Benefits of Volunteering In September 2015 I interviewed Patricia Hendricks who works at Woodford Green library and plays a main role in recruiting volunteers about the benefits and importance of volunteers on our local communities.

During this interview, it was clear that she felt that volunteering was crucial to our community working smoothly and without it many of the activities that happen during the holidays or at weekends, especially to entertain younger people, would not be able to happen in the absence of the helpers. I proceeded to ask her how volunteering impacts upon the working mechanism of Woodford Green Library and she replied, ‘we rely on volunteers quite a bit since we have a certain number of activities that we have to hold but we often put more than that number on since they are so popular especially amongst children. Since we have so many activities on, particularly in holidays, the volunteers are absolutely beneficial in ensuring that the activities run smoothly and are enjoyable to everyone involved.’ After hearing this, I next asked Patricia what type of activities the library hold to the public. She answered, ‘we hold various craft activities for children, a summer reading challenge for children, various book reading clubs for adults and also reading clubs for children and infants.’ I then asked whether they receive a large number of applicants for volunteers and she replied ‘we do get quite a few applicants and a large proportion of them are aiming to volunteer for their Duke of Edinburgh award.’ If you are interested in volunteering there is a volunteering fair on Thursday 5th November 11am-2pm at Redbridge Town Hall.

By Rebecca Hampson, Bancroft’s School