The Volunteer Centre is excited to continue celebrating amazing LSE student volunteers. Today we hear more from Anna Ward (BSc Politics and International Relations) who was honored with the award, Volunteer of the Year 2024. 

My volunteering journey started like most, a desire to give back having benefitted from the dedication of others. After winning LSE Volunteer of the Year, I don’t think it would be right to talk about how volunteering has impacted my life without mentioning the volunteers that started it all for me, and the volunteers who I now work tirelessly alongside. Girlguiding had a profound impact on my learning, growth and development. When I was young, my time at Brownies and Guides was invaluable as it provided me with a space away from any of the expectations and perceptions of my peers at school. I could lead a group without being ‘bossy’, I could learn without being ‘overly ambitious’ and I could have adventures and get muddy without being ‘uncouth’ and ‘ugly’. These are privileges not afforded to many in a patriarchal society; I volunteer to provide this safe space of learning and fun for young people.

It wasn’t until my wonderful friend nominated me for a volunteering award that I understood how much volunteering I do. Things such as organising a bake-sale for Women’s Aid with my friends in the Women in Politics Society or volunteering as a CSW delegate with UN Women UK just seem a part of day-to-day life. Volunteering is about being generous with your time for others. Our world needs more compassion and kindness, when we volunteer, we are generous with our time, as a tool for communal good rather than personal gain. It was not until I started my career journey at the LSE that I truly realised that by volunteering, I would also benefit. It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of soft-skills and philanthropic to prove to some unknown employer that you too are a good and talented individual.

But this is not what motivates me. It often feels difficult to drag myself from LSE to guides on a Tuesday evening, especially in the wintery darkness. On the coach on the way home from Guide camp every year, it doesn’t matter how tired you are, that you haven’t had a moment to think for yourself and you can’t remember when you last showered, what matters is the young people with smiling faces who have been able to adventure in the countryside despite living in inner London. It’s the new friends and confidence and ambition that the young people leave with, which makes volunteering so important to me.

I encourage LSE students to think about the ‘volunteering’ you do away from what can be distilled onto a CV. What recentres your motivations from yourself to those around you? What actions are truly about the benefit of others?  What does it show us, and change, about the society we live in?

If you volunteer for the skills and the career growth, there’s no judgement from me – as a Girlguiding leader at a unit of over 200 young people between the ages of 4-18, if you’re a willing volunteer we want you! I say this because I think volunteering is a powerful tool that can change our outlook on society and can help us decide what is important beyond ourselves. I encourage everyone to volunteer for the benefit of those around us, for our communities, to give your time for free. If we want to live in a society where we do what is right for the many, rather than easy for the few, I think volunteering is a great place to start.

Being able to volunteer is a privilege, yet it is still difficult for those of us who have to juggle studies, part-time work and personal commitments. However, when our motivation to volunteer is due to our dedication to the lives of others, the demands are manageable. I believe we should volunteer because we want to help others, any skills we develop should be seen as an added bonus.

And if this has made you interested in Girlguiding please contact me for more information!

If Anna 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.