the volunteering site for 16-25 year olds in Surrey
Working with NEET Young People
Surrey vinvolved’s remit is to engage with all young people in Surrey, whatever their background or circumstances. We are particularly aware of the benefits that volunteering can bring to NEET young people as a stepping stone towards reaching their target outcomes. If nothing else, most volunteering provides the opportunity to develop at least two of the top four skills identified by employers as essential, namely teamwork and reliability. It can also develop many other skills and on occasion can even offer the opportunity get work experience, provided this falls clearly within the context of 'community benefit'.
We have had several really rewarding experiences working with NEET young people, and hope we can do more for this group in the future. We have recently been talking to the Surrey County Council Connexions, Youth Development and Youth Justice Service with a view to encouraging more volunteering referrals from these areas, and have already had some positive outcomes. For example, earlier this year two NEETs, referred from Guildford Connexions Centre, joined a team of young volunteers to make a promotional film about youth volunteering in Surrey. They got involved in all aspects of the project from planning and story-boarding to filming, dubbing and editing, learning new skills about the process of film making, as well as developing other skills such as reliability, teamwork and self confidence. The filming took part on several locations where young people were volunteering, and these two individuals also took part in many of the volunteering activities they were filming.
The piece below was written by one of our Youth Volunteering Advisers after working with a NEET volunteer in Woking:
How volunteering changed the life of one NEET girl!
There are many young people that struggle with formal education, finding work or staying committed to a project for more than a couple of weeks. Lots of different things hinder young people, from mental / physical / emotional / learning disabilities brought on by any number of experiences, upbringings or trauma. The Woking YMCA Ypod is one such place offering NEET young people a place to go to for some respite and support. One such girl, although very capable and intelligent, fitted into the NEET category. She didn’t work, had learning difficulties and disabilities and, when I first met her, lacked confidence and motivation.
Over the course of a couple of months I was able to help her to start volunteering in a local charity shop. Over the coming months she enjoyed volunteering there, however did struggle with some of the demands of the shop. By this time her confidence had grown and she was more motivated to do something positive with her life so applied to volunteer in a different local charity shop. Within a couple of weeks she was volunteering 5 days a week, working all day doing tasks such as working on the till, stock keeping, putting clothes onto the shop floor, interacting with staff, working in the office upstairs; all things she struggled with initially. I now regularly see her around town where she stops me for a chat. She seems happier in herself, confident, outgoing, and all she complains about are the long working hours (which I secretly think she enjoys).
Volunteering gave her a chance to step out and do something different, meet new people, take on responsibilities and has given her essential life skills such as confidence, team work, communication, handling money and working in a shop environment. I believe it has been a really positive experience in her life.
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