We have been awarded the Volunteer Friendly Award 2010 for our work with volunteers at the centre! Three volunteers and our Project Coordinator were present at the award ceremony and proudly received and certificate and trophy!
What is volunteering?
Volunteering is unpaid work and the gaining of experience and skills. In the DIWC this includes a range of activities such as organising fundraising, helping with planning, setting up and clearing away events, providing classroom assistance, help with admin work, providing one to one language support for some of the learners, and so on.
To some people it is an act of kindness, to others it is a means of achieving a personal goal or putting something back into society or a way to contribute to a cause. It is also a way of gaining new skills and improving job prospects.
For many organisations in the charitable and voluntary sector, like the DIWC, the money to run classes and activities is sourced from other trusts and funding bodies. This means that there are limited funds for the centre’s activities and staff. We rely on volunteer contribution to help the DIWC achieve new projects and create new opportunities for members and in return the volunteers will hopefully fulfill their potential and gain valuable experience.
Volunteering opportunities at DIWC…
Last year we worked with over 50 volunteers in a wide range of areas.
At the moment we are looking for volunteers to help with…
PR materials - such as AGM report artwork, posters, leaflets and corporate ID
Operations assistant - helping organise the centre resources and assist classroom physical needs and events
Buddying for learning (one to one support for English / Computing)
Handyperson(s) - (gardening, light DIY)
Classroom Assistants
As we are a women’s centre which aims to create an all women environment, most of our volunteering opportunities are for women only, however we can also accommodate men in some of our volunteering posts. Please feel free to call us if you are interested in further information.
DIWC Volunteer Award...
2011 Awards
Ewa Cebera has been volunteering at the centre since March 2011, as a volunteer finance worker. Ewa is originally from Poland and has a HND in accounting from Dundee college and a degree in finance from Poland. Ewa has spent 25 years working in finance in Poland, and has also taught as a primary school teacher for 4 years.Ewa is a hard and dedicated worker, and has worked most days of the week as part of the office team assisting with DIWC and
Wooden Spoon Catering accounts, providing a great amount of support, while improving her English at the same time. Ewa has recently become an employee of Wooden Spoon Catering as a bookkeeper, looking after the day to day finance. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ewa for all the hard work and commitment she has put into supporting our work in the office, as a volunteer, and we are very happy that she is now a paid member of staff. Well done Ewa!
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Agnieska Szary has been volunteering in the crèche since June 2010 as a childcare support worker. Currently she is completing her National Progression Award in Childcare, and volunteering twice a week in the crèche. Her gentle and friendly nature has made her popular among all the children. Agnieska is a hard worker and has become a valuable staff member and has contributed a lot to the work in the crèche. She has always been punctual and reliable that shows her professionalism. Agnieska has been supporting other staff members by helping in different crèche events, and has worked as a responsible team member.
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We look forward to working with Agnieszka for many more months to come. Well done Agnieszka!
Karen has been volunteering at the centre since March 2010 as an English teacher in our Monday conversation class for Intermediate learners. Karen is training in teaching ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and shares the responsibility of teaching the class with one of the project staff and has shown that she is incredibly competent in planning and delivering very creative and engaging English lessons. The class provides service users an opportunity to prepare and improve real life conversations around topics such as making a doctor’s appointment, which is important to function and integrate in the local community. Thank you Karen for all your support.