As his time volunteering with us comes to an end, we caught up with Laszlo, one of our outreach volunteers, to hear about his experience – what he’s learnt and why he’d recommend it to anyone thinking of volunteering!
Tell us about your volunteer role, and how long you’ve been volunteering with Connection Support?
I’ve been going out on early morning verifications looking for rough sleepers in Buckinghamshire for the last two years. I assist a member of staff, Melissa, so we go out in a team of two once a week. We set off at 6 am and I am finished in time to start work at 9 am. Our task is to find people who have been reported as rough sleeping and “verify” them, which means we need to check they’re truly sleeping rough. It’s rare they are not genuine. We go to different locations in Wycombe and the surrounding areas to find people who are often sleeping in cars, or out on the street, sometimes in a tent. Often we wake people up so they can sometimes be a bit confused or mistrustful but most are happy to be helped. It can be disheartening when you see the same faces again who we have already seen sleeping outside, but it is not often this happens. Occasionally I find myself feeling emotionally affected by seeing people in such tough situations, but I’m well supported by the team and it is good to know I am contributing towards them getting the help they need.
What made you decide to apply to volunteer with us?
I am living in a property guardianship which is where you pay a license fee to stay in a building which may be repurposed or knocked down in future. It’s much cheaper than renting and as part of the arrangement I am required to complete 16 hours a month volunteering. As I work full time, the outreach opportunity appealed to me as it fits around my work and is very convenient and close to my workplace.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering?
It has been interesting seeing for myself how people get in a situation where they end up homeless. I have definitely gained perspective. Sometimes people have lost their job and got evicted and didn’t know where to go for help so end up sleeping in their car. I’ve also enjoyed getting to know the surrounding area very well as we have spent a lot of time driving around Buckinghamshire!
What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about applying for volunteering with Connection Support?
It’s worth trying out if you are open to new and different experiences and interested to gain a broader perspective on people’s life situations.
A note from Melissa, Outreach Worker, Buckinghamshire:
Since Laszlo started volunteering with me, he has been an absolute pleasure to work with, he has been consistently reliable with attending each week without complaint despite having to go out in some difficult weather situations and environments. He has a quiet demeanour and is calm under pressure. He has gained an understanding of lots of the clients and what has been going on with them. He will be hugely missed and we would definitely be happy to have him back at any time.
