Read Caitlin's story of volunteering alongside her studies
Caitlin Holford, a recent Photography BA (Hons) graduate from the University of Portsmouth, undertook several volunteering roles throughout her studies.
Inspired to gain more photography skills outside of her course, Caitlin thought volunteering would be a good place to start with this. She spoke to the Volunteering team at the Careers & Employability Centre, who advised Caitlin of the kinds of volunteering roles available on MyCareer, and gave her guidance on how to apply.
Caitlin’s first role was as a Photographer with an organisation called Toucan Diversity, who provide equality and diversity training to help support disabled people in the workplace; here she was taking photographs of the training and fundraising events for the organisation’s website. She then moved on to become a Vintage and Retro Photographer for the Sue Ryder charity shop, taking images of stock for their social media pages, and helping them to create a visual catalogue of their existing stock. As well as boosting her photography and editing skills, both of these experiences also helped Caitlin gain experience of working with lots of different people, and the ability to work independently.
In her final year, Caitlin volunteered with No6 Cinema in the Portsmouth Dockyard; here she undertook a variety of roles, including ushering and working at the box office to sell tickets to customers - which was her favourite! Caitlin was able to develop her customer service and teamworking skills, and as she enjoyed it so much, was able to continue at the cinema after her graduation.
I have really enjoyed my various volunteering roles while being at university…I don't think I would have enough skills and experience to be able to apply for jobs without [them].
If you would be interested in volunteering, why not attend the Volunteering Fair 11am to 2pm on October 26th at the Third Space? Forty different not-for-profit organisations will be in attendance to help you find a volunteering opportunity that’s right for you.
For more information about volunteering, please contact the team on volunteering@port.ac.uk, or book an appointment. You can also browse the volunteering opportunities available via MyCareer.