What is volunteering? To some of us, volunteering is just 'helping out' or 'lending an extra hand', be it for a cause, a charity or a local community project. What we often don't realise is just how essential lending that hand is. Some charities depend on volunteers to stay afloat, some people in need depend on volunteers for their support, interaction and help. When we 'help out' we don't always know how much of an impact we're actually having.

'Spark Something Good' is a campaign M&S have been running where they visit cities all over the UK and help charities with particular projects or challenges by providing volunteers – both employees and customers. We talked to Julie Taylor from 'Making for Charity' about her experience with volunteering and how Spark Something Good has helped.

Nbrly: Hello Julie, Before we start, could you explain a little bit about what Making for Charity does and how it all got started?

MFC: Hi, of course. Making for Charity is a non-profit social enterprise. It started with a small notice in a fabric shop from the Macmillan Nurses at the Liverpool Women's Hospital. The notice asked for volunteers to make syringe driver bags for their ladies at the hospital. They were using plastic carrier bags to carry the drivers and the nurses wanted something better for their patients. A syringe driver is a battery operated pump with a syringe containing medication such as pain-relieving drugs in palliative care or anti-nausea drugs for chemotherapy. The driver is about the size of a pencil case and is attached to the patient subcutaneously via a tube so they can't put it down, it has to be carried.

I spoke with the nurses and designed a bag to fit the drivers. They asked for a shoulder strap and I made it reversible. It can also be used to carry drainage bottles following surgery. I was helping out at a local primary school at the time and was able to make the bags with the children, often using recycled material. We put labels on each bag that say 'handmade by' and then the name of the person who made it. We put together over 200 bags and they were exceptionally well received by the patients.

The project grew, I got other schools and craft groups making the bags and started to supply other hospitals in the Mersey region. We had requests from the nurses for other items such as personal effects bags for the bereavement suite at the Liverpool Royal, and comfort pack bags for the Linda McCartney Cancer Care Centre.

Then I did the website, where people could download instructions for free and the project went national. I now spend most of my time matching people who want to make the bags with their local hospital or hospice who would use syringe drivers. All items are made, often using recycled material, and then donated free of charge.

                                            
 
Nbrly: Why do you feel volunteering is so important? Not just to Making for Charity, but to life in general.
MFC: Volunteering is a win win! People who volunteer their time can make a real difference to the lives of others. There are so many ways to volunteer, people can choose an area which interests them or an area that they would like to learn more about. It's about helping others and making the world a better place. So much of society benefits from the millions of people who volunteer all around the world.

Volunteers themselves get huge satisfaction from 'doing their bit'. They can feel like they are a part of a community, pass on skills and enable others to benefit from their talents whilst connecting with people. Volunteering can help relieve stress, loneliness, boredom, and build up a feeling of self esteem and self worth.