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Community Service Organisation Volunteering

 

Dozens of boys are involved with the Community Service Organisation and some of them choose to serve through giving their time to groups in their local area. Boys are required to spend at least an hour each week working with others. Some of the reports written by pupils following their experience are published here below:

  

Volunteering with the Beaver Scouts

Since September, most Monday evenings, I have attended 3rd Elstree and Borehamwood Beavers Group. Beavers is a weekly club held at my synagogue, at which boys aged 6-8 years old, attend. Beavers is a branch of the Scouting movement which I actually attended until I left after finishing cubs.  The main aims of are that children can come to Beavers to make friends, have fun, share and make progress. They will take part in several weekly activities in which they will acquire social and other useful skills. I arrive at Beavers at 5:25 p.m. on a Monday evening, by then, all of the young ‘Beavers’ are starting to pile into the hall, where they have a run around until the register is taken. 

Having asked them to sit down on the floor in a circle, Miles, (the leader of Beavers) or myself will take the register whilst asking each child individually what exciting things he has done in the past week.  

Usually after the register is taken, the Beavers are given an opportunity to play a game involving running about, which normally is a successful way of decreasing their large amounts of energy, allowing them to sit down and take part in their forthcoming activities without being too noisy! 

Then, the Beavers get into their assigned groups, which this year take the name of Birds. They are: Swallows, Swifts, Robins and Seagulls. In each of these groups, there are five Beavers in which they conduct their activities with. Some of the recent activities, which they have taken part in are: origami, plant growing, role-plays and a Nature Reserve Trail. Once they have completed their tasks, they receive a badge, which they sew onto their uniform, so that other Beavers can recognize their achievements. I believe that it is a great opportunity for them to learn and to play for one and a quarter hours each week.   

At this moment in time, there is one main leader, Miles Redbart who organises all of the events and camps, and he is trained so that he can successfully manage the Beavers. Miles is excellent at controlling the children and I admire how he manages to give each one of the twenty Beavers such quality individual time. Whenever they need him, he is always there for them.  There is also a Senior Leader, who is the Group leader of the whole of 3rd Elstree and Borehamwood Scout Group, named Clive Butchins, who oversees Beavers and provides valued additional assistance to the group. 

Finally, there is myself and another teenager who is also helping out for his Duke of Edinburgh Award. I provide assistance with all the activities, take the register and help the children with their individual needs. 

I feel that by helping and giving my time to Beavers, for my Community Service, I am not only able to develop my leadership skills but also able to meet children and spend time with, who walk over to me to chat, ask for help and listen to my guidance. I believe that it is a great experience, which allows me to give back my time to an organisation that I used to attend and the time, which the past leaders gave me. When I was around seven years of age, and attending Beavers, I looked up to the helpers and thought how great it is that they are spending time with us, and with the experience of Community Service, it allowed me to do the same.

At the end of this academic school year, when I leave Beavers, I will be sad to let go of this experience and will surely miss it. In general, I do encourage this option to be chosen for Community Service for the reason being that it is an experience, which not only do I enjoy but also other people benefit from. 

Phil Cohen, a Fourth Former at City of London School

  

Volunteering with The Winchester Project

Over the past school year, I have attended ‘The Winchester Project’, an organisation helping disadvantaged children and young people in the Swiss Cottage area of the London borough of Camden. It is very local to Swiss Cottage Underground tube station and easily accessibly by several bus routes. It runs a variety of educational and recreational activities every week throughout the year, including:

•  an after-school club with school pick up service;
•  Summer, Easter and half term play schemes;
• Youth club and young people's workshops, outings and conferences;
• Multi-sports, football training and competitions;
• Coaching courses in football.

In 2006, Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre was built. This is located in the heart of Swiss Cottage, in North London, and is within 50 metres walking distance from the Winchester Project; it offers a state of the art, indoor swimming pool, a spacious gymnasium, and an all weather outdoor five-a-side astroturf football pitch, which can double up as a tennis court. 

I have mainly focused on coaching up to 20 children in the 8-12 year-old age group on the astroturf pitch. As I began my year, I worked as an assistant; but as the year has progressed I have been given the responsibility on a number of occasions of running the sessions on my own. The coaches have taught me extremely well how to handle kids and to train them to be good footballers.  

Every Tuesday afternoon from 5.30 to 6.30, I attend the football pitch, ensure the goals are in place, and complete the health and safety forms. I then register the children, before setting up for each session. If I assist the other coach(es), then I will help them do the drills they choose, otherwise I will decide the training scheme for that session. It will normally consist of a five minute run to warm up, and a series of stretches following that. On completion of that task, I set out a passing or shooting exercise which will last ten minutes. That might be followed by a skill game such as ball possession or a dribbling exercise in teams. Then I will let them play football for the last half an hour. During the match I may intermittently stop the game to bring to everyone’s attention ways of improving their game, such as their positions. 

Over the past year, I feel my teaching/coaching skills have improved and that I am now able to take a session at a higher level, and aim to do so in the future. The other coaching staff have all been very encouraging and welcoming to me, and have given me plenty of praise. I am so grateful for the opportunity to teach children a sport that I myself am so passionate about.  It has been a very worthwhile experience getting to know youngsters from less fortunate backgrounds and motivate and encourage them to improve their skills, interact as members of a team and enjoy the whole experience.

Navdav Zekaria, a Fourth Former at City of London School

  

Volunteering at Riding for the Disabled

For my CSO work, I have been helping the Riding for the Disabled Association at Lea Valley Riding Centre. The centre is located on Lea Bridge Road near to the ice rink. This work involves helping with the actual riding sessions they do for the disabled groups whenever possible, and helping around the centre when I cannot help with the groups. Because the groups generally only operate on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons I can only do them during the holidays, which I have done whenever possible. During the school terms I can only go on the weekends.

When I go on non-session days I help take care of the horses, feed them, take them out, do odd jobs, etc, and help with lessons by leading the horses round.

Helping with the RDA sessions generally involves leading the horses round and ensuring that the riders do not lose control or fall off. The lessons last from 30-45 minutes depending on various factors, and the association runs two lessons each Tuesday and Thursday, each with usually around 4 people to ensure they can all receive attention if need be. Usually the RDA tries to have two people walking with each disabled person to ensure accidents don't happen. Most of the people either live in residential homes with carers, whilst some live with their families, and usually these people come with them to the centre and occasionally walk with the more severely disabled people to help ensure nothing goes wrong.

Previously I knew very little about them, and I did not really know about how difficult life was for them and their families, and I sadly think I took a rather dim view of them before I started RDA work as my knowledge about them was so limited. I believe this knowledge has made my judgement and views about them a lot fairer than they were, and I sympathise with them and their families a lot more now that I know more about what they are like and what life is like for them.      

As well as allowing me to understand a lot more about disabled people, helping with the RDA has helped me get out in the great outdoors a bit more, and do more in the fresh air rather than staying inside for most of the day. And it has also let me do a bit more physical exercise than I did before, so it has changed my lifestyle a bit too. Finally, it also feels good to help other people for no reward, to be charitable to other people simply out of a desire to help.

James Rentoul, a Fourth Former at City of London School