AVDP - Richard Taylor's Story

Richard Taylor volunteers with CSV RSVP's Active Volunteering by Disabled People project in North London. This is his story...

"I became involved with AVDP when I had to drop out of university after mother was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. In hindsight dropping out was a blessing in disguise as I feel I have learned much more volunteering here then I ever did at university.

My roles here started off relatively small, but over time have evolved and I am now more involved with working in the office as well as calling people on our database.

There are other things I have accomplished here as well, last year I won an award for 100 hours of volunteering, and two years ago I was asked to interview Lord Levy as part of the AVDP anniversary event. I saw this as a great challenge as  I had never interviewed anyone before.

It gives you a nice feeling inside knowing that you are helping others. At the moment my job role is to call people and ask if they need any help in finding a volunteering opportunity or if they’re volunteering already, it can be quite interesting hearing the stories of others.

I would encourage more people to volunteer as it helps to develop your skills and gives you skills you never knew you had, as I mentioned early, I never thought I would enjoy working in an office, but I have gained so many skills that will no doubt help me in the future.

My confidence has also improved tremendously, and I now feel like a completely different person to who I was a few years ago.

I really enjoy the work I do and the people I do it with, I know I don’t get paid, but I would rather do a job I like for free, then get paid for doing something I hate ."