"There is always a way to help, no matter who you are or what you do."

Can you introduce yourself and the volunteering that you have been doing?

I’m Theodore. I’m a first year BA History, Politics, and Economics student at UCL.

At the beginning of the year, I decided I wanted to do some volunteering as I wanted to give back to the community. It has always been a dream of mine to be in London, so now that I am here I felt that I needed to give back to the community.

I took a look around the Volunteering Fair and there were quite a few opportunities that piqued my interest. The one I liked the most was Action Tutoring, who help underprivileged young people to improve their academic performance. It sounded like a very good opportunity, so I got in touch with them. They offered me the ability to teach Year 5 English, and so far it has been a beautiful experience – not just because you are doing some volunteering, but because you meet such incredible people.

The other tutors are some very interesting folks. Some of them are also students, from UCL and other universities in London. Some of them work as well, and quite a few of them are retired. I’ve met some civil engineers, some bankers – a bit of everything.

The most fascinating part of it all is the experience that you have teaching. For me, tutoring has been incredibly fulfilling. I’ve done some tutoring in my high school but it was just with other students my age. Doing this feels like it has a much bigger impact. Given the career path that I hope to take, tutoring arms me with a series of very useful skills.

The kids are insanely smart and it’s just fascinating to have such rigorous academic discussions. The educational system back home is not very engaging. It’s usually just receive, receive, receive. Suddenly being part of that more professorial role and engaging with students is incredible. Last week, we had a talk about black British soldiers in World War 1, and their misrepresentation in historical texts. It was a fascinating discussion to have with Year 5 students. I hone my critical skills as much as they hone theirs!

Does Action Tutoring provide a lot of support for your volunteering?

The support that we get is incredibly good. Action Tutoring are very organised. In the beginning, I was a bit stressed as I really had no idea what to do. But Action Tutoring provides everything. We got some basic training at the beginning. We also get workbooks to follow which help to plan lessons. Action Tutoring even provides some online resources to help us improve our teaching skills and be more communicative and be more organised.

I think it was exactly what I was looking for, so I’m really glad for the Volunteering Fair. I wish that I had more time to do more with other volunteering charities too. But I’m very happy with this and I hope that I can continue helping in any way that I can for as long as possible.

Have you found volunteering easy to fit around your studies?

Yes, definitely. You can teach at many different schools, different times, different subjects, different years. It’s quite easy to fit around your schedule, and they don’t need more than 2 hours a week. The school that I teach at is in Kings Cross, just 20 minutes away, which is perfect.

You also have the opportunity to do it online which makes it more flexible, but I would rather have the in-person experience. I know I personally didn’t pay a single moment of attention in my online classes, so I can’t expect Year 5 kids to do that!

Has there been a particular highlight of your volunteering experience?

I’ve noticed that my pupils are very competitive with each other, in a very healthy way! I’ve started using that to motivate them. For example, I tell them to study everything from the previous classes. At the beginning of each class, I ask random questions and whoever gets them right starts reading first.

Last week, I asked them about a picture of Times Square that I showed them three weeks ago. I asked them if they remembered any writing from the billboards in that picture, and I was amazed. I could not remembered anything – they remembered three dates, two advertisements, and one of them remembered the signs on a cab!

Have there been any challenges that you’ve come across in your volunteering?

With kids, I think you really have to motivate them. You have to adapt to each group. I’m very lucky that I realised my students are very competitive and I could  tap into that in order to keep them motivated.

You also have to figure out how to organise your time, how to keep them entertained, how to keep them on track.  It’s a very challenging thing: trying to keep them motivated while also going through the material productivity. But I do my best not to be too boring. I didn’t like it when my teachers were, so I’m doing my best to avoid it!

Would you recommend volunteering to others?

Yes, for sure. I think volunteering in general is a very decent thing to do. Volunteering especially with the next generation is a direct way to give to others the things that we wish that we had.

Obviously, each person has different skills. I’d like to think that I’m relatively good at tutoring and explaining things, so that’s why I think my skills are better put in use with this opportunity. Many people have other skills sets, which might be put to better use with another charity. But I feel like there is always a way to help, no matter who you are or what you do. The fact that we are able to help is definitely a privilege of ours, and think that we should in any way we can.

Thank you to Theodore for sharing his experience! If you would like to join Action Tutoring as a volunteer, you can learn learn more and sign up here!