Give… Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and will create connections with the people around you.

Giving to others can be very satisfying and it doesn’t even have to be done in an organised way. You could give by helping a neighbour or friend an ear to talk to or a helping hand; a small gesture can make a big difference for others as well as yourself.

Volunteering is one way of giving and it can be a good way of learning new skills, meeting people, gaining experience or even a way of taking the first steps back into the work place.

• Five Reasons to Volunteer
• Where to volunteer

Five Reasons to Volunteer

1. Improve your CV: Do you want to learn a new skill or do you feel that your CV has some gaps in it? Why not volunteer to skill yourself up and learn new skills. Companies and businesses like to see that people have volunteered and have given up their own time to help others.

2. Get Back Into Work: As well as filling in gaps in your CV, volunteering is a way of gaining valuable work experience, especially if you have been out of work for some time or are looking to change direction in your job. Hands on experience gives you a chance to build skills and connect with like minded people.

3. Improve your Confidence: By volunteering you will meet new people and learn things that you wouldn’t normally get to do and this can help to boost your confidence.

4. Improve your Health: While you’re busy ‘giving’ you could also be getting healthier - volunteer in a wildlife project to get healthier and enjoy the outdoors. There are lots of Countryside Management Partnerships based all over Kent and Medway. These community based projects have different ways of getting you in touch with nature and are a great way of getting all of your Six Ways to Wellbeing in one activity. Follow the Countryside Management Partnerships link to go to the website or find out more.

5. Meet New People: Volunteering means that you meet new people and will broaden your social network. If you volunteer for something that you believe in or care about you will meet people who think the same way as you do.

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Where to Volunteer

To search for your volunteering opportunities in Kent and Medway click on the links below:

If you live in Kent click here.

If you live in Medway click here.

Below are some national websites that you can search for other suitable volunteering opportunities:

Do It: Volunteering Made Easy

Community Service Volunteering

Time Bank

If you want to suggest a way to give or if someone giving time to you has made a big difference to your life, tell us what happened to you by clicking here.

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Information on this Licence is available atwww.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0

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