Vicki volunteers at Exeter Southernhay Child Contact Centre and has helped to spread the word about her centre with her university community.
“One of the modules of my Occupational Therapy degree course at Plymouth University was to explore the concept of volunteering. As part of this we were required to undertake a volunteering role within a local organisation of our choosing. Having previously worked for many years with children and families I was aware of contact centres and the vital role they play in enabling maintenance of contact for children and their non-resident parent and felt this would be an interesting and personally meaningful option to pursue.”
“The module was to be assessed via a written report about the perceived personal skill development and benefits of volunteering, and the role of occupation within the organisation. We also had to present our findings at an exhibition held at the university to our university peers, lecturers and members of the occupational therapy profession.”
“For the exhibition, I produced a poster highlighting key statistics and the role of contact centres as well as evidence of the positive impact maintained contact has for children and the perceived benefits of volunteering. I also used posters from NACCC and of particular interest to the attendees were the children’s books. The exhibition was well attended and received positive feedback. It was interesting talking with different people about the role the contact centre has; many were unaware of the service provided and I was able to refer people to the website for further information about centres within their locality.”
“I have found the experience of volunteering so enjoyable and am committed to continue in this role, the dedicated team of volunteers are a pleasure to work with and being able to support children’s positive contact with their non-resident parent is valuable and personally rewarding.”
Vicki – volunteer at Exeter Southernhay Child Contact Centre
