Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS)

I worked at Quaker Cottage as a long-term volunteer for two years. Belfast is a great city and the volunteer accommodations are comfortable with the best view in the city, but what drew me there was the work of Quaker Cottage as an organisation and that is still the highlight. QC has an incredibly skilled and dedicated staff that it was a privilege to be a part of for two years.
Quaker Cottage is a cross-community family support centre serving mums and their children in the North and West of Belfast. The primary job of a volunteer? To love and celebrate the children of the families we work with and make sure they and their mums know it. I really couldn't have asked for a better gig. Good craic all round!
Part of what was so meaningful in the work was being a part of a different model of family intervention and support programmes that prioritises valuing and holding up those served. Quaker Cottage models the transformation possible when you value people-- when you show up with a lot of love, a good share of common sense, and practical support to show mums and their kids that they are worth care, that they can take up space, and that the good in this world is there for them too.