With the end of the school term next week and the promise of a long summer ahead of us we caught up with children’s pottery volunteer Sorcha.
“I’ve been volunteering for about 8 months now, I assist Colleen who runs the sessions. I make sure the children have everything they need to create their clay pieces. I heard about the role of UCL’s student volunteering webpage. I had volunteered for 1A Arts about two years ago for a one-off activity and really enjoyed it, the pottery volunteer role seemed like a great chance to get involved again.
I study a degree called Arts and Sciences (BASc) at UCL. It’s structured like a liberal arts degree where you get to choose a major and minor and have access to the majority of UCL’s modules.
I would absolutely recommend volunteering to others. It’s a wonderful chance to meet new people, develop new skills and get involved invaluable parts of the community you wouldn’t otherwise.
My two favourite aspects of being a pottery volunteer are firstly it’s such a positive environment. Regardless of how work or university is going, that one and a half hours at pottery leave me feeling really upbeat. The second is seeing the children create their pieces, being so precise and inventive in what they make. It’s inspiring and always makes me want to do something creative afterwards!
My biggest challenge at the start was remembering to tell the children to wash their hands after they’ve glazed the clay! Even now I sometimes make mistakes, but Colleen and the children are always patient and helpful.
I appreciate more now the importance of having spaces like this for children to come and completely be themselves. With all the changes going on in the world, here children and volunteers from a variety of backgrounds get together and enjoy each other’s company and have the freedom to create and express themselves. It re-emphasises how special these kinds of activities are.”
Click here to find out more about our Pottery Classes For 6-12 Years and here for volunteering opportunities at HCA.
