Celebrating Volunteering - Abi's Story
When Abi left school at 18, she was already struggling with anxiety problems and without a clear direction ahead of her, gradually matters worsened to the point where just leaving the house was a real cause of anxiety for her. Self-esteem was at rock bottom when Abi was referred for counselling with Bedford Open Door a couple of years later.
Abi was encouraged through her counsellor to consider volunteering, and was sign-posted to CVS offices in order to have a chat about how volunteering might help, and what opportunities might be available for her. She was determined to try and sort her life out, but twice she came into Bedford to visit CVS and found herself unable to step through the door. On a third occasion, her Mother came along to support her, and with Abi still unable to gather enough confidence to enter the building, Mum came into the offices to explain the situation. Paul was able to meet Abi at her point of need and spent time with her outside of our office building. His friendly and understanding manner enabled her to talk about her situation, and he was able to find some potential volunteering options for her to take away and consider.
A few days later, Abi had a call from Paul. An opportunity had arisen within CVS to help with some database work, and Abi’s skills and abilities seemed to fit well – all she needed was the right encouragement to believe in herself.
Since then, CVS has benefitted from Abi’s help in making the most of our volunteer database and ensuring that we know when volunteers have taken on positions through our volunteer connect system. She spends approximately a day a week following up on loose ends so that we can see the full picture.
We are so pleased that Abi was able to take the bold step of starting to volunteer with us. Over the past six months she has started to feel a lot less anxious. Her improved self-esteem has enabled her to complete her personal statement and make University applications. Her volunteering experience has helped to fill the gap in her CV, and has meant that CVS has been able to contribute to a referee statement on her behalf. She will be heading off to York Universtiy in the Autumn to study Biology.
We are very happy to celebrate Abi’s success story with her. Her determination to confront her anxiety problems has brought her to this point and we wish her every success with her studies in the future.
Read more about CVS staff involvement in volunteering here.
