PAVE Conference: Volunteer Opportunities

We hope you enjoyed the 2022 PAVE Conference on Wednesday 2^nd November at De Montfort University.

If you are reading this then you either took the time to speak with us on our stand (thank you!) or attended one of our talks hosted in the afternoon – there is a brief reminder of each speaker and their role at the end of this blog post.

If you wish to take up a volunteering role with the Parallel Lives Network and either of its Members – Bear Earth CIC or the Zinthiya Trust – please go to our Contact page and let us know in what area/s you are seeking a volunteer role – for example, Period Poverty, SV, DV, HBV, FGM or other?

We will be arranging several  ‘find out more’ sessions in the coming weeks and will send you an invitation to attend to discuss further.

Thanks again for showing interest in our work and hope to you soon.

John Coster

Talks:

John shared his experiences of working with the first DMU Global Health MSc students in 2021/22 and demonstrated how frontline NGOs in the Network, spread throughout the Global South, benefitted from the student’s own lived experience. Could you help an NGO located in Leicester or overseas? If you answer ‘Yes’, then how do you understand the ‘value’ that you bring to the role? The Parallel Lives Network is a membership network of active NGOs, charities, community groups, individuals, and educational-based organisations located in the UK and across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and South-East Asia.

• Getting More from Your Volunteer Role – John Coster, Director, Parallel Lives Network:

John spoke the Zinthiya Trust and how it was started in 2010 by Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan. The organisation works to alleviate poverty and abuse in Leicester and Leicestershire and is always looking for motivated volunteers to make a difference for those that need support. John gave examples of how the role of the volunteer continues to evolve as the lived experience brought by the participant is increasingly valued by the host community organisation.

• How to Bring Your Lived Experience to a Live Brief Opportunity – Tina Barton, Director of Education & Engagement, Bear Earth CiC (UK, Sri Lanka & Nepal)

Bear Earth is a Community Interest Company located here in Leicester. It offers a subscription service of period hygiene products delivered to companies and individuals in the UK. The funds are then used to support frontline NGOs in Sri Lanka and Nepal, which fight stigma in local communities and establish community-based menstrual hygiene solutions to the issue of women’s health. Tina explained how your own lived experience can help to shape how you engage with a volunteer role during your University course, and how to develop meaningful portfolio content that makes you stand out from the crowded market for roles in health.