This blog unashamedly promotes the value of working for nothing. Perhaps I should say working for no monetary reward because, in my view, there are so many gains to be had from being a volunteer.

I had always done little bits and pieces, for example, helping out when involved with a hobby of some sort such as choral singing. But I hadn’t fully realised this was ‘volunteering' until I began working in the ‘voluntary’ sector - that is for charities that often rely very heavily on volunteers to boost their workforce and make funds stretch further. A great example is Samaritans where a majority of the workforce - 22,000 people in 2021 - give their time on a volunteer basis.

So there’s lots of opportunities to do good - and to feel good about doing good! What I want to talk about here though are the opportunities to layer all sorts of other benefits on top of that. Learning and discovery come quite high on the list which, in turn, can develop a much broader understanding of the world, how other people live, survive, find solace and have fun.

And what a great way to expand your experience and world view as an artist!  While studying for my Fine Art degree, and for the first time in my (fairly long) life, I have found myself sipping wine at a private view in a posh Mayfair gallery, rolling up my sleeves to tackle a new art-technique in a studio at Central St Martins Art School and selling paintings (well, one painting …. so proud!) from a stand at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park, London. 

It’s not all like that of course; there is also now a fair amount of desk work which requires a bit more dedication and self-discipline. But, for these bits, I know I’m bringing benefits from experience I built up during my working career, which otherwise would just have gone to waste once I retired.

Getting under the surface a little, let’s talk about the CSM programme and others like it. On the look out for a good ‘experience’ as part of my Professional Practice 2 assignment, I came across a charity Arts 4 Dementia. This seemed perfect for me. My past working life was about supporting people affected by dementia and my current student life was all about art. In no time I was signed up as a Volunteer, and, as soon as I could manage the time commitment, I became a workshop support volunteer. 

Participants and students at Central St Martins

Partnering with arts organisations, A4D runs workshops on a weekly basis, usually as an eight-week programme. Based to date in London, partners during my time supporting workshops included The Wallace Collection, The Canal Museum and Central St Martins. I had to attend A4D’s one-day training course - invaluable for gaining an understanding of how best to support a person with early-stage dementia - and then workshops began. 

For me, two key things stand out in my memory: one is the way the students at CSM who were facilitating the workshop developed relationships with the participants. As they all got to know each other, students saw past the dementia and grew much more confident in their communications. As stories and life experiences were shared, creativity also blossomed and you only had to observe the total absorption in the tasks by many participants to know this was such a good moment for them.

The other is my own response to becoming closely involved once again with people whose lives are deeply affected by dementia. I have always enjoyed the conversations to be had, where it often takes only a little cajoling for stories about past lives to surface and be recounted in some detail (I think the students got a lot from this too). This reminder of how long term memory often becomes so clear nagged away at me and so, in the end, I gave in to the other nagging feeling - that I should tackle dementia as a subject in my art - and decided that was the route for my final assignment and degree show. It’s been really quite hard along the way, it’s not an easy subject to tackle for many reasons, but I’m having a go and am pleased to be doing so.

Maybe this blog should be called ‘Embrace Volunteering - Improve your Art’

A workshop at The Canal Museum with one of the CSM students choosing to help out as a support volunteer

Exhibition grand opening for A4D/CSM 'graduates' in June 2022