Jenna
Jenna shares her volunteer experience as a university student.
As part of my psychology degree at the University of Chester, I had the opportunity take part in a work placement so I chose to join Lymphoma Action for one month as an Office Projects Assistant. My main interest is in health psychology and my dissertation is about the language to use with people affected by cancer. Before joining I knew very little about lymphoma or the charity.
On my first day I quickly learnt a lot about lymphoma and understood the difference from other types of cancers. I got to speak with the Information and Support Team about how they support people affected by lymphoma and the important information and services they offer. I also read through the information booklets and Lymphoma Matters magazines.
At the end of my first week I was lucky enough to attend the annual National Conference where I helped at the volunteering stand, encouraging people to get involved. I got to attend all of the talks which really showed me just how important it is that people feel informed about their diagnosis, as well as being supported throughout their experience and how much Lymphoma Action has been this support for them. I also joined the volunteer's lunch which was a great opportunity to talk to other volunteers, find out more about their involvement and why they volunteer.
The talks at the conference were not only informative but an eye-opening experience.
In my volunteer role I got to do a range of tasks, some of which I had never done before. My main project was to plan the social media activity for #VolunteersWeek 2019. Although I use social media myself, it was a very different experience to plan and prepare content for a charity, but it has been really rewarding to see it come to life. As part of this social media activity I did a takeover on Twitter and Instagram which was really fun!
Another event I got to attend was the volunteer forum where volunteers from across the UK came together to discuss volunteering and how we can make it the best it can possibly be. It was brilliant to see so many ideas being shared!
Sadly it is my last week at Lymphoma Action but it has been a great experience and has really helped me with my career ambitions. I’ve learnt so much about how a charity runs and everything that goes on behind the scenes to deliver important services for people affected by lymphoma. It is definitely a career path that I’d be really interested to go down.
I've had the opportunity to see the positive impact Lymphoma Action has on people affected by lymphoma so I'd definitely recommend getting involved in volunteering.
If like Jenna you'd like to get involved as a volunteer in our office or helping us in your local community, register your interest in volunteering today.