Red Sky Thinking, are a group of nine delegates from across a range of different Civil Service departments, currently participating in the Civil Service Local Leadership Academy.
Their Academy Project is to raise awareness of volunteering opportunities and help local charities to boost the confidence of individuals. As part of this they recently spent the day volunteering with 4Louis a charity based in Washington, which relies completely on volunteers.
How did they find the experience?
The quotes below were typical of the many we received.
"I got so much out of my volunteer day with 4louis. I felt good about myself for helping a charity in my community and I think the team building skills I learned were priceless".
"My day at 4Louis was my first volunteering experience. It was an enjoyable and very rewarding day. It made me realise how much charities rely on volunteers and that they would be unable to function without them. The experience has definitely made me want to volunteer more and provide help to charities whenever I can".
Moving forward
Red Sky Thinking will be attending HMRC Learning at Work events across North East sites. Why not visit their stall to meet them, ask questions and find out more about opportunities to volunteer.
Wednesday 1 November 2017, Washington
Wednesday 8 November 2017, Benton Park View, Newcastle
Wednesday 8 November 2017, Sunderland
Wednesday 15 November 2017, Stockton
Wednesday 22 November 2017, Peterlee
If you cannot make it to any of the Learning at Work days or you are in a different department and are interested in volunteering, details can be found on the Civil Service Local blog or the volunteering website do-it.org.
Please note that policy for volunteering differs in each department, read your departments policy to see if you qualify for paid or unpaid leave. You can also volunteer externally to any charity in your own time.