May’s Volunteer of the Month is Mária Monteiro, Hospitality and Front of House with Harbour & Jones, nominated for her work with ELBA’s Community team.

Maria has shown fantastic commitment to her voluntary causes, giving her time outside of her work hours with Royal Docks Learning and Activity Centre (RDLAC), supporting their after school programme. RDLAC’s after school programme hosts up to 40 children each night of the week, and Maria has led on teaching dance classes and portuguese music, alongside supporting a wide range of other activities and projects that the centre offers. It’s not easy to volunteer your time regularly, particularly outside of work hours, however Maria has shown great dedication, volunteering on a weekly basis.

Why did you volunteer?
I started volunteering because outside of work I wanted to use some of my free time to give back to the community. I initially started volunteering at my mum’s workplace, to spend more time with her and follow in her footsteps. My mum really inspired me to become more involved in the community.

Why is volunteering important?
Volunteering is important because it can help develop your own career alongside helping others to grow and develop along the way. Volunteering is also very rewarding; each time I volunteer and help someone, as simple as just spending some time with them, smiling and listening to what they have to say, makes me me feel happy because I know I am contributing in a positive way.

Would you recommend volunteering to a colleague?
I would definitely recommend volunteering to my colleagues – why? Because anybody can volunteer and give back to help someone in need. Whether it’s helping the youngest or the eldest members of our society, spending time with people in the community is really important and there are so many different causes you can become involved with. To have experienced first-hand a glimpse into the amount of people who benefit from the time they spend with volunteers, hopefully is encouragement enough to inspire others to give back, too.