Volunteers’ Week 2023 – Five Reasons Why You Should Become a Volunteer

1 June 2023

Today marks the start of Volunteers’ Week 2023 – a week for us all to come together, raise awareness and celebrate the fantastic work of volunteers across the country. Everyone volunteers for different reasons, whether it’s because of something personal to them, or simply to give back to their community.

Here at the BSAVA, volunteers are at the heart of everything we do, and we would not be where we are without them! Over 350 volunteers help us year on year to organise our world-class CPD, events and resources that the veterinary profession relies on.

To celebrate Volunteers’ Week, we’ve looked into the top five reasons why you should become a volunteer:

For your mental health and wellbeing

Volunteering can benefit those of all ages, but research has shown that it can increase feelings of satisfaction, self-esteem, and social connection. Just helping one other person during your day can improve your sense of wellbeing, positivity and depending on the volunteering work you undertake, it could improve your physical health too!

Gaining new skills

If you have a particular interest in a specific sport such as cricket for example, why not volunteer with your local team and see how you can help! Volunteering is a great way to improve your skills but also gain new ones. A lot of opportunities offer you training as part of your volunteering experience, so if you wanted to explore a new career path or simply develop your existing skills, volunteering could be a great way to do this.

Making new connections

Volunteering brings together people from all backgrounds and locations! Your circumstances might have changed, you might’ve moved to a new area or if you’re feeling a bit isolated, volunteering can introduce you to new people and can be a great chance to meet other like-minded people within your community.

Improve your confidence

You might just be a little shy and wanting to improve your confidence or get out of your comfort zone. Volunteering can be a great way to do this, by getting involved in jobs and tasks that you might not usually do.

You get a chance to give back

At some point within your life, you might’ve used the services of a volunteer or organisation run by volunteers, so volunteering gives you the opportunity to give back to those organisations and ‘pay it forward’.

There are several volunteering roles here at the BSAVA including regional, micro volunteering and trustee/director roles. You’re able to take part in the Volunteer Development Programme, which will provide training that may be useful in your day job and will equip you to progress within the Association, should this interest you in the future.

Find out more about the volunteer opportunities at the BSAVA here: https://new.bsava.com/community/volunteer/.

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