Get Involved at a Local Level!

It’s easy to feel hopeless. It’s easy to feel like you’re just one person and your contributions can’t make a difference. It’s easy to feel angry when you’re confronted with the consequences of decisions being made in rooms you will never have access to. You aren’t alone.

We hope you found the People’s Emergency Briefing enlightening, but we understand it can be confronting, especially when we are constantly being told that it’s too late and there’s nothing we can do.

We know that there blah blah blah fix me later…

There are also a lot of conversations online about people yearning for community. For trying to find their “village”. The so-called "Loneliness Epidemic”.

In response, plenty of organisations are trying to capitalise on people’s isolation - charging membership fees for run clubs and hosting disorganised meet-ups in the name of getting you to pay to leave the house. 

This works. Kind of. But it also risks turning human connection into something you consume rather than something you participate in. So why not volunteer instead?! 

You’re not paying to be there, instead you’re actively contributing to something bigger. You get to feel the impact of what you’ve done in a tangible way and, often, you find yourself sharing a cup of tea and a proper conversation with people who are there for the same reason.

We recently got chatting to some volunteers at Fareshare Sussex and Surrey who have been consistently volunteering for more than 8 years! Over that time, they’ve seen each other through break-ups, losses, weddings, starting a family, business ventures, and everything in between. That’s what a village looks like in practice. It’s all on your doorstep for the cost of a bus ticket.

Volunteering can remind you that you have value, that you can contribute, and that you matter more than you might think. You do have an impact and it is much bigger than you realise.

We have an incredible network of partners across all sorts of sectors, so if you are looking for something specific, there is a good chance the Enjoolata family could use your help. And you never really know what might come from it. It might not be for you, or it might lead to your next best friend.

The current climate often feeds isolation. Don’t let it convince you that you are alone, and don’t let it charge you £40 just to talk to a stranger!