read Cwr volunteer lauren wyllie’s essay analysing her volunteer experience

CWR Volunteer Lauren Wyllie, is a student at University of Gloucestershire, studying History and Religious Studies. She undertook a placement volunteering with Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees and has reflected on her experience as part of her coursework. We’re grateful to her for sharing her time and energy volunteering with us and for permission to publish her essay here.

Provide a critical overview of the work you conducted on your work placement/internship/volunteering opportunity.

My placement was volunteering with the charity Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees. During my placement, through the work I conducted by taking part in events that are core to the charity's aims, I was able to gain crucial insight and understanding into the importance of food and meal sharing to create an inclusive community where refugees and asylum seekers are able to feel welcome and united.

During my placement, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be able to assist in many events run by Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees. Some events included taking over the weekly park run to promote the charity and raise awareness of the fundamental support it provides. However, it was through assisting in monthly community cafes that I learnt the most. This is because the community cafes are a key social event within which people are invited to each bring a dish and there is a collective meal as well as activities for adults and children to encourage integration and the courage the build social relationships. Through assisting at these events I was able to deeply understand the impact of something as straightforward as sharing a meal can have. But also had the opportunity to view the importance of it for people and communities. Atsız argues that “social interaction is an important component of the meal-sharing experience.”. This means that it is not only important to share the food but it is also essential to have the engagement with others whilst doing it. This is because the unity of the food creates a group identity for people of all backgrounds to connect over. Through my placement, I was able to understand the importance of this. During the community cafes, there would be a diverse range of ethnicity as well as ages, and by being one of the younger volunteers I found that the social interaction among people, and being able to engage in conversions whilst sharing the meal was core to helping develop a sense of unity. This is because these discussions I found created a sense of unity even if it was over the smallest element like enjoying the same type of food. To strengthen this, Schmitt states that “Sharing a meal is a way to connect with someone new and to understand their story.”. this highlights the importance of social connection over food as it allows you to identify and unite yourself with other people. Being able to partake in this myself I was able to clearly understand the importance of these events because I saw how crucial they are in removing barriers and allowing people to feel relaxed and speak freely.  Additionally, due to the collective nature of this event, people of all backgrounds are able to socialise and enjoy the same meal in a bias-free environment. This is something I was inspired by. This is because the social interaction and unity through the food I learnt is something essential in integrating refugees and asylum seekers but also In creating a community where resettled people are able to feel accepted and welcome. 

To develop this in regards to integration into a new society, I found that it is strongly shown that food and having a collective meal play a vital role in helping those who are resettled in feeling welcome in their new environment. It is strongly argued that food plays a central role in the integration of groups into a society as Stepakoff demonstrates by stating “Sharing a meal was also a way of expressing feelings of connection and mutual respect among group members”. This means that sharing a meal allows people to feel unified as there is a collective identity through sharing that food. This is essential because I found that through events such as the community cafe where food is shared, refugees and asylum seekers have the opportunity to integrate into their new society and create a community they can feel a part of. Therefore it is clearly understood why Cheltenham welcomes refugees have the main aim of helping “refugee communities truly grow and flourish”. This means that the charity aims to build an essential support network for people who have been resettled and for them to feel a sense of belonging. This is something that I believe is being successfully achieved through the community cafe. This is because the aim highlights the importance of creating an environment where people are able to build a new collective identity with people and create social relationships to support them. This highlights the significance of the community cafe because, through the sharing of food, I believe that they have successfully been able to achieve this. To strengthen this Schmitt argues that  “Food is also a meaningful way to bring host communities and refugees together.”. This is something that was very evident throughout the community cafes as these events allowed the creation of a new community with local people from Cheltenham and people who have been resettled there. This is something I found to be fundamental as it allowed refugees to feel accepted and welcome. 

Within the work of the Cotswold Centre for History and Heritage, there is a project called Cheltenham Diaspora, and an element of this is “The Power of the Potjie”. This also highlights the importance of food by looking at the experiences of South Africans. This project strongly correlated towards the idea that food plays a central role in building a community and helping to integrate people together. 

