Being a Volunteer for NCT

In March my local NCT (National Children Trust) sent an email out asking for people who had a few hours spare to help. I replied saying I was interested and it was suggested that I come to a monthly meeting to find out more of a role I was interested in, by the end of the meeting I was voted in on the committee I was that eager to join.

The NCT was launched in 1956 and it aims to give new parents (whether it's their first or beyond child) an accurate and impartial information in the first 1,000 days of their child's life. They also campaign for better rights, care and facilities for maternity and new parents, with back up from in house research. Also provides support through their online website, helpline, courses, parenting groups and Nearly New Sales. This is open to everyone.

As a new Mum I know how lonely and daunting it came be, even 5 months down the line it still can overwhelm me. I wanted to use what little experience I had to reassure other Mums as well as be able to pick other Mum's brains too. It also gave me an opportunity to use the skills I had from admin and customer service to make sure I till kept my own grey cells working while I was away from work.
I am the Membership Co-ordinator, which to put it simple is a jack of all trades and master of none. If you email our district a high majority of the time it will be me, I am there to make sure that members get what they need as well as send out emails and mails on what is going on in the district. I also admin our Facebook page for the High Wycombe District. Membership means that we can have a consistent income so we can carry on the work that we do, it also gives member early access to the Nearly New Sales (which is why I was a member in the first place, guiltily).

I've now been doing the role for just coming on 3 months and its been really rewarding. I even got over my anxiety of meeting new people to run one of our Bumps and Babies parenting groups for not just one week but two. This weekend I also did my first Nearly New Sale as a volunteer, not only was it busy, hard work and tiring but it was really enjoyable, we raised lots of money for our Breastfeeding clinic about to open in September and I scored some amazing bargains! (Stokke Tripp Trapp RRP £200 with accessories, got it for £45!)

Without the people stepping forward and volunteering the district nearly closed this year, thankfully we didn't, however that is a huge amount of people who would of lost vital support. Volunteering takes about a few hours of my time during the busier periods, which I work round Beth's sleeping pattern. For those few hours I feel that if I can reach one person then it makes a huge difference.