Our amazing volunteers
Our volunteers are amazing people, doing incredibly work and as Volunteers Week 2018 kicks off, we want to say a big thank you.
From students and grandparents to computer programmers and nurses, all sorts of people volunteer at the Ministry of Stories and help young people discover their own gift for writing.
This year we’ve already had 381 fantastic volunteers give 2,863 hours of volunteering time. That’s just over 17-weeks of story making, shop keeping, illustrating and so much more.
Their dedication meant we could work with 832 young people on projects such as Audio Stories and Speak Up, supporting young people like Uresa to tell stories in their own words.
We asked some of our volunteers about their experiences:
‘Volunteering as a writing mentor is a little bit of everything. It’s being there when a child who loves writing grabs a new idea and dives in, writing her heart out till you have to say ‘stop!’ five times. It’s sitting with a child who doesn’t like writing and asking questions till something unlocks and you finally see a spark in his eyes. It’s listening to teachers who are having a great year and they’re full of inspiring stories. It’s talking with teachers who are having a lousy year and giving them a new strategy or a new story about a student. Being a writing mentor uses your mind and your heart. It’s terrific!’ Shelley
‘It’s an inspiring experience where I get to interact with lots of great and creative minds! On leaving a session I always feel happily tired and energised!’ Chetan
‘No two workshops are ever the same and every time I volunteer as a writing mentor I’m surprised by the new and creative ways the young writers find to express themselves and get their imaginations firing. I also really enjoy volunteering in the Monster Supplies Store, especially explaining where our jars of snot come from and making sure customers don’t step on our invisible cat.’ Simon
Thinking of volunteering? We are always on the lookout for:
Help young people explore writing and get excited about the stories they want to tell.
Illustrators help bring young people’s imaginations to life. They are an essential part of our weekly Storymaking workshops, visualising children’s ideas as they create the beginnings of a story.
We need morbid mortals to keep Hoxton’s monstrous creatures stocked with their daily essentials, and also serve and unwelcome the odd human customer too.
We’re always on the look out for professionals looking to provide their skills ‘in kind’.
