Volunteering with Parent Action: Celia's Story

My Experience Volunteering:

Celia's story

“I get to give my time to an organisation

working for the well-being of its community”

My name is Celia and I have been volunteering with Parent Action since October 2023. I come on Friday mornings at Mumspace, and I usually can be found chatting with mums, playing with children, helping with creative activities or making teas and coffees.

Those Friday mornings are always a pleasant and relaxing time for me. I’ve made friends with other volunteers and it is always nice to have a chat before the activity starts. At Parent Action, I am also learning about children’s development, through formal training and informal conversations, and I get to know more about the events happening in Southwark and the services available in the community.

It is wonderful to see children grow week after week. Some children who were shy and hesitant to play with others at first are now running around the room and making friends!

At Mumpace, I also find out how parents are doing and their challenges; I listen to their worries and hopefully make them feel supported.

I see how strong parents are, and I am very inspired by all those who commit to making their community a better place, be it by connecting with other parents and sharing advice in groups like these, or getting involved in Parent Action projects
to fight for everyone’s rights.

Volunteering makes me feel motivated and cheerful. At Parent Action, I get to give my time to an organisation fighting for the well-being of its community. Among other volunteers, I am part of a group of people who like me, believe that creating the conditions for parents and children to connect is essential to a thriving community. I think that spaces like Mumspace, and other Parent Action projects, break isolation and help people access the support they need – support that exists in their community but that they might not have heard of.

I also work for another organisation based in Southwark called ATD Fourth World ( ATD Fourth World UK - All Together in Dignity to Overcome Poverty (atd-uk.org) ). We tackle isolation and poverty in the community, and just like Parent Action, we work a lot with mums with younger children. This means that volunteering with Parent Action is a way for me to know the community better, and meet mothers who don’t know about ATD Fourth World but might need our support. Parent Action is of great help to parents who struggle and are looking for services to support them in Southwark. We can complement this at ATD Fourth World with one-to-one support and additional well-being activities, and create further opportunities for mothers to meet peers who face similar struggles.

Being a volunteer and giving my time to Parent Action is so rewarding. I am motivated to continue to volunteer at Mumspace, and work hand in hand with Parent Action, to strengthen community ties and break isolation in Southwark.

If you are interested in volunteering email: luna.vargasdiaz@citizensuk.org.