Today is the second day of National Volunteering Week 2024 and we are continuing our celebrations by sharing a volunteer story which highlights how empowering volunteering can be.

Today’s story is from Gabriel Ayomide Osikalu who tells us how his volunteering has enriched his own life.

“My volunteer journey began when I attended one of the volunteer engagement sessions, organised by the Volunteer Centre, with some friends. Various ways and roles of volunteer opportunities were discussed and we were advised to sign up to I-VOL.

From then on I started volunteering as a community volunteer through The Stepping Stones program, where we plant trees and enriched the environment; it has been a great delight being part of such a program.

I also got an opportunity to volunteer as part of the Volunteer Engagement Team at the Volunteer Centre in Clondalkin. There I have been privileged to interact with a diverse community of volunteers and aspiring volunteers, helping them register to volunteer, following up on their community engagements and guiding them, whenever possible, to ensure they have good experiences while volunteering.

In general, I have learned a lot and it has helped me upgrade my skills and added confidence in my interactions with people of different backgrounds, while giving back to the community. Whenever I have an opportunity to volunteer, I become a much better person, mentally, emotionally and physically and I feel the desire to do more. I volunteered to give back to the community but the community gave back to me much more”.