The reason young people should volunteer in their local credit union

This is what I have learnt from my experience as an international student who initially didn't have a clue of what a credit union was to being an active part of Donore for the last 2 years

I have been a part of the team in Donore Credit Union for over two years now. I initially got involved with the credit union in my second year of college as a way to gain valuable work experience which I knew would increase my chances of qualifying for jobs in the future. It gave me an opportunity to be a part of a professional environment and to do something in addition to focusing solely on my college work. Instead of simply learning the theory in classes, the credit union allowed me to put the things that I learnt into practice.

Over the last two years I have come to realise the significance that credit unions play in Irish communities, it is often a central point that makes the community go round and has a personal touch by not simply treating members as a number on a piece of paper but caring about the welfare of its members. I always found it surprising how the staff often tends to remember the names of members and vice versa, which is a thing that seems to be close to non-existent in larger banks. When I became a part of Donore I had no clue what a credit union was since I grew up in Sweden and Finland where credit unions do not exist. However, after a few weeks I started understanding the concept and seeing the benefits it provides to members and the community as a whole, and I am still involved with the credit union at the time of writing in February 2021.

In the credit union I have had the opportunity to plan, implement and lead various projects which has provided me with useful skills and most importantly made me feel more self-confident in decision making and undertaking independent work. One project allowed me to set up a neighbourhood recruitment run to inform local citizens about the services and benefits of joining Donore credit union. I first got to plan out the routes and exclude the addresses of existing members and find areas where the ratio of non-members were higher, then I had to find suitable volunteers at the local college to take part in the project and eventually organise/lead the team. This is one of the many projects I have had the opportunity to be a part of. Others, to name a few, include setting up and partaking in various community events/celebrations, designing competitions and creating in-depth analytical reports of statistics and data related to the website/social media channels/marketing strategy. Much of the focus in my everyday tasks is on creating content for social media channels and the website which allows me to be creative and come up with new marketing ideas and strategies together with the marketing team. Overall, volunteering has provided me with a vast amount of experience and made me feel more comfortable interacting in a business environment. For example, I get to maintain relations with various stakeholders over the phone, in person or via email and I personally feel that a simple task such as helping out to answer the phone during busy times has provided me with a solid foundation in customer service and I now feel significantly less nervous interacting with people over the phone.

Definitely, the best part of volunteering is that the staff at Donore credit union is like a big family and although I am not in the office on a daily basis they always make me feel like I am a part of the team. I also really enjoy the fact that being a part of the credit union has given me so much knowledge and experience of Irish culture and the local community in Dublin 8 which has made it a lot easier for me to adjust and be able to call Ireland my home.

I would absolutely recommend people to volunteer at a credit union. Students can gain an immense amount of experience and have things to add on their CV which will make them stand out in an interview for a future role. However, I do not only recommend it for students. I think many professionals who would like to improve their skills in a certain field could gain significant experience from volunteering at the credit union.

It may feel a bit frightening in the beginning to be a part of a new team but to be frank that will be the reality anywhere new, but with a team like the one at Donore it will not take long for a volunteer to settle in. Additionally, volunteers should not feel like they do not have sufficient skills or knowledge to volunteer, because that is one of the key points of volunteering in the first place; to develop and learn new skills while also helping your local community. I would suggest seeing it as a way to become engaged in the community and learn more about it, in particular if you are new to the area. Your local credit union is one of the best ways to get to know local people in your community and if you are from outside of Ireland it is a perfect way to learn more from host country nationals.

A massive thank you to Donore Credit Union for giving me this chance to be a part of a great team. Also a big thanks to all my wonderful co-workers: Anna, Christine, David, Denise, Geraldine, Noeleen, Patricia, Pauline, Suzanne and my manager Dave.

Sincerely,

Niklas (Nick) Ahlmark