You are here: How volunteering helped a new mum find her strength and start a charity
Volunteering may have stretched my comfort zones and added to my already busy commitments, but it also added value to my life, rebuilding my knocked confidence and unearthing previously untapped inner resources. My work totally changed direction and for the past 30 years its focus has been on helping parents and other carers. Five years on from starting as a volunteer, I became a founding director of a charity called Parents At Work. Its aim was to campaign on behalf of parents’ rights at work and for more and better childcare. In 1994, we set up a special section for working parents of children with disabilities called the ‘Waving not Drowning’ campaign. Parents at Work merged with New Ways to Work in 2003 to form Working Families, the UK’s leading work-life balance organisation. ‘Waving not Drowning’, now run by Working Families, is still going strong today.
Family care needs for elderly parents led me to step back from a full time job and to juggle caring with part time projects with Carers UK, the hospice movement and elsewhere. More recently, the development of the WAND card, a convenient form of ID for children and young people with SEND to access suitable assistance and concession across the city, and working with the Parent Champions Wandsworth team has been really rewarding. I’ve learnt that volunteering doesn’t just make a big difference to others, but has made a massive difference to me too.
Find out more about volunteering as a Parent Champion. Learn more about setting up a Parent Champions scheme in your area.
More from our blog
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest news, research and resources from Coram Family and Childcare