Blog

Name: Cameron Brown

Role: Volunteer and paid swimming instructor once a week.

And outside Seashell? Student at Manchester Grammar School, where I’m also on the water polo team and swim for the school. That means training for water polo three mornings before school every week as well as working for the Swim Team as a paid instructor on Saturday mornings.

Why start volunteering? At first, to get the Duke of Edinburgh silver award which has a volunteering section. Seashell Trust is close to home and my brother had already volunteered with CADS, so I knew the name Seashell. Because I love swimming, I asked to volunteer in the pool.

Which went so brilliantly, in fact, that they asked if you would like to work for them? They encouraged me to get my Level 1 Swim Instructor qualification, so now I’m a regular volunteer and paid swim instructor one morning a week. I’m about to do my Level 2 Swim Instructor and Life-Saving certificates too.

It’s demanding and intense but really rewarding, too. I feel like I really get something out of it and it’s so different to anything I do in school. And it pays better than waiting tables in Bramhall, too!

Ultimately, I hope to become an engineer but I really love being a swim instructor and I’d like to continue doing that part-time.

Many of our volunteers use volunteering to develop new skills, discover things about themselves and progress to paid employment. Some of them, like Cameron, will progress to a paid role with us. For more information about volunteering at Seashell, please visit Volunteering at Seashell Trust Careers or contact our volunteer coordinator denese.paver@seashelltrust.org.uk