Call for more youngsters to volunteer

A student from Nelson and Colne College is calling on more young people to volunteer after taking up a role at a Pendleside Hospice shop.
Catherine Argyle is presented with her work experience partnership awardCatherine Argyle is presented with her work experience partnership award
Catherine Argyle is presented with her work experience partnership award

Kinga Karbarz (17) has been volunteering at Barnoldswick shop for three months after taking part in a project about the hospice run through a partnership run with Nelson and Colne College.

Pendleside Hospice Area Retail Manager Catherine Argyle was approached by the college to help the students learn more about how market research could be applied to help real life business scenarios.

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Following the project Kinga offered to volunteer at the Barnoldswick shop for five hours per week serving customers behind the counter, sorting through donations and labelling them.

Kinga KarbarzKinga Karbarz
Kinga Karbarz

Kinga said she would now like to see more young people take up volunteering roles and says it has helped her to gain skills to help her in the world of work.

She said: “I enjoy the fact that I get to meet new people and that I am helping the hospice. The experience has helped me with my college work and also when It comes to handling money in the future. “I’d recommend volunteering because it is worth the time for the experience gained. I’d like to see more young people getting involved with volunteering projects, not only will it look good on their C.V but it also helps gain new skills, build confidence whilst helping a really worthy cause.”

Catherine Argyle has praised Kinga for her attitude towards taking on the voluntary role. She said: “We are really lucky to have such dedicated volunteers in our shops and it’s lovely that Kinga has been keen to get involved and help provide us with a fresh, young perspective.”

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In May Catherine was presented with a work experience partnership award at the College’s Industry and Employer Awards awards ceremony at Burnley Football Club.

Kinga KarbarzKinga Karbarz
Kinga Karbarz

The accolade was awarded for the partnership which saw Catherine work with BTEC Business students. She gave a presentation to the students about the background of the hospice shops and asked the students to undertake market research for the shops, get involved with volunteering at the shops and to help establish an eBay shop.