Opportunities: Forward School, Hot Works Cafe, Iranian Women's Rights Organisation, South Thames College, Victim Support.

My experience with all of my volunteering placements has been amazing. I've learnt a lot, starting with my work in a cafe with ex-drug and alcohol users. Counselling them and talking to them about their lives was a great experience for me. I improved my communication skills because I was in contact with attendees on a daily basis.

The Forward School programme on FGM involved a theatre show about the current issues girls and women face today. Again, I gained a lot of information on FGM and was able to apply what I knew to clients who came to visit us at IKWRO.

At the Iranian Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation, I had the opportunity to shadow my supervisor’s client meetings. I improved my organisational skills whilst volunteering there because there was much more paperwork than I'd been expecting.

Again I improved my communication skills because I knew that when I needed to speak to clients in 1-to-1 meetings, I had to be confident in asking questions in relation to why they were visiting us. We provided emotional and psychological support to those going through domestic violence. Everything I learned there was very useful for me to practically apply to my meetings and also for my assignments, as I had chosen to write about FGM and Honour Based Violence as part of my course.

I've developed my report writing skills. I was in charge of taking notes during meetings and adding them to the reports on our system. I've improved my admin skills, as I was responsible for taking calls from organisations who were making referrals for clients.

At the CSI forensic volunteering event, I had to set up a crime scene for year 9 students and make it as realistic as possible to give a clear idea of who the first point of contact is when they encounter such a situation. I made a Powerpoint and was responsible for presenting it to the group. This helped develop my confidence because I'd never stood in front of a classroom to teach.

I am currently volunteering with Victim Support and have gained a lot with only four visits so far. I am looking forward to learning more and developing my list of skills.