Freddie Rand is Events Manager at Societe Generale. Freddie has volunteered on a range of programmes with ELBA and highlights the role of volunteering in gaining an insight into a part of the world you wouldn’t have access to otherwise. Freddie tells us about why he volunteers and would recommend it to others:

Why do you volunteer?
I volunteer because I feel it is important to make the time and effort to help local communities and charities which need support/advice, which isn’t readily available to them.

Volunteering also offers you the chance to grow as an individual with new skillsets, experiences and to grasp a part of the world which you aren’t involved in with your day-to-day.

What have you gained from your volunteering experience?
I have gained an invaluable insight into the difficulties affecting local charities whilst volunteering with ELBA.

With the ELBA Compass Program, I was able to see just how difficult it is for local charities to raise funding to do the fantastic work they have set out to do. Which before completing this project, was completely alien to me.

The ELBA Comms and Marketing Workshop showed that even with the easy access to social media which we all have, the charities just don’t have the time/people to even do this. But to help them come up with a marketing strategy, which kept the workload to a minimum, was extremely rewarding. Even since then, I have helped support the charity in event management queries they have had.

Would you recommend volunteering to a colleague and, if so, why?
Without a shadow of a doubt. Volunteering has been an incredibly rewarding part of my job which I will continue to do. To develop my skills including communication, project management etc has been transformative for me in my day-to-day role.

It is also an incredibly rewarding experience, which allows you to interact with charities, volunteers, other businesses which you wouldn’t have access to without volunteering.