actually want to do. I went into this degree thinking I just want to be a psychologist, and the education part is a nice extra, but it really makes me think. On the one hand, I definitely don't want to be a teacher, but I am really interested in educating.

Would you recommend volunteering to others?

I think volunteering in general is so underrated. Personally, I am very well aware of a lot of different privileges I have and I want to contribute to the world positively because of that. But at the same time, it's so good for job applications. For a job that I was doing, I was the only person there without a degree, and the way I got it was through this volunteering I’d been doing for the food waste charity because it gave me so much to talk about. Volunteering can really help you stand out, especially because you are giving your time for free. If it’s something you're interested in, I think that really comes across as well when you're talking about it.

Volunteering is something that I’ve always been really keen on. Obviously, I'm aware that it's a big privilege to be able to work somewhere for free. But if you have the means to do it, I think it's such a wonderful thing to do both for yourself and to help the community. I think there's bound to be something that you feel passionate about and to try and do something about it.

... if you do have the means to do it, I think it's such a wonderful thing to do both for yourself and to help the community. I think there's bound to be something that you feel passionate about and to try and do something about it.

I think the issue comes with trying to balance it with studying. I think that's why VFF is really nice. They don't have a minimum requirement for how much you have to volunteer. There is a workshop booking, and you get emailed about it and can sign up if you want to. They're never going to check why you haven't done the last three workshops and ask why you're not involved. It's very take-it-at-your-own-pace and it's flexible.

It’s a nice community as well. It feels like you're not just giving all the time, but you're also getting a lot of back. So yeah, I'd really recommend it. I love it.

Thank you to Sarah for sharing her experience! If you are interested in Volunteers for Future you can learn more about them here, and check out their opportunity for a Young Green Briton Challenge Mentor here!