Sitting down with Ben, he illustrates how much he’s changed
as a person since deciding to volunteer with the Prince’s Trust and his placement at Manor Farm in Walsall.
Ben has just completed a period of voluntary work with Manor Farm Community Association on their widely-acclaimed projects such as the Silver Scheme funded through the Community Lottery Reaching Communities Fund. This is a service which actively combats loneliness and social isolation amongst older people in Walsall.
Ben describes himself before his voluntary work as reticent and socially anxious.
It’s hard to believe it when he tells me that just a few weeks
ago he’d have a hard time even speaking to another person.
The Prince’s Trust and Manor Farm are charities who work
together with thousands of young people across Central England
each year, providing them with the tools they need to succeed.
They help improve how a young person thinks about themselves
and their prospects; as well as give them practical skills to help
them enter the workforce. And in Ben’s case, they’ve helped
improve his confidence and self-belief dramatically.
He says,
‘I now feel that I can enter social situations and engage with a
variety of people thanks to these two great organisations.’
Ben is now lively, talkative and struggles himself to believe just how much he has developed in such a short time.
He is now taking a course to help him with public speaking –
a necessity for his dream job as a politician. Unlike how he felt a short time ago, he now thinks about the future with relish. The guidance that the Prince’s Trust has given him, and the support gained at Manor Farm has certainly helped make that dream job in the future possible.
Are you interested in voluntary work? Would you consider spending a few hours each month helping people who need your support? If you would like to find out more, please call Carol Wilson on 01922 614316 – you’ll be made very welcome!
Manor Farm Community Association’s Silver Service is funded through the Community Lottery Reaching Communities Fund to whom we express our sincere gratitude.
