Date published: 12 June 2019 by Digital Team

The DofE Award recognises extra-curricular activities undertaken by young people outside of their academic achievements, covering sport, skill development, physical challenge and volunteering – we offer students the opportunity to complete their volunteering section with us by joining our weekly sessions held at our Head Office.

Hi, I’m Molly and I am 17 years old. I currently attend Godalming College in upper sixth and am hoping to go to Loughborough University to study sports science. I love playing and watching sport as well, especially football.

I’ve been working on my Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and one of the sections involves spending time volunteering for a local cause. My sister had volunteered at Rainbow Trust for her DofE award, and really enjoyed the Tuesday volunteer nights so suggested that I did the same.

Different members of staff attend the Tuesday volunteering sessions so it’s interesting to find out about all the different departments involved in running Rainbow Trust. I’ve really enjoyed spending time with the staff that work at Rainbow Trust as everyone is so welcoming and friendly. I’ve also gained good life-skills which would benefit me in the workplace.

Every week is something different which makes it interesting and keeps you on your toes. You can help with a wide range of things; organising donations, writing thank you cards, making bunting, office admin such as laminating, printing and filing, or putting together welcome packs for people joining our fundraising challenges.

I would definitely recommend volunteering at the Rainbow Trust as I have found it a really fun and enjoyable experience – and you won’t find anywhere else with such friendly people. It has been great to know that even though it might seem like what we are doing is quite small, our hour a week directly helps the teams at Rainbow Trust to raise more money, attend more events and thank the amazing fundraisers who take on challenges for them.

If I could sum up my volunteering experience in one sentence, it would be: “A huge amount of bunting!”