This week, we are sharing the writing of participants in the 2023 Community Engagement Programme! In this blogpost, you can hear more about Annika’s CEP experience, specifically about her connections between faith and the community-based organising that her charity, Carers UK, does. 

What does community mean? As a social psychologist I think about this question a lot from an academic viewpoint. But recently I had the chance to experience it myself in a different way by participating in the LSE Volunteer Centre’s Community Engagement Programme (CEP) as part of a team that led a research project about carers of faith. Together with six other students from different academic backgrounds we worked together with a charity – Carers UK – to explore how faith impacts unpaid carers and how Carers UK can better support them.

When I think about faith, community is one of the first things that comes to mind. Practising and sharing your faith with others constitutes a core pillar in most religions and in talking to carers of different faiths we learned a lot about the impact a community can have on someone. Through the project we heard about the emotional and practical support a community can provide. We heard about the challenges of feeling disconnected from one’s community, especially because of misconceptions related to mental health conditions. We heard stories from carers longing for a community who understands them and their difficulties finding it.

And through the project, we learned about how to build a little community amongst ourselves. Over the ten weeks of the CEP our team, which started out as a potpourri of people, grew together as we learned how to communicate, structure ourselves and to play to everyone’s strengths.

So finally, what does community mean? I believe it’s people wanting to be part of a group, helping each other out and taking each other for what they are. Therefore, I am very grateful for having had the unique opportunity the CEP gave us and the humbling effect it had on us to hear the carers’ stories

If Annika has inspired you to volunteer, check out one of our other ongoing opportunities or book a one-to-one with David Coles, the Volunteer Centre Manager if you have more questions. And why not follow us on Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date with our events and opportunities and read our blog for more volunteering tips and stories.