Volunteer Placement Award – University of Bradford

We are delighted to win an award for ‘The Most Outstanding and Supportive Learning Environment’ from the University of Bradford Placement Awards.

Bradford District and Craven Mind (BDC Mind) has over 100 volunteers that are part of our diverse, passionate workforce helping us to deliver essential mental health support in the community.

Many of our volunteers are students studying at colleges and universities like Maryam who recently graduated from the University of Bradford with a degree in Psychology. We caught up with Maryam to hear about her placement experience with us and why she nominated us for a Placement Award.

I was first introduced to the charity when I was in my final year of psychology at the University of Bradford. I was interested in the volunteer befriending role because it provided me with opportunities to work with people who struggle with their mental health.

Befriending is about helping someone with isolation, mental health and wellbeing. Befriending volunteers also help people to achieve their specific personal goals in a friendly, non-formal environment. It’s not a counselling session, it’s more of a informal conversation, but in that conversation you’re trying to reach an outcome.

I’ve supported four service members so far, each person needed help building confidence, which is very common when it comes to managing mental health. Confidence isn’t just being able to talk to someone, confidence could be about getting up in the morning, being able to brush your hair, brush your teeth, go out and buy something or talking to someone at the shops. It’s not just confidence in a social aspect, it’s confidence in yourself. 

I would spend 1-2 hours with them a week, for up to 12 weeks, and I could see very quickly the positive impact I was having. And it wasn’t just the person I was supporting benefiting from me, but I was benefiting from them as well. I would get regular feedback from the people I supported, it almost made me tearful because I felt like I was really making an impact.

When I did my A-Levels, I was adamant on doing medicine, choosing psychology was not part of the plan for me. I was very uncertain about it for the first two years of doing this degree, and then third year came around and I thought, let’s just to commit to this and see where it takes me. Medicine is more about physical recovery and rehabilitation, working in a mental health setting is more emotional and mental recovery and both are equally important. After my volunteering expeirence I now think the best career route for me is in clinical psychology and I’m planning on doing a PhD in this. 

I didn’t have to think twice when I was writing that nomination. The first day that I started I met Donna Hudson, Volunteer Manager, and she is a ray of sunshine. BDC Mind caters to so many individuals, which is really amazing. I felt so comfortable being here, and if I had any issues my supervisors were happy to help in heartbeat. I was always supported in every way possible.

A very recent client was probably the most successful experience I’ve had. They recently came to England from Pakistan, and they had experienced domestic violence. They were referred to BDC Mind by their social worker, and I clicked with her like she was my sister. It was an amazing experience, I was able to connect with her as a friend and also help her with issues that she was experiencing. She wanted immigration advice so I would go with her to an immigration appointment. She wanted to be more involved in community, so I would take her to a local community centre. BDC Mind invited me and the Service Member to talk about the experience in front of the board of trustees. It was a great feeling to have that recognition, that was a personal highlight for me. 

Natalie is a Coordinator for the Community Companions and Tea ‘n’ Talk service, she supported Maryam throughout her placement. We spoke to Natalie about how volunteering can build your self confidence and support your career journey.

Community Companions is a service that runs across Bradford district for people who are at home, who are isolated and feeling lonely or struggling with their wellbeing. We train volunteers to go out with a service member into the community, build up their confidence and make them feel happier and healthier.

We have volunteers from the college, that will help out with events and promotional community work, and then we also have volunteers aged 18+ that will help with the Community Companions and the Tea ‘n’ Talk sessions.

You don’t expect to win an award for it but I believe we do truly deserve it because of the hard work we put in with the university students. We always made sure they felt valued, safe and listened to, we would see what their goals are and what their passions are. It’s about working with them, keeping them informed along the way, always being on hand to support them and identifying areas of training. It might be that they’re a bit unsure on their career path when they come to us and at the end of their experience they leave with a clearer vision of what they would like to do next.

I think it’s vital, because in lectures you don’t get to see and feel the real impact of mental health in the community. By coming to BDC Mind and getting hands-on volunteer experience, we are giving that student the opportunity to flourish and grow, learn new skills and boosting their own confidence. 

Posted on: 2nd January 2025