Posted on: 31 October 2022
The following was written by Milena Lares, who started volunteering with CNWL in May.
Hello all!
To share a little bit about myself with you, my name is Milena, I’m a psychology graduate from Argentina. I started volunteering for CNWL in May of this year. I always wanted to volunteer, to give back and bring something of my own to the community and, without knowing beforehand, CNWL turned out to be a perfect place for it.
I find that being part of CNWL as a volunteer carries a variety of meaningful experiences that have an impact on both the patients and us. It is a role that brings a special feeling when a patient I have engaged with smiles at me as I walk through, it means meeting someone who values our time together, it involves listening to a new story, having meaningful or deep conversations, sharing pain and laughter, showing empathy, and making someone feel understood. It also means teamwork, helping and respecting each other and working together to come up with new ideas.
I have felt extremely supported by my team throughout my work as well as in my efforts to grow professionally and personally. Furthermore, even though it requires commitment, it is a flexible role that can fit around other responsibilities with ease.
I believe that I have been getting more than what I was expecting, I have met great people, strongly improved my skills, and gained new ones, built up my confidence, come across great opportunities and am now part of a great community that thrives to grow and deliver the best service possible. Therefore, I am looking forward to continuing to develop and collect more memorable and fulfilling experiences within this team.
To sum up, I can say that my experience as a volunteer has been priceless, enriching and by far absolutely rewarding. I strongly encourage you to jump at this opportunity because you will share gratifying moments and be able to bring what makes you unique into a striving team.