Tony’s time as a volunteer helped him to gain experience and embark on a career change at the age of 50, progressing into a master’s degree in psychology
New pursuits
Tony volunteered with People Know How as an adult befriender within our Reconnect project after working in a gardening job at the Royal Botanical Garden for over 15 years. Within this job Tony had become bored and wanted to move into a new career with more opportunities to help people. Though initially worried he was ‘too old’ to make a career change, he started volunteering to gain experience around supporting people before embarking on a master’s degree in psychology.
Volunteering with people
When Tony began his time as a VIP (volunteer, intern or placement student) at People Know How he made an immediate impression after expressing his enthusiasm to gain new experience that would lead him to his next career. Soon after, he began volunteering as an adult befriender and was matched with a service user within Wellbeing & Digital.
People Know How’s Wellbeing & Digital project is part of the Reconnect service. Adult befrienders are matched with a service user to help adults and families improve their overall wellbeing. Making a difference to someone’s life can be as simple as offering a friendly ear over the phone, providing company on a walk, or supporting someone to use a digital device.
After supporting not one, but two service users, Tony became more aware of the mental health issues that they faced and enrolled in some online classes to learn more about the complexities of mental health conditions. This spark of inspiration in Tony secured his place in a master’s degree in psychology, where he has continued to study mental health. Tony has even involved other People Know How VIPs as participants for his research project, which focusses on ‘the benefits of volunteering’ from the perspective of the volunteer.
Pursuing a postgraduate degree
Now that Tony has finished befriending with People Know How, it is easy to see how this has helped him to grow. No longer feeling ‘too old’ for a career change, Tony has become committed to his master’s degree.
With a newfound awareness of mental health conditions, experience in volunteering, and knowledge from his online classes, Tony has gained an insight into the work of third sector organisations and is keen to work within mental health support once his masters is completed.
People Know How is currently looking for adult befrienders to join their Reconnect team and offer a friendly ear to someone who may be feeling isolated. Find out how you can get involved below.
“Without these experiences, starting studies in psychology would have been off-putting because it’s quite intense. But my volunteering experience and online studies have given me a great basis to start from.”