Volunteering work keeps Betty busy

And, as Betty reveals, she does a great deal more besides!

Since 1999 she has been a Voluntary Regional Organiser with HOST UK. Having lived and worked overseas she had some awareness of the challenges of living in a different culture, away from family and friends. Host provides the opportunity for overseas students, mostly postgraduates, to spend a few days in the home of a Host family and experience something of family life away from University Residences.

Betty explains, “I had always volunteered when my family was growing up and whilst I worked full time as a teacher, however 11 years ago a serious illness brought my teaching career to an abrupt and unexpected end so I began to look for other things to do which I hoped would be of benefit to others and present me with new challenges.”

There are some 30-40 host families in Northern Ireland and over the past 10 years Betty has placed more than 600 students for visits.

“Apart from dealing with student visits and applications, my post also involves visiting potential Host families, discussing the challenges and opportunities in Hosting, providing support and trying to recruit new Hosts. I also host students in my own home, most recently a young man from Saudi Arabia who was studying at Liverpool University. I am always looking for new Hosts - all you need is a spare room and a willingness to entertain strangers!”

In 2004, Betty became aware of the increasing numbers of foreign nationals coming to live in Ballymena and the challenges presented both to them and to the town.

“I learned of a group called Ballymena Inter Ethnic Forum (BIEF) who were meeting on a monthly basis to provide support, advice and friendship to newly arrived workers and their families. I went along to their meetings and became involved in helping with functions and producing a local monthly newsletter.

“Two years ago BIEF became formally recognised by Ballymena Council and by the office of the First and Deputy First Minister as ‘the voice of’ and ‘advocate for’ the many different ethnic groups now living in the Borough. I became a Volunteer director of BIEF and continue to do so. I have made friends among a wide diversity of people I would not otherwise have met, had I not volunteered.

“All of my working life had been spent working with young people aged 11-18. My experience as a classroom teacher, together with my involvement with Pastoral Care and Careers education gave me an insight into the many challenges and difficulties young people have to face as they grow up - and I am not just talking about those who found Maths difficult to understand!

Dealing with offenders

“About 6 years ago I saw an advertisement for Mentors for NIACRO. I applied, was accepted and trained as a mentor. Since then I have worked with both young people and adults all of whom were adjudicated offenders, some on Probation and others subject to ASBOs. I meet them as someone who is not representative of any statutory body, whose role is to listen, provide support, offer friendship, and help them to set and attain personal goals.

“One of the advantages of being an older volunteer in these situations is that I am not seen as a challenge or threat. My husband says that young people ‘can identify me with their ‘Gran’, and generally they all get on with their ‘Gran’, I think the older ones maybe see me as their ‘Mum’.’

“My work with NIACRO has frequently involved considerable travelling, so more recently I have trained to become a Mentor with ‘Include Youth’ here in Ballymena. I have begun to work with young people making the transition from ‘in care’ living to ‘independent’ living.

“I have also in the past 11 years trained as an Addiction Counsellor, and worked as a volunteer with a voluntary organisation here in Ballymena for 4/5 years. I have also volunteered at the College providing one to one support for adults with a range of numeracy problems. I also volunteered for four years at a ‘Drop in Centre and Homework Club based in Dunclug Estate.

Volunteering

“In all aspects of volunteering I have found the training and support offered by the organisations I volunteer for to be invaluable. It is reassuring that there are people you can turn to for advice and support if things become difficult.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my volunteering; it has sometimes been very challenging, but always worthwhile. I have also had the opportunity to meet a wide and diverse number of people I would probably never have met, had I spent all of my working life in the classroom. I have learned a lot about myself, in particular that there is a whole big world out there that I can make a positive contribution to, regardless of my age, and so can you.”

Have you ever thought about volunteering? Would you like to take on a challenge, do something new, meet new people or help out in your community?

There are hundreds of volunteering opportunities available across Northern Ireland including fundraising, advice work, volunteering with children or animals, in hospitals, sports coaching or community development. To find an opportunity which suits you this Volunteers’ Week 1 – 7 June, go to www.volunteernow.co.uk or call your local Volunteer Now office on 028 2826 0460.