Words by Smiley Team
Being a volunteer is no easy feat. It takes time, energy, imagination – and a lot of commitment.
This is something Sarah Swaysland, 38, knows well. “I believe that everyone has something to give, and everyone can find enjoyment from giving back to others in some way,” she says.
On her site, The Volunteer Idea, Sarah shares her volunteering experiences, as well as tips and inspiration to encourage others to get involved, too. She first got the volunteer bug in 2019 during the Cricket World Cup, where she helped out.
“I got involved with that project specifically because I really enjoy cricket and I was interested in seeing what goes into a huge cricket tournament from a behind-the-scenes angle,” she says. “We also happened to have an amazing England cricket team who stood a chance of winning (and won!)”
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But since then, she’s continued to offer her services, for free, to help the greater good. And she wants other people to know they can do the same – and feel good for it.
“I volunteer because I like making new friends and I like doing things for other people,” she says. “I’m an extrovert, so really need to interact with others – volunteering was a real saviour during lockdown because it meant that I was able to be around others and feel like I was adding value.”
It was during lockdown that she set up her website to inspire others. Like many, she lost her job at the beginning of Covid, and wanted something to do. “I’d been doing a bit of soul searching and was potentially looking for a career change, so I decided not to put pressure on myself to get a new job (I had some savings to fall back on) and just started finding organisations to volunteer for,” she says.
“I wanted to record my journey and encourage other people to volunteer, so I got an off-the-shelf website and started publishing what I was doing.”
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Some of her most memorable volunteer experiences in the past few years have been: “Being jumped on by a squirrel monkey at London Zoo; writing a press release about Pickles the Swan’s 30th birthday for Leeds Castle; hanging out with my local MP on a weekly basis at the local food bank; and my first night on the scoreboard volunteering at AFC Wimbledon with my sister – AFCW won 5-3, and we did not expect an eight goal thriller!”
Her advice for volunteers? “Don’t be flaky. If you’re going to commit to something, make sure you’re able to do the job,” she says. “A lot of organisations will rely quite heavily on you, so if you are unable to commit to something you need to be straight-up with them.
Find more tips and advice on volunteering on her website, The Volunteer Idea.
