Deborah's Volunteer Story

My name is Deborah, I am 31 and based in Mallusk. I volunteer with Autism NI's East Antrim support group, and I started volunteering with Autism NI about a year ago.I got involved as my daughter (age 9) has autism and I started to go to the support group every month. I loved going and looked forward to it every month. Attending the group has helped me so much that I felt for me the next step was to volunteer myself. I watched each month as the volunteers got involved and felt that as I attended each group, I should be more involved with helping and also decision making about the group.I love volunteering because I feel I have valuable experience to share with others and because I want to see more and more help for those with autism and their families.The best part of volunteering is the sense of achievement I feel and also knowing that I am giving back to the group in even a small way for all the help I have been given myself from the group myself.I would actively encourage anyone who is thinking of volunteering to go for it, you only have to gain and not lose. It's a wonderful feeling to know what you do might help someone and the sense of achievement I feel has helped my self esteem.