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You are here: 5. Who Volunteers?
As a youth volunteer you are encouraged to contact your local Volunteer Centre. While not every volunteer opportunity is suitable for youth volunteers your local Volunteer Centre staff will work alongside you to find a suitable volunteer placement in your community.
Youth volunteers can get involved in many ways. However, there is always the question ‘Am I too young to volunteer?’ or ‘Do I have the experience necessary to be a volunteer?’ Of course it all depends on your exact age and what type of volunteering you have in mind.
Some volunteer opportunities require basic skills and minimal training and therefore may be ideal for youth volunteers.
Examples of volunteer opportunities that youth volunteers may become involved in include: planting trees in a natural area, walking dogs or cleaning cages at the local animal shelter, or raising money through a sponsored event for a special cause.
While these volunteer opportunities don’t require much experience they do require you to have an interest in the cause and a willingness to help out and do what is needed. Many community/voluntary organisations will only accept volunteers who are at least 16 or 18 years of age.
There is currently no standard age at which youth in Ireland can volunteer. The decision is left to the community/voluntary organisation to evaluate the appropriate age for a youth to volunteer.
There are a number of ways in which you may consider getting involved as a volunteer.
- Contact your local Volunteer Centre to see if they have volunteer opportunities appropriate to your age group. If they don’t have something now they will contact you if a suitable opportunity comes their way.
- Some organisations may be willing to involve youth volunteers as long as they have an adult supervisor.
- You may wish to consider volunteering with a parent, an aunt, uncle, older brother, sister or cousin or even an neighbour who is 18 years or older.
- Talk to your teachers about how your class or school can get involved in a group project.
- Your school may have a club that has a community service component where students volunteer together as a member of a group.
- Your local youth group or community centre may need volunteers or may have a programme for youth to volunteer in the community.
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