Students and teachers from CDPS South America 2012 group will provide a long term perspective on volunteering and what it has enabled over the last 6 years following their four weeks of volunteering in Brazil and Argentina with Outlook Expeditions.

"I did a lot of charity work at university and ran the university's RAG (Raise and Give) Society. As part of this I did a sponsored hitchhike to Amsterdam from Cardiff, I raised money at Bridgewater Carnival, street collections all over the south of the country and in Cardiff and was invited for afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace! Since university I have run several 5Ks and I'm about to run a 10K for Cancer Research. I've done street collections for Winston’s Wish and fundraised for Cirencester's inaugural Relay for Life where we did numerous events to raise money. I also volunteered for the GBSN as a Peer Supporter and occasionally help with the NCT. I also, obviously did the Ghana 2018 trip which was amazing!!" Mrs MacKew, Year Leader (Year 11)

"I volunteered for many years as a leader with a local Brownie Guide pack. I planned and led activities, games and residential trips for the children. It really helped me to develop my confidence in talking to other people and it made me far more organised. Most importantly, we had a lot of fun!" Mrs Polgrean, Science Teacher

"Last year I spent 4 weeks in southern Italy working on a project with refugees. From a personal perspective I gained a huge amount from the voluntary work. I was challenged – I never thought I would be teaching Italian to classes of 15 pupils but I did it. I was faced with situations I hadn't experienced before, I had to become more patient with how systems work in different countries but this was an important skill to develop. I had experiences which I would never have had as a tourist. I met people and listened to their stories and built a greater awareness of what migration means to the individuals and families. But most importantly I met so many wonderful people and made friends with people of all nationalities and backgrounds. So, what is volunteering like? In one word: amazing. In two words: life changing." Miss Lillington

"For 2 years I volunteered as a Youth Leader in a church whilst living on the Isle of Man. The group consisted of 14-17 year olds and we mostly hung out, chatted through their worries and did fun activities together which often involved sweets and getting wet!!" Mrs Pennington