I’ve volunteered for over 10 years now, from the PTA at Ava’s Primary and Prep schools, to Disability Swim Coaching, to Chair of Governors at a local school; with the Care & Inclusion Team at work and now with The Norwich School as a parent volunteer supporting sixth formers doing their own community service with Norfolk Special Olympics, a charity focused on bringing sport to adults with intellectual disabilities. I also volunteered as a Sixth Former, way back when, and maybe that’s where the bug came from, remerging in later life.

There’s something life affirming about volunteering that’s hard to describe, but the adage that volunteering gives you more than you ever put in is true. It ticks all the boxes on the Wellness Form: It’s proven to be good for mental health, it’s a powerful way to hone new skills and support career development, it provides social connection and it absolutely adjusts your perception of life and gratitude. It just makes you feel better!

So, when Norwich School put out a call for parents to support their Community Service program by volunteering alongside students, it was a natural and easy step for me to offer to help. Getting to choose a service that fits your timetable, lifestyle and interests was a bonus. So many different opportunities from creative and media (definitely not me!), to English Support for refugees (that would have meant working alongside my own Mother – so no!) to event committees and a multitude of sporting options. Something for everyone, a time for everyone, and for me an easy choice to make, continuing work I’d done years before with Teenagers with disabilities.

And so, every Friday lunchtime, during a “meeting” booked out in my work diary (with the full support of my manager of course!), I spend an hour at UEA Sportspark helping the inclusion team from UEA and Special Olympics, alongside three sixth formers, bring sport to around 35 Adults with varying levels of disability. Some are wheelchair bound, some non-verbal, some with mild intellectual disabilities, many with Down Syndrome. What they all have in common is a shared joy in physical activity at whatever level suits them. They are fiercely competitive, many compete, always keen to do that little bit more, full of joy, full of conversation and sometimes as cheeky and difficult as teenagers. I leave lighter in the shoulders and happier in the heart every single week.

Aswell as the joy of volunteering myself, I also have the privilege of watching sixth formers learn, embrace the same joy, realise how fortunate they are and develop skills they mostly won’t have had before. It’s not always easy, there are challenges, especially working with adults to navigate, but what great lessons to learn in a safe place, and what great skills to take forward in life. Three girls who started slightly quietly and not quite sure of themselves, are now helping to run sessions themselves, know every attendee by name, are inspiring other young women in the group and look like they’ve been doing this for years.

One of those girls is my daughter. How lucky I am to spend an hour a week with her, not talking about UCAS, or homework, or sports coaching or how much sleep she got or didn’t. Just an hour a week enjoying bringing joy to others, together without having to talk about anything. Watching her learn new skills, and navigate new challenges, and above all, seeing her finally get it. Why I volunteer, why I give up time, because it gives me back more… tenfold.

And of course, I hope that bug, the one that lay dormant in me for 20 years, is well and truly instilled in Norwich School’s young people, because they, like me, might not realise yet just how much they are already learning, and how much they might get in the future from doing something for others. Skills, friendship, joy, gratitude and opportunities they didn’t see coming. It’s often surprising the people you meet and the connections you make through this kind of ‘work’. Amazing, interesting people with all sorts of connections that might just open a new door or a new passion, both for the sixth formers and for us as adults.



So, if you have an hour a week free, if your company supports volunteering in the community, if you’re looking to develop new skills or make new connections, I cannot recommend supporting the Community Service program at Norwich School highly enough, there really is something for everyone to get involved in.

Lighter shoulders, happier hearts and helping our own children grow and develop skills for life... it doesn’t get much better than that for an hour a week!