An opportunity to volunteer can make all the difference
Date Posted: Jun 03, 2026.
Volunteering experience at the Springfield Project Place of Welcome has been an opportunity to connect, boost confidence and gain work skills. How could you mobilise volunteers in your local area?
Anna lives locally and has been volunteering at the Place of Welcome for the last six months. Through volunteering she could share her skills and develop new ones in a supportive community. This experience has been key in Anna securing paid employment.
“I was still looking for a job when I heard about the church and the Place of Welcome at the Springfield Project. This place was so welcoming, no one is going to judge you, it’s a community who love to cook, play games, craft and talk with each other. It has been the best place for me to grow. I started an official volunteer role at the Place of Welcome and I got the lanyard and everything.”
For Anna volunteering has been transformative.
The Springfield Project got to know Anna, recognised her skill set and teaching experience and found a volunteering opportunity for her to develop in.
“Through the project I got my DBS and now volunteer weekly at the Springfield Seedlings stay and play. At the start I was shy and I didn’t know how to speak with people and now I can speak with anyone. I’ve got confidence through volunteering. For me it’s a new country, new people and a new language but everyone here has supported me.”
“Volunteering at Springfield gave me the experience I needed and now I have a job caring for older people. I shared the job news at the Place of Welcome, because of this place I have got everything! I will always find time to come here because I don’t want to lose these people and this place. I feel like I’m not alone in my house anymore, I have people to talk to and spend time with.”
More than half of Anna’s working age neighbours live in income deprived households.
The parish of St Christopher’s Springfield is among the most deprived parishes in the country:
- The parish ranks 244 out of 12,154 (where 1 is the most deprived).
- 27% of children live in poverty.
- 46% of pensioners live in poverty.
Volunteering, connection and mental health.
- Over three-quarters of volunteers (77%) reported that volunteering had improved their mental health and wellbeing. (NCVO, 2019)
- Almost nine in ten volunteers (89%) agreed that they had met new people through their volunteering; across different age groups. (NCVO, 2019)
Mark also volunteers at the Springfield Project Place of Welcome and shared:
“I heard about the Place of Welcome through an occupational therapist when we were looking for things I could do locally. I didn’t go out a lot or meet and interact with people and this place was suggested as an opportunity to help with my mental health. It took me three months to come here on a Thursday after I first got the leaflet with the information. It took a lot of mental strength for me to come but when I did I felt welcome.
Now I’ve been coming to the Place of Welcome for years and I’ve met new people who I’m friendly with who I wouldn’t have met before. I’ve met a lot of different people from different backgrounds and with different experiences. I come earlier to help set up with heavier lifting and wash up after the meal. I hope to stay and be involved.”
Volunteering can build the capacity of smaller organisations to make a difference locally.
Places of Welcome, brought to you by CUF, is supported by volunteers in 900+ network venues across the country every week.
Places of Welcome venues provide space to connect, belong and get involved. We heard from individuals reached by the Springfield Project Place of Welcome, who shared the difference it has made in their lives.
Gina shared “It’s friendly and welcoming and we are very broad minded at the Place of Welcome anyone can come and have a chat. So many friends come here now, it is a real community and social life. Now I’ve been coming for nine years, I love it here it really is a place to meet friends, it takes your mind out of worries.”
Devinder shared “I’d encourage people to come to a Place of Welcome and give it a try, I always say to my friends to come along. This place has really given me hope to live and look forward, my confidence has improved. I wasn’t talking at all at home and now I’m talking a lot.”
The Springfield Project Place of Welcome runs weekly on Thursday afternoons during term time, bringing together a diverse group of local residents to connect over food, games, crafts, chat and more.
Help more people like Gina and Devinder access welcoming spaces
Resources to help build volunteer capacity, increase reach & opportunities to connect.