Critical reflection on your personal development and career aspirations in light of your experiences during this module and your completion of the Level 5 PULSE questionnaire. Provide indications of the work-related skills developed in your work placement / internship / volunteering opportunity.

My placement with Cheltenham welcomes refugees allowed me to develop personally whilst also solidifying my career aspirations. The personal development was in a variety of aspects. 

Upon reflection on my placement, I found that I was good at adapting to new situations. This is because I have a strong willingness to learn and I believe it is important to develop my knowledge towards situations because by doing this I will be able to have a better insight and understanding of others. This is something I believe I was already good at as my course, history and religious studies, has given me the skills required to accept and appreciate diverse cultures and communities. I would consider myself someone who understands the appropriateness of respect and I always care and am mindful of the views and values of others. This is something that my placement allowed me to continue to develop. This is because I found myself in situations that I had never encountered before and due to the sensitivity of them if I had not had that willingness to learn, I would have limited myself from gaining a better insight into the importance of the charity but also could have resulted in distressing or unsettling someone.  This means that my placement and the vital opportunities it provided, allowed me to continue to develop and gain a deeper undertaking to realise the importance of sensitivity towards others. Additionally, through this personal development, it resulted in me having a better ability to work with other people. This is because by having a deeper understanding and appreciation for other cultures and communities, I believe that I am now more likely to work well with other people from different backgrounds. 

However, one element that I found to be more challenging was understanding the more appropriate way to assist in the promotion of the charity. This is because Cheltenham welcomes refugees has the aim of  “raising awareness and understanding of the issues faced by refugees”. This is something I felt a bit cautious about in the beginning because being from Dover and seeing how the media reports on the refugee crisis, I understand that this can be a controversial issue to discuss with people. But my placement helped me overcome this. This is because I assisted at an event which was planned in order to raise awareness of the fundamental impact and work Cheltenham welcomes refugees provides. One event that I assisted at was a takeover of the weekly park run within which charity volunteers had a variety of roles including Marshalling the route but also being available to provide information about the charity. I found this event to be essential in helping me overcome this challenge because it demonstrated that raising awareness does not have to be a controversial topic. This is because this event highlighted to me that a lot of people were eager to listen and learn about what Cheltenham welcomes refugees has to offer. 

My career ambitions are to continue doing the work I undertook as part of my placement and to do humanitarian work and find a job in an NGO. Through my placement, I was able to develop and grow in skills that I believe would later assist me with this. One skill that my placement has strongly helped me develop which I believe to be fundamental is how to prepare for work. This is because by volunteering with Cheltenham welcomes refugees I was able to expose myself to a delicate environment but still be able to provide the crucial support that was needed by the refugees and asylum seekers. My career pulse resulted in demonstrating that I know how to get myself physically, mentally & emotionally prepared for the workplace. This is a direct result of my placement and will consequently help me when I start to find my career. This is because by knowing how to prepare for work and having the essential skills I learnt through my placement,  will be able to face potential challenges and know how to resolve them. Additionally, the career pule stated that I am “quite confident with regard to self-awareness”. This means that I am aware of what motivates me to work and the values behind them. This is something I view as fundamental for any job but especially one similar to my placement because I found that due to the sensitivity around the job, people should be aware of their motivations and the values behind their actions because you should want to do this work for the right reason but also, this is essential is because other people may not hold the same motivations as you and It is core to remember this. And being aware of these differences can assist in resulting in a friendly work environment suitable for anyone who wishes to assist. 

Lastly, one thing that my placement has helped me develop is my confidence in knowing that this is the career path I want to have. This is because by being able to view the fundamental work Cheltenham welcomes refugees provides, I was inspired to go to Calais with the university refugee support group to volunteer in the ‘refugee community kitchen to assist them in making meals that are vital for refugee communities in Calais.  It is strongly understood this would not have happened if I did not have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of humanitarian work but also the skills that are required to conduct such work. 

Bibliography for both parts:

Atsız, Ozan, Ibrahim Cifci, and S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh. 2022. ‘Exploring the Components of Meal-Sharing Experiences with Local Foods: A Netnography Approach’, