Volunteers' Week - Flora Hill, Cumbria CVS

Flora Hill, 20, from Kendal, has been volunteering for Cumbria CVS for around eight months. She decided to volunteer for Cumbria CVS because the roles on offer were really flexible and they allowed her to help out a wide range of charities and local communities all across the county from her home. Here Flora tells us more about her role. 

How did you become a volunteer?

Flora said: "I didn’t need any previous experience, just a creative eye and internet access."

What does your role involve?

Flora said: "I’m a digital volunteer and I help out each week designing graphics for different events and charities. Usually I’m sent one or two different briefs a week and then I use Canva to create digital posters or information sheets to be shared online."

What have been the best bits and challenges of your role?

Flora said: "I think one of the best parts of my volunteer role is being able to be creative and make something new each week. One of the challenges I’ve encountered is balancing volunteering around my university work, but the team at Cumbria CVS (especially Judith) are really flexible and understanding, and my role means I can easily fit time in to make graphics in the evenings or weekends if I needed to."

Top tips for people wanting to get into volunteering:

Flora said: "Don’t be afraid about doing something you’ve never done before! When I started at Cumbria CVS I’d never made any graphics before but everyone is so supportive and helpful and now it’s something I look forward to doing each week."

How can people apply for a volunteering role with Cumbria CVS?

Flora said: "You can find out more about volunteering at https://cumbriacvs.org.uk/volunteering/

"Cumbria CVS also has some useful information about volunteering during COVID-19 at https:// cumbriacvs.org.uk/coronavirus/covid-19-volunteering/ 

"Cumbria CVS provides support and advice on recruiting, managing and supporting volunteers through a range of activities including network meetings and training, sharing good practice and 1:1 support for Volunteer managers (and/or those responsible for managing volunteers).

"You can find out more about recruiting, managing and supporting volunteers here https:// cumbriacvs.org.uk/volunteering/recruiting-managing-supportingvolunteers/. "

You can download a PDF version of the case study here.