My summer with One-Eighty

Read on to find out what it was like for Eleanor who volunteered with us over the summer.

Over the summer of 2020, I volunteered on four day trips with the One-Eighty Summer Project to Cotswold Wildlife Park, Millet’s Farm and the Earth Trust. Before these trips, I had never had direct experience of the work that One-Eighty do, so I didn’t know what to expect; how the staff and young people would interact; and what my role would be. I was very impressed!

I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know the young people. At first most of them were (understandably) shy and quiet, but as the day went on, they got more and more comfortable, gaining enthusiasm for the activities and the group. It was so nice to see them gain confidence throughout the day and build relationships with the One-Eighty team, and more importantly with others their age.

It was also great to see the young people interacting with the activities. These were well planned, with a range of different things to do to cater for each young person’s unique needs and preferences. I noticed that they seemed to most enjoy the activities where they had a personal or group goal to work towards (especially for den building, strawberry picking and fire starting.) Some of the activities were difficult at first and the young people felt they couldn’t achieve a goal and got frustrated. But when they overcame it, I saw they felt a sense of achievement and felt proud of themselves, which was amazing to see.

I was pleased to see the interest that the young people took in the activities - they were asking questions and wanting to learn about so many different things that they saw. It was especially good when they took the initiative to find an expert at each of the trips and ask questions. For example, after the falconry display at Millet’s Farm, two of them sought out the falconer to ask her some more questions about the birds, and she was happy to help. This highlighted to me the huge value of the Summer Project - by integrating fun activities with learning experiences, it sparks the young people’s curiosity and love of learning, which will be invaluable in future life.

The staff were all fantastic and are essential to the trips running smoothly, with maximum enjoyment and value for the young people! On the trips, they struck the perfect balance between letting the young people be free to have fun, learn and do their own thing, whilst also carefully drawing the line about what was appropriate and sensible behaviour. Throughout this, they maintained a fun and friendly relationship with the young people and kept their calm voice of authority.

I think that the one-to-one set-up with young people and staff members is integral to this relationship working as well as it does. It allows each young person to get the chance to build a trusting relationship with their staff member over time. This means that all the young people felt very comfortable with their staff member, which encouraged them to open up and be more confident in the group setting with a large number of people they had never met, or didn’t know very well. It also allows the staff to get to know the young people and their background on a deeper level, so that each activity and intervention can be adapted to a range of specific requirements. This was reflected in the approach where all the young people were treated as mature individuals, and their unique needs were catered for.

I also noticed the wide range of techniques the staff used - they were all great! All the staff were amazingly equipped with many distraction games and activities for the young people to use - things like Dobble, balls, toys, colouring and even slime were particularly helpful if the young people had a lot of energy, were distressed or were not interacting with the group activity at a particular time. These techniques were also ones that the young people were used to using, which made them more comfortable in each setting and allowed them to relax and engage with the activities. I thought this was a great way to deal with difficult situations in a calm way, without drawing too much attention to the situation, while completely focusing on the young person and helping them to cope in a composed and thoughtful way.

I really enjoyed volunteering with One-Eighty and learned a lot about different, effective techniques to work with a diverse range of young people. I loved meeting the young people and the relationship I made with them in such a short space of time showed me how much potential they all have - especially with the help of One-Eighty. The staff at One-Eighty also made me feel very comfortable and welcome.

I would love to help again in the future in any way I can!!

If you would like to get involved and volunteer at One-Eighty, why not check out our Volunteers Page for our latest volunteering opportunities.