Meet Siobhan, a volunteer who surprised herself in discovering what she was capable of! Read her story here.
Siobhan started volunteering in 2021 after a change in jobs freed up more time for other activities. She looked at Serve the City projects after hearing a friend talk positively about them and picked the one nearest her home. Her goal was to do something meaningful and fun and meet new people along the way. It turned out to be so much more!
How did you become interested in volunteering? Was volunteering with STC your first volunteer experience?
SH: I became interested in volunteering after I changed jobs and had more time for other activities. I wanted to do something useful, meet new people, improve my French (I’m British) and hopefully have fun along the way! I didn’t have any regular volunteering experience before then. I ended up volunteering at a few places for a while, until I figured out which one I liked best.
Could you please share how long you’ve been a volunteer with STC and what initially drew you to our organization? How long have you been volunteering?
SH: I knew about Serve the City because a friend had taken part in some Big Volunteer Day events and had spoken positively about her experiences. So I looked at their projects and picked the one that was 15 minutes’ walk from my house! It happened to be with kids, but my motivation at the time was more that it was so convenient. That was nearly four years ago. Then nearly two years ago the project moved to the other side of Brussels, near the Atomium. It’s now the project the furthest away from me, but I’m hooked and still go!
What have you learnt from volunteering?
SH: I have learnt that you can do things that surprise you. I ended up being a project leader for a project that works with kids. I didn’t have any particular experience with kids – certainly not groups of kids – and I didn’t speak French very well. By chance, I happened to have a really enjoyable first experience with the kids’ activities club which made me want to go back. That’s what hooked me in.
Then it got really challenging and I got more and more involved in improving the project. We had to make lots and lots of changes through trial and error to make it work. I have learnt a lot about what drives behaviour, and that has had positive impacts in other parts of my life.
I’ve also learnt that kids are very forgiving, and the important thing is that they see you keep turning up and trying!
What projects are you working on?
SH: I’m one of the project leaders for the Atomium Kids Club, where kids aged 2-13 can come and play and do crafts and hang out with us on a Thursday evening. I’ve also volunteered at the Atomium Homework Club (with the same kids) and the Elisabeth-Simonis Homework and Crafts Club (different kids) – both of which I highly recommend! I have learnt a lot from seeing how other projects are run and from other project leaders and volunteers.
What are the biggest difficulties you’ve faced in your project?
The biggest difficulties at the start were working out how to create a fun and safe environment on the 10th floor of the old hospital where the kids lived with their families in a temporary reception center for refugees and asylum seekers. We gradually improved the project over many months and got it to the point where it was running really well and everyone was enjoying it.
And then the lease ran out on the old hospital and the center moved to near the Atomium, which is on the edge of Brussels. It’s about 40 minutes on the metro from Schuman, and we had to change the day and time to adapt to the new location. We lost all our volunteers except two, and all the project leaders except me.
So then we had to find a new core group of volunteers. The project doesn’t work without them. We are very grateful and fortunate because we did manage to build up a new group of volunteers, and they come regularly. Now, the project is really nice again.
How did you build up this new group of volunteers?
SH: I don’t know (laughs). I rewrote the text describing the project in the ServeNow app to be more engaging and clearer about what we did. Over time, people came, and they liked it, and they continued to come.
Now we have a core group of regular volunteers which makes the whole thing work in a much more relaxed way. People know each other, the kids know us, they know what is going to happen, we have a routine, it’s very structured. So, when new people come, it is easy for them to just slip into what is already there and have a nice experience as well. The main thing that I have learned is the importance of structure, routine, consistency, and rules. When new kids join the project, they look around, see what the other kids are doing, and integrate much more quickly.
When did you become a project leader?
SH: Around February 2022, so about 10 months after I started volunteering.
Why did you take on this responsibility?
SH: I was already behaving like a project leader, and then they asked me to become one. I was also working part-time, so I had more time than other people and was interested in making the project work better.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced while volunteering with kids, and how have you overcome them?
SH: The biggest challenges at the beginning were because of the environment in the original building. The room on the 10th floor had amazing views over Brussels but also the windows opened! It wasn’t absolutely safe, and that was quite stressful. We also had a challenge because most of the volunteers (including me) were not very experienced in working with groups of children. And then the children themselves, some of them had behaviors that we were not familiar with, so it took us time to understand how to relate to them in a way that made them feel safe and reduced some of the challenging behaviors.
That was in the beginning, right now, 4 years in do you still feel like you have big challenges like this?
SH: No, this is the lovely thing. The new center has much more space for the indoor activities, and a large garden, so in the summer we can be outside. The building is completely safe and the experience of living there is nicer, so the people who work and live there are more relaxed. We know how to run the project well, so the main challenge now is finding volunteers.
Are there any stories you’ve experienced or been told by a benefactor that still resonate with you?
SH: I was told in the old center that virtually the first word of one of the very young kids (who was too young to come to our activities) was the name the kids called our activity club (and the homework club)! It showed that the kids talked about it a lot when we weren’t there, that it was a big thing for them.
The kids often want to show me and the other volunteers what they’ve made or how they improved at something. Like the 10-year-old who learnt to skip at our club and dragged me over to the skipping area one week to show me just how good she was now!
And then having a small child trust you enough to fall asleep on you is always gratifying (and often a good upper body work out)!
Are there any children that you are really attached to?
SH: I get more attached the longer the kids are there – some of them have been there years, and so we start to have a shared history.
What motivates you to continue volunteering?
SH: Generally, when I arrive in the building – and this is true for all the volunteers who come to the project regularly – when the kids see you, they scream with delight, rush to you, hug you, ask what activity is next, and then another child sees you and does the same thing. That’s always lovely.
One of the things I am really proud of about this project is that it can and does run without me. The volunteers are really good, and we have a really good co-project leader, Anais. I have absolute confidence in everyone else, and that means I get to relax more and enjoy the project. And also, it’s fun, it’s a really nice project. When you see a kid master a new skill, or proudly show off their latest creation to you, it’s lovely.
What positive benefits have you seen in your life since you started volunteering?
SH: Working with kids has given me more experience of dealing with big emotions and conflicts. I think I have become kinder and more patient with others. Learning about why the kids behave in challenging ways, and how we can help them be less chaotic, has helped me be more understanding with adults as well. I’m more likely to consider that the other person has a good reason for doing what they’re doing, even if I find it really annoying!
What is your favorite thing about volunteering?
SH: Seeing everyone – kids and volunteers — being mutually delighted to see each other!
What impact do you think volunteering has on the children that you help?
SH: What I see is that we create positive experiences that turn into happy memories. It might not seem like much – an hour or so a week of interaction in a room with lots of kids in it – but what’s important is the kids see that we think they are fun to be around, that we are interested in them and what they are doing. That we like them. It’s not our role to solve the many problems they will face outside the center. We give them a safe space to be themselves and relax with friends. It’s a break for them and their parents.
What advice would you give to someone considering volunteering with kids for the first time?
If you like being around kids, you’ll probably like our project. Language is not as big a barrier as you might think. If you’re kind and patient and playful and attentive, that will get you a long way! There are always other adults around, so if you’re ever unsure about something, you can ask. It will not be that different from hanging out with your nieces/nephews/friends’ kids, although possibly much louder! You can choose what you do, and we actively encourage you to do what you enjoy!
