Amy Manktelow
Amy Manktelow, Planning and Projects Manager. Centre for Academic Development and Quality
Where have you volunteered/do you volunteer?
I volunteered at Forest Fields Primary School as part of the Right to Read programme.
Why is volunteering important to you?
It sounds corny but I wanted to give back to the local community that I live in at a grass roots level. I knew that literacy levels among young people in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé City were poor and it felt like a tangible opportunity to help and make a difference, even if only to a handful of young people’s lives. I believe that if we all do one small thing it builds into something much bigger.
What impact has volunteering had on you?
Volunteering as part of the Right to Read programme has taught me the power an individual has to change the world around them, even if only on a small scale. Seeing the changes to the children’s confidence in their reading over the time I was with them really impactful.
What advice would you give to people thinking about volunteering?
The benefits of volunteering vastly outweigh the time spent doing it. It gives you a chance to take a break from your day to day world and do something really meaningful with that time. NTU give us (staff) an hour a week to volunteer, use that time to . Also, the NTU Volunteering team are so supportive and make it really easy to fit around your work schedule.