Volunteers' Week - Colin Swan, Cumbria CVS

Colin Swan, 56, from Barrow-in-Furness, has been volunteering for Cumbria CVS less than a year. He was volunteering at Barrow Library when he decided to start volunteering at Cumbria CVS to expand his creative skills in graphics and multimedia. Here Colin tells us more about his role.

How did you become a volunteer?

Colin said: "I had volunteered with Barrow Library for over 10 years where I taught Information Technology (IT). When I finished my IT Foundation Degree at Furness College, I started volunteering with Cumbria CVS."

Why did you decide to become a volunteer at Cumbria CVS?

Colin said: "I decided to volunteer with Cumbria CVS because I wanted to expand my graphical design and multimedia skills such as video production and editing which is what I’m interested in."

What does your role involve?

Colin said: "My voluntary role involves designing graphical backgrounds and basic video editing."

What have been the best bits and challenges of your role?

Colin said: "I have really enjoyed the variety of the role as every day is different. One of the challenges of the role is working out how to produce new designs in Photoshop."

Top tips for people wanting to get into volunteering:

Colin said: "Don’t be afraid of the challenge of making a difference for you and your community."

How can people apply for a volunteering role with Cumbria CVS?

Colin said: "You can find out more about volunteering at https://cumbriacvs.org.uk/volunteering/

"Cumbria CVS also has some useful information about volunteering during COVID-19 at https:// cumbriacvs.org.uk/coronavirus/covid-19-volunteering/

"Cumbria CVS provides support and advice on recruiting, managing and supporting volunteers through a range of activities including network meetings and training, sharing good practice and 1:1 support for Volunteer managers (and/or those responsible for managing volunteers).

"You can find out more about recruiting, managing and supporting volunteers here https:// cumbriacvs.org.uk/volunteering/recruiting-managing-supportingvolunteers/"

You can download a PDF version of the case study here.