Two young adults making a difference in Marlborough!

Hannah Cunningham from Volunteer Marlborough

For Student Volunteer Week we're shining the spotlight on a few local young volunteers. Today we'd like you to meet Justin and Taylah who volunteer with Marlborough Youth Trust...

How old are you?
Taylah: 18
Justin: 20

What do you do when you volunteer?
We are both part of the Marlborough Youth Trust Advisory Group (MYTAG). At MYTAG meetings, we do development courses and plan youth-focussed events like Spring Fest and Beach Fest. Planning events involves arranging a venue, entertainers, food vendors, transport, parking, advertising, and making sure it all fits within a budget. We also volunteer at the events, helping with set-up (e.g. staging) and pack-down, manning the front gate, and other miscellaneous tasks that make sure the event runs smoothly. Justin often runs the sausage sizzle.

What is your favourite part?
Taylah: Getting to see what happens behind the scenes and seeing everyone working together.
Justin: Seeing the event finally fall into place after months of planning and watching the youth attending the event having heaps of fun.

Why did you start volunteering?
Taylah: I have a passion for helping people and I was already involved with Marlborough Youth Trust so it felt natural to take the next step.
Justin: I joined the Youth in Emergency Services program in 2018 and, near the end of the course, Bex (Youth Worker at MYT) asked if wanted to continue my involvement with MYTAG and other MYT things. I’d really enjoyed the YES program so it was an easy yes!

How do you feel your volunteer work impacts the Marlborough community?
Taylah: Running youth-focussed events provides an opportunity for Marlborough’s young people to find and develop their passions.
Justin: Our youth-friendly events give young people an opportunity to hang out with people they might not meet otherwise, and it’s all in a safe environment.

Has volunteering given you an opportunity to learn anything or gain new skills?
Both: We have both been able to complete the Psychological First Aid course (taught us how to provide emotional and practical support to someone who has experienced a traumatic event) and the Strength Finders course (helped us discover our top five strengths so that we can work better in a team and pursue some personal development).

What would you say to someone who is thinking about starting volunteering?
Justin: “The skills you can learn while volunteering are definitely worth it; they look great on a CV. You also don’t know where these volunteer roles will lead to; you might find an industry you thought you’d never work in”
Taylah: “Volunteering can make you feel better in yourself, but it can also make other people feel better when they know you are putting all this time in for them.”