Volunteer Stories

Meet volunteers making a difference

Building a new life through volunteering

After arriving in the UK as an asylum seeker from Iran, Faryad spent more than a year living in an Islington contingency hotel while awaiting the outcome of his asylum application. Separated from his previous life and profession as a nurse, he was experiencing loneliness, anxiety and the lasting impact of the trauma that had forced him to flee his home.

Introduced to Voluntary Action Islington through the Union Chapel Asylum Project, Faryad was keen to stay active, meet people and reconnect with his community. With support to explore local opportunities, he began volunteering with The Stuart Low Trust, helping at community events by preparing food, welcoming participants and supporting people experiencing social isolation and mental distress. As his confidence grew, he wanted to do even more.

Faryad went on to volunteer with VAI, supporting drop-in sessions, encouraging other contingency hotel residents to get involved in volunteering, acting as an interpreter and helping people with volunteering applications and interviews. He also volunteered with the Union Chapel Asylum Project and took part in a range of one-off volunteering opportunities across Islington.

His commitment to supporting others was recognised when the Union Chapel Asylum Project team received the Volunteering Team of the Year award at VAI's Volunteer of the Year Awards in 2023.

Today, Faryad lives independently and works in a West London hospital, where he progressed from healthcare assistant to head nurse after completing the required exams -returning to the profession he had before he was forced to flee Iran.
His story demonstrates how volunteering can build confidence, create new opportunities and help people develop a sense of belonging while making a positive difference in their local community.

Rebuilding confidence through volunteering

A local resident was referred to Voluntary Action Islington while experiencing depression, panic attacks and a long break from employment. Wanting to reconnect with the community but lacking confidence, they were supported to find a volunteer role at the Light Project Community Centre, helping at the Food Hub and reception.

Starting one day a week and gradually increasing to three, volunteering helped them rebuild their confidence, communication skills and sense of purpose. Alongside volunteering, they enrolled on Adult Learning courses to improve their English and IT skills. Following a diagnosis of dyslexia, they received encouragement and support to understand their learning needs and continue their studies.

Working in the community centre, you deal with a lot of people from a diverse community which has boosted my confidence and connection in the community.

Before, I didn’t go out of the house and didn’t even know there was a community centre locally. Volunteering has built my confidence, and I’ve made friends who go on walks with me.

Thank you VAI for putting me in touch with this great opportunity. You believed in me and supported me. You are my coach and mentor.

Today, they continue to volunteer each week and are working towards becoming a Wellbeing Coach, using their own lived experience to support others facing mental health challenges.

Their journey shows how the right volunteering opportunity, combined with personalised support, can reduce isolation, build confidence and create new pathways into learning, employment and community involvement.

Meet Larysa, VAI's Community Volunteering Advisor

Hello, my name is Larysa and I volunteer at the Volunteer Centre Islington which is part of Voluntary Action Islington. I have been volunteering since 2024. I was motivated by a desire to help others by applying both my knowledge and volunteering experience. Previously, I volunteered as a primary school teaching assistant and as a maths tutor.

 

These roles helped me develop strong communication skills and played a key role in securing my first job in the UK. Also, after moving to the UK, I frequently supported other Ukrainian refugees by offering advice and guidance. Through this experience, I developed active listening skills, the ability to recognise individual strengths, offer meaningful encouragement, and inspire confidence in others to achieve their goals. I realised that these qualities could be useful to me in my efforts to give back to the community. This led me to apply for the position of Community Volunteering Advisor and begin my journey with VAI.

 

What I enjoyed most was learning from more experienced colleagues. I especially valued the opportunity to observe how they communicated with vulnerable individuals, how they identified their needs, offered appropriate support, and helped them overcome insecurities with encouragement and empathy. I also really enjoyed the various trainings I attended through VAI. The training sessions, including topics such as motivational interviewing and maintaining professional boundaries, have deepened my knowledge, and inspired me to further explore these subjects independently.

 

The benefit I have experienced personally is working as part of a team has helped me rediscover confidence in my own abilities and strengths. It’s important to me that my enthusiasm and dedication are supported and encouraged by those around me, this inspires me and gives me the freedom to express my creativity. These were exactly the feelings I experienced whilst volunteering at VAI.  I’m grateful for the theoretical and practical experience I gained here, especially in working with clients. I sincerely wish the team continued success in achieving its goals, along with ongoing growth and development.

 

I would recommend volunteering to others, give it a try. For those who are unsure where to start, I would suggest choosing an activity that you really enjoy. For example,  if you love reading, become a reading volunteer and share your passion with others.

 

Could you be our next volunteer? Whether you want to gain experience, meet new people or give something back to your community, we'd love to hear from you.

Meet Marlene - a volunteer making a difference locally

Marlene has been volunteering with Voluntary Action Islington for almost three years, supporting local residents to find volunteering opportunities and representing VAI at community events. Here, they share how volunteering has helped build their confidence, improve their wellbeing and given them a strong sense of purpose.

I have been volunteering with Voluntary Action Islington (VAI) for almost 3 years now as a Community Volunteering Advisor and find that volunteering has done so much for me in my personal and everyday life.  It has helped me to shape, rebuild and find myself. Volunteering has made me feel valued, appreciated and given me a sense of belonging, purpose and loved.

 

I am connecting with people in our drop-in sessions having informal chats and communicating with them advising and supporting them in finding volunteering opportunities.  I enjoy mixing and getting out and about in my community at our outreach events and volunteering fairs.  I find this very good for my mental well being and keeps me updated and involved in what’s going on in my local area.

 

Being active is the key and getting out and about physically and mixing and developing relationships with others through my hobbies and interests is very good for me.  I am a very versatile person and volunteering with VAI has given me confidence and has taught me not to limit myself in any area of my life.

 

I am a person that takes notice and has an eye for detail and pay attention to others.  As a volunteer mixing with members of my community, I listen to people’s experiences of life that touches my heart as I can relate, show empathy and want to help and make a difference in their life. I never stop learning and like to push myself all the time and tend to give myself a hard time if I am not sure how to do something but find with volunteering you get a lot of help, support and training.  I love my team and organisation I volunteer with.

Giving something back to my community, my time, effort and energy is so important to me, to just be able to touch some one’s life and make a difference.  I care about people and has always been a giver and not a taker and find it nice to help those that appreciate me, I find it’s very rewarding.

 

Volunteering can be a rewarding way to meet new people, develop your skills and make a positive difference in your community. If you're inspired by this story, we'd love to hear from you and help you find the right volunteering opportunity.

We are Islington's accredited Volunteer Centre

VAI is proud to hold the Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation (VCQA), a national quality mark recognising excellence in the strategic development of volunteering, good practice, developing opportunities, brokerage and the voice of volunteering.