Why volunteering is good for you

Emma Smith says the benefits of volunteering outweigh the potential costs, especially if you can raise the money to fund yourself.

Rainforest in the Parque Nacional Corcovado, Costa Rica where Emma volunteered during summer 2005

As I’m currently a cash-strapped A level student facing the prospect of £3,000 top up fees at university next September, I might be inclined to agree that volunteering is just for the privileged. In fact, volunteering has encouraged me to question my life in the UK and see the world from entirely different perspectives.

In the past few years I have volunteered in numerous ways, from being a ‘Positive Play’ leader in a primary school, to planting (and digging up!) trees for the RSPB. My ultimate volunteering experience occurred this summer when I spent a month in the rainforest at a remote ranger station in the Parque Nacional Corcovado, Costa Rica. The park is dubbed ‘the Amazon of Central America’.

Due to volunteering I have met some amazing, like-minded teenagers from all walks of life who live hundreds of miles away from each other. My friends at home class us as ‘tree huggers’. Maybe we are. I don’t care as we’ve become ambassadors for charities such as the RSPB. We meet up several times a year at various events and it’s always great to catch up with friends sharing similar interests.

Some of my fondest memories in the UK have been whilst volunteering on reserves. In Yorkshire we removed non-native trees from a designated meadow area, which took an awful lot of co-operation, determination and optimism. By the end, everyone was very hot, tired, but desperate to carry on clearing! Also, erecting a bench in Birmingham during one of the hottest weekends of 2004 brings back great memories.

My month in Costa Rica was the most surreal month of my life. How many other people have spent their summer holidays painting a boiling hot roof in the middle of the rainforest, with Howler Monkeys throwing nuts at them? Not a lot, I’m guessing. Similarly, how many other people have created a car park with rocks taken from beaches of the Pacific?

I did have to contribute £1,500, take five weeks out of my summer (which could have been spent working to fund university), but the benefits outweighed the initial cost. I raised the majority of the money through sponsored events juggled into my AS June exam timetable (though my mother thought I was set to fail). The fact I had earned the money made the experience even more enriching, especially when I received my (very good) exam results in the rainforest.

At university I plan to volunteer in an Oxfam shop as I see this as another way to keep my environmental and ethical interests alive. After my degree, I hope my volunteer experiences will be a gateway to other opportunities and paid work in the UK and abroad. I encourage anyone considering volunteering to do so. Regardless of the amount of time you spare, your help will definitely be valued and it really does change your life.