Last night I had the awesome opportunity of meeting volunteers from all different arms of Oxfam Great Britain. Three of these volunteers are members of the Oxfam Youth Board and a serious force to reckon with.
I met up with Unkha, Olly and Cat, all of who had been involved in Oxfam for up to 3 years. The youth board is a collection of young people aged 16-23 from around the UK who meet up to ensure that Oxfam’s campaigns are in line with young people’s thoughts and interests and ensure that young people can take action too.
Unkha said “young people are often restricted in their ability to engage with NGOs as they can’t donate money or freely attend meetings or work. That’s why the youth board enables us to create ways that young people can participate in Oxfam and know that our contributions are meaningful and will help to shape Oxfam’s campaigning methods.”
Olly a youth board member said, “it gives us the chance to look at how Oxfam’s campaigns work for young people. We work on bringing Oxfam to young people but also encouraging young people to work with Oxfam.”
I asked the volunteers how they got involved with Oxfam and they said they actively searched for an opportunity that really allowed them to voice their opinions and contribute to change. And boy, do the youth board members know what they are talking about! Watching them in the gig speak so confidently about Oxfam’s work with the Coldplay audience, in a way that I would not have been able to do at 18, was inspiring.
This gig was a great opportunity for me to see how Oxfam Great Britain works and how people can volunteer with the organisation in so many different ways. Not only did we have the youth board members there as volunteers but there were also shop volunteers, interns, music concert volunteers and me, a staff member. It was quite impressive bringing all these people together to go out in a campaigning armada to talk about GROW. I can’t wait for tonight to see what everyone else does for Oxfam and how together we are creating change.
If you want to join the youth board, click here, or for more opportunities with Oxfam click here to get involved.
Meet the Oxfam Great Britain volunteers
Posted by Rachel Edwards on 02 June 2012 in Oxfam GB, Oxfam Youth Board, volunteers
I met up with Unkha, Olly and Cat, all of who had been involved in Oxfam for up to 3 years. The youth board is a collection of young people aged 16-23 from around the UK who meet up to ensure that Oxfam’s campaigns are in line with young people’s thoughts and interests and ensure that young people can take action too.
Unkha said “young people are often restricted in their ability to engage with NGOs as they can’t donate money or freely attend meetings or work. That’s why the youth board enables us to create ways that young people can participate in Oxfam and know that our contributions are meaningful and will help to shape Oxfam’s campaigning methods.”
Olly a youth board member said, “it gives us the chance to look at how Oxfam’s campaigns work for young people. We work on bringing Oxfam to young people but also encouraging young people to work with Oxfam.”
I asked the volunteers how they got involved with Oxfam and they said they actively searched for an opportunity that really allowed them to voice their opinions and contribute to change. And boy, do the youth board members know what they are talking about! Watching them in the gig speak so confidently about Oxfam’s work with the Coldplay audience, in a way that I would not have been able to do at 18, was inspiring.
This gig was a great opportunity for me to see how Oxfam Great Britain works and how people can volunteer with the organisation in so many different ways. Not only did we have the youth board members there as volunteers but there were also shop volunteers, interns, music concert volunteers and me, a staff member. It was quite impressive bringing all these people together to go out in a campaigning armada to talk about GROW. I can’t wait for tonight to see what everyone else does for Oxfam and how together we are creating change.
If you want to join the youth board, click here, or for more opportunities with Oxfam click here to get involved.