The week commencing 1st June is National volunteer’s
week, a time to celebrate the contribution made by millions of volunteers
across the UK. I volunteer as much as I possibly can for Muscular Dystrophy UK,
Muscular Dystrophy UK (previously known as the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) is
the charity bringing individuals, families and professionals together to beat
muscle-wasting conditions. Seeing as I have a form of Muscular Dystrophy then
this was the obvious choice for me.
Alongside my wife and daughters I attend events and just do
my best to help and one of the highlights is the London Marathon. We are asked
to help set up a cheer point, wear orange and shout lots. It’s not much but
apparently it helps and is greatly appreciated. My younger brother is a runner
too, so we usually have more than one reason to be there and more than one reason
to feel rewarded ourselves. The reason I mention about being rewarded is
because that’s exactly what it is. Over 100 runners take part in the Marathon
for Muscular Dystrophy UK and they have trained all year and raised thousands
of pounds for research to find treatments for these conditions. Standing on a
London street and shouting at runners for four or five hours for someone who
could potentially contribute towards a treatment is the least I can do.
I was talking about this with a friend and colleague who
also took part in the marathon but for a completely different cause. I asked my
friend; Karen if she could tell me what it meant to be supported by volunteers,
how it made her feel etc…
“Seeing the wall of orange Muscular Dystrophy supporters at
the entrance to Tower Bridge was one of the main highlights of my London
Marathon. The almighty cheer of support that erupted as I ran past was
the loudest of the day and (whether they knew me or not) everyone shouted my
name along with genuine cheers of encouragement. The buzz I got from it
was amazing; it lifted me up, and without a doubt carried me through the rest
of the run.”
There you go, another reason why we do these things and I
have been thinking about my reasoning for doing these things quite a lot and
reasons to volunteer far out weigh the reasons not to do it. It doesn’t cost me
anything, I’m going to London anyway, it’s a glorious day out and you certainly
feel like you’re part of something. It is a massively positive thing to do and
helps so many people that are trying to help others. It doesn’t matter who runs
past and for what charity, they can rest assured that they will be cheered on
by us, being loud is something we’re very proud of.
So it’s in this very special week then that I’ll throw down
the gauntlet and urge everyone to get involved going forward. It doesn’t matter
if it’s a national charity or a small community project; there are people out
there that need our help and we can all do that. A few minutes or hours of your
time could make a world of difference and trust me when I say that you will
feel a sense of achievement at the end too.
Pick one, just give a little bit, choose something close to
your heart and go and help, whether it’s an animal welfare charity, children’s
charity a local community project or indeed Muscular Dystrophy UK, just offer yourself up to do something
good and naturally, without thinking,
you’ll do it with a smile because that’s what volunteering does to you.
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| Our Olivia at this years London Marathon |
