Jon Gildersleeve this is for you! Thanks for asking me to write about volunteering.
Why I got volunteering:
It was an interesting concept to me years ago, that if I was not working, I could get some experience, gain new skills and make friends by giving my time, whilst getting expenses covered. It was a win-win offer and much preferred to sitting at home wondering how opportunities would come my way.
Benefits to volunteering:
Volunteering allowed me to talk to people, see first hand what real problems people faced everyday, offer help and support where I could. It also gave me a sense a joy and fulfilment when I was able to make someone smile or laugh. It’s a fact that many people go from day to day without receiving a kind word or compliment.
Enjoying volunteering:
So I’ve always seen life as fun! And like to see people happy. 💃🏾 So I volunteer to add to and see an increasing number of happy people. It also improved my mental health🙃
Before:
So whenever I had free time or was out of work, I would look for opportunities to give my time. I remember being so frustrated once when I could not get an offer at the Citizens Advice bureau so decided to start my own organisation (bMoneyWize). But the aim was to get in on helping people learn from so many of my own financial mistakes. You see, having worked and consulted within the NHS for daily rates from £300 to £500/day it was a shock to the money flow when I was made redundant and finished contracts without onward replacement roles.
Time to change:
I faced a dark time of tears, regrets and misgivings because I had spent money so lavishly 😢😢
Then I was faced with the reality that I needed to change my relationship with money 💰. So as I began to learn through play (board games), new ways of managing money, I realised I had to share this.
Being a lone parent to 3 growing teenagers, it became an urgent mission to reach and teach young people to be careful with money.
A glowing future:
Thankfully, the education system in September 2014, after campaigning from the Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis, and a few other lobbyists, the tide turned. Financial education was then introduced to the school curriculum.
So volunteering with the same mission paid off because the money game we created came in ‘handy’ to help children learn to handle money!
#Amazon http://amzn.to/2fPiDDi
And following it’s nomination as best new product in U.K. 🇬🇧,it also gained international recognition in the USA 🇺🇸
This year a sponsor, Old Mutual, will give it away in an annual personal finance #teacher competition across the country.
So volunteering gave me the opportunity to meet HRH Prince Charles, be on TV, meet ministers in House of Commons and more…
What a colourful world 🌎 and The best is yet to come!
Thanks for reading 🙏🏿
@copyright Arinola 2017
Does your maths class look like this?
Contact: arinola@bmoneywize.co.uk
Arinola Araba 