Volunteering can help support vulnerable people and be of great personal benefit to the volunteers. Like Lilian, Theresa and Hayden have found volunteering – particularly during lockdown - a huge boost to their own mental health. Theresa’s third year at university came to an abrupt halt last March and she found herself back home, with a ‘suffocating lack of purpose’. “I had no exams, six months before I could continue my course and no idea of what to do until then,” she says. “It raised a whole host of negative thoughts.” Theresa started volunteering for Afreshe, a charity which works with children, young people and adults of African backgrounds, helping them to build self-esteem and engage with local communities.