Neal's Story
Volunteer Youth Worker, Volunteer Assistant Instructor and Access Advisor
Neal Crowley, 24, from Dagenham regularly offers his experience, skills and time to carry out two volunteer roles in his local area.
Having had a long association with Ab-Phab and Crossroads, both social clubs for disabled and non-disabled people, Neal became an invaluable member of these groups and has been supporting young people as a Volunteer Youth Worker for three years at the club and also runs the weekly 18+ group.
For the past 12 months, Neal has been adding to his volunteering experiences by taking on the role of Volunteer Assistant Instructor and Access Advisor at Stubbers, an outdoor adventure centre in Essex. Here Neal helps out on a range of activities including archery, power boating and sailing.
Although sometimes Neal feels frustrated because his disability hinders him doing certain tasks due to the physically demanding nature of outdoor activities, he feels his volunteering experiences have been very positive and he has not encountered any disabling barriers within these roles. Neal is able to do the tasks and activities that best suit him and is also supported by other volunteers and staff at the Centre on the occasions when he needs support, for example, getting in and out of the boats.
Neal's commitment, enthusiasm and dedication volunteering has won him a number of awards, including the South of England 'Clubs for young people organisations' Award in recognition for volunteer time and the 'Jack Petchey Leaders' Award for personal achievement.
Neal has also recently received the prestigious 1,000-hour Millennium Volunteer Award from London Youth and is being nominated for a Nationwide Award for Voluntary Endeavour, too.
Neal really enjoys volunteering and feels that he has benefited from these experiences in a lot of different ways, including feeling more confident, gaining skills in working well with people and developing an amazing network of friends both professionally and socially. Neal hopes to train further in power boating, maybe to help him in his future career and says, "I would encourage other people to get involved (in volunteering) as I am sure they would find it as rewarding as I do."
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