Clare Yip, MSc Management Information Systems and Digital Innovation 2018, is one of our Student Volunteering Ambassadors this academic year. This January, she led a group of students as they volunteered at the Young @ Heart 2018 Party organised by the Coin Street Community Builders. Read on to find more about her experiences and why not get involved with a one-off volunteering opportunity yourself?

Clare’s thoughts on her volunteering experience:

As an LSE volunteering ambassador, I had the 
opportunity to lead a group of students to volunteer at the Young @ Heart 2018 Party organised by the Coin Street Community Builders on 19 January 2018. I was attracted to the event because, as a foreign student, I seldom have the opportunity to interact with the local people in the community.

There were over 90 senior citizens at the party.
Although they are called “seniors”, I could totally feel that they were young at heart. Everyone was singing and dancing energetically with a big smiley face! We were responsible for welcoming and serving food to the participants at the party. They were very delighted to see us! Not only did we have the chance to talk to the local seniors, we also danced with them!

Volunteering is not just about giving help, we did enjoy the party and had great fun! I was grateful for having this opportunity to be involved in the community. Volunteering makes my living experience here much more special because it always brings me to a location that I would not visit as a tourist and I can also look at London from a different angle as “an insider”. I also met other fellow students, who are very passionate in helping people.

Although the party lasted until 10 p.m., the scheduled end time for the volunteering was 8 p.m. I was curious why some students stayed. “They might need help for clearing up,” some of the students said. I was touched to see how kind they were and I am glad that I met them. Isn’t this a good return from volunteering?

If I am asked what my greatest motivation for volunteering is, my answer will be – the more help I offer, the more faith I have in people. There are just so many good and interesting people I can meet from volunteering!

Laura Reynolds, the Community Programmes Manager at Coin Street Community Builders and LSE alum, was truly pleased with the work of the LSE volunteers. She said:

They were a fantastic group and really got stuck in helping.  It made a big difference to the event and to all the guests!