Introducing Hadley! Volunteer at WTF
In the summer of 2023, coming off the back of a spell of unemployment, I was introduced to Joanna & Kev from WTF for some suggested volunteering. I instantly felt a connection to their cause through my own personal experience which had started to occur eight years prior…
After experiencing the loss of a parent when I was 14, I started to struggle with poor mental health issues which led to suicidal thoughts and I soon discovered that I had OCD. After being on waiting list after waiting list, trying multiple therapy mediums over quite a few years for OCD and grief, which didn’t work for me, in February of 2022 I had my first breakdown. This was a turning point for me, I knew I couldn’t carry on going round in the same cycle. I leaned on my family and friends and listened to their supportive advice and after some research, I decided to seek medical help and was prescribed some SSRIs. This was September of that year.
Seeking peer support and clinical help shifted my mindset entirely, it’s not about trying to completely get over a traumatic life event or just wishing the intrusive thoughts would stop but instead learning to live with coping strategies that suited me personally which make day to day life a little bit easier. This is the most powerful thing anyone who is struggling can learn to adapt.
Back to the present, I wanted to fill my free time with something new, my gateway into the WTF charity was through assisting with their fundraising events programme. My favourite event in my early days of volunteering was at Thinkfest; a mental wellbeing market based in Chesterfield. It was a positive and welcoming space for local groups to connect with members of the public who might be struggling themselves, bereaved or know someone who is and so having honest and open conversations with a keyhole into a stranger’s life was really eye-opening. If I could suggest a coping mechanism or signpost a credible organisation that would help them on their journey to a better headspace, that was a day well spent.
Since volunteering with WhyTalkingFixes, I have joined the board as a Trustee, founded a monthly social active movement club, become a mental health first aider, organised and carried out my own fundraising campaign events, sought funding opportunities and grown our list of reliable and dedicated local and regional partners… The transferable skill set in which I have now acquired makes me confident in working in my local community,I have truly gained a wealth of knowledge in such a short amount of time and that is a testament to the individuals within the charity.
With volunteering, the aim is for you to help others out, it’s great to give back. But something equally as important is that you benefit from it, in whichever form that comes in, you must be learning and developing yourself. For me, during some mental health based training, I learned that during extremely difficult periods I self-harmed and I didn’t even realise what I did fell into that category. Although I am in a much better and stable place now, I won’t ever forget that and will always try my best to prioritise my mental wellbeing. From that voluntary training, I was able to grow in ways that younger me could have never fathomed.
One of my favourite quotes is from a Noah Kahan song; ‘All lights turned off, can be turned on’. Whether it be for yourself, a loved one, or a complete stranger, volunteering within a mental health based charity could save a life and will only bring positivity into the world. If we all try to leave our community a better place than we found it, then that is what a successful life looks like.
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