Case Study: Eileen McLean
Volunteer
Karen Miller, Volunteer Development Officer
Heather Kay, Credit Union Development Officer
Eileen McLean resides in Paisley. She attended Mary Russell School and has many years’ experience working the Learning Disability area of Social Work. This experience was gained in an administration capacity.
Eileen has also undertook administration education with West College Scotland (formerly Reid Kerr College) and her hobbies are knitting, crocheting, cinema and eating out.
In October 2016, Eileen decided (having not worked for a considerable period) it was time for a change. She had felt low whilst not working and thought volunteering may be an ideal way of developing her confidence to ease her back into the workplace. At the same time Eileen felt strongly about gifting her time to community projects.
Following her own research, Eileen discovered that Engage Renfrewshire provided a Volunteering Service and contacted the Volunteer Development Officer to discuss volunteering opportunities being advertised which may best suit her experience. She commented on and was delighted with Engage Renfrewshire’s swift and tailored approach. At her own request, Eileen was referred to Gleniffer Credit Union in Glenburn; and was successful in gaining a volunteer role as a Generalist Administrator. This meant volunteering a half day per week on a Monday morning. She really enjoyed this role and soon became rated as a very valuable member of their team.
A few weeks into her role with Gleniffer Credit Union, Eileen decided to apply for a second volunteer role as the Recruitment Campaign Coordinator with Engage Renfrewshire. Again she was successful in her application and agreed to do this in conjunction with her other volunteering role. This resulted in Eileen volunteering on Monday morning’s with Gleniffer Credit Union, and Engage Renfrewshire on Monday afternoons.
This worked well, however the cold weather resulted in difficulties for Eileen travelling to Glenburn. She therefore decided to resign from her post with them and concentrate volunteering with Engage Renfrewshire.
Eileen’s contribution with Engage Renfrewshire was really positive as she quickly understood the role and associated responsibilities. One of her recruitment campaigns involved recruiting volunteers for the ‘Paisley Light Switch On’ in December 2016. She successfully referred 20 volunteers which was an excellent achievement. In addition she was able to advise volunteer referrals to those with additional support needs.
Engage Renfrewshire’s Credit Union Development Officer supports all Renfrewshire Credit Unions and was instrumental in signposting Eileen to a part time paid post with Renfrewshire-Wide Credit Union (RWCU). The Development Officer connected with Capability Scotland’s employability team and the end result was that Eileen managed to secure a paid post with RWCU. The manager of RWCU has commended Eileen’s work ethic and cited Eileen’s previous volunteering experience with a credit union as the primary reason they decided to hire her.
This is an excellent outcome given that this was the ultimate goal that Eileen wished to achieve.
Quote from Eileen “I feel that Engage Renfrewshire is one of the only agencies who have ever supported me. They listened and helped me get a job. This is what I have been looking for and I feel things are falling into place in my life.”