Simon – Project Scotland Volunteer

by Simon Atkins

Hi all,
I’ve been volunteering at Fast Forward for 3 weeks now and I’m really enjoying it! Everyone has been really welcoming and Rona and Chiara have been great at making sure that I’m getting the most out of my experience so far. I’ve even been on a team-building afternoon at the Ceramics Workshop in Leith where I painted a giant squid onto a mug. The team were suitably impressed.

I discovered Fast Forward on the Project Scotland website that advertises loads of volunteer opportunities in Edinburgh, and was keen to get some experience in events organising and marketing. At the moment, most of my time is going towards organising Fast Forward’s 25th anniversary event, and I’m also helping Chiara by organising the volunteer’s night out and Sonal by looking into commissioning a giant jigsaw puzzle to be made for No Knives,  Better Lives. I’ve also recently finished designing the new SPEN and Fast Forward banner stands after wrestling extensively with Photoshop and Publisher.

Armed with the work experience I’ll be getting over the next couple of months, I look forward to getting into student recruitment for a UK university or working for the British Council, where my experience of living and working in the Middle East should come in handy. I’ve already been offered interviews at Macmillan Cancer Support and Durham University, so the volunteering appears to be working!
If anyone wants to drop me a line for any reason, feel free to fire me an email at simon@fastforward.org.uk. Also, if anyone out there is considering embarking on a career as an EFL teacher or studying Arabic and/or Translation, I have years of first-hand experience in all three and I’d be really happy to give out free advice!