{"id":30055,"date":"2023-06-05T10:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T09:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=30055"},"modified":"2023-06-23T17:01:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T16:01:36","slug":"how-volunteering-helped-me-find-the-right-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/how-volunteering-helped-me-find-the-right-career\/","title":{"rendered":"How volunteering helped me find the right career\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At first, Jenny was simply looking for something to fill her summer holiday, but volunteering with Sense helped her decide upon her career as a special needs teacher. She explains what made the experience so meaningful and what keeps her coming back.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of my first year of university, I was looking for volunteer opportunities to keep me busy over the summer. I saw Sense was recruiting for the accessible holidays<\/a> it runs for disabled people and I thought I\u2019d give it a try. I loved the experience so much that I now plan my summers around them. Once, I even went on two Sense Holidays in one year! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was nervous going on my first holiday because I didn\u2019t know what to expect. But the holiday leaders were really supportive, which helped me settle in. Each year, we have such a fun, exciting time. Once, the holiday was in a water sports centre, which was amazing. We went speedboating and paddle boarding and on the hottest day of the trip we all jumped in the water. It\u2019s a lovely memory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteering on Sense Holidays has been really rewarding. I\u2019ve forged such strong bonds with the holidaymakers and there are so many opportunities to try things that I would never do on my own. I never would have imagined I could take a deafblind person kayaking or abseiling! It\u2019s opened my eyes to what\u2019s possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a special needs teacher. I credit Sense with that decision.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve learnt a lot from volunteering with Sense. When I was at university, I knew I wanted to go into teaching, but my experience on Sense Holidays made me realise I could combine that goal with working in special needs education. I\u2019m now a special needs teacher, and I credit Sense with that decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day at work, I see kids who would love a holiday like the ones Sense organises. I also see parents caring for children with a variety of complex needs and I can see how much some of them need a break from caring, which Sense Holidays helps to provide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Become a Sense Volunteer<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

People say they couldn\u2019t do it. But it\u2019s a case of getting over that first hurdle. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I talk about Sense Holidays to my friends and a lot of them say it sounds amazing but that they could never do it. I think it\u2019s a case of getting over that hurdle of not thinking<\/em> you\u2019re the right person for it. To volunteer with Sense, you just need enthusiasm and to want to join in with different activities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It helps to understand that, sometimes, simply being there makes a difference \u2013 just sitting and having a chat with the people we\u2019re supporting helps create the right experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a strong feeling of community at Sense. I missed it during the pandemic, but the lockdown led to me volunteering as a Virtual Buddy<\/a>, too, a service that helps combat loneliness in disabled people. I chat once a week with my buddy Angus, and we\u2019ve become close friends. Our weekly calls have become a big part of my week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteering is a lot of fun, but it also gives me a sense of satisfaction. When I started volunteering with Sense, I wanted to get something out of the experience for myself. But when I saw the impact on the people we were supporting, that\u2019s what has kept me coming back \u2013 I wanted to keep making a difference for others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Become a Sense Volunteer<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volunteering with Sense helped Jenny decide upon her career as a special needs teacher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[1216],"class_list":["post-30055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","display_author-jenny-clough"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30055"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=30055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}