Catholic Society: Welfare and Volunteering Officer

I am standing for the position of welfare and volunteering officer as I am a friendly person who is eager to use their skills and experience to help others. I have been a member of Catholic society for almost a year and have enjoyed participating in the soup run to feed the homeless on Thursdays which has taught me the importance of safeguarding and wellbeing precautions. I have a lot of experience  in volunteering as I volunteered for 4 years as a member of my local youth council which involved representing the young people of Neath Port Talbots voices and ensuring young people felt safe and respected in my town. This involved discussing sensitive matters with council members to secure young peoples rights, for example, during the pandemic we got Young Carers ID cards so they are able to access special shopping hours like their adult counterparts. This experience gave me organisational and communication skills as well as great teamwork skills as I supported and listened to  other young people in order to best represent them. I was also privileged to assist a blind lady from my local parish on her pilgrimage to Lourdes for two weeks, acting as her carer. This was an extremely fulfilling experience which inspired a passion for volunteering and caring for others and helped me to become more fast thinking in difficult situations.  

I'm standing in for this position as I would like to continue to support the SVP Soup/Sandwich run as I enjoyed doing it. This project is a very rewarding one and has been very eye-opening for me. Serving the homeless and the most vulnerable is like serving Jesus himself. What I'd improve about volunteering is that I would make sure it is more social, in the sense of going to the pub or having a social once in a while. Another reason I am standing for this position is that I loved connecting with the volunteers and building a sense of community between all the volunteers, having volunteered with the SVP since December 2021. By electing me, CathSoc will gain someone experienced in this role.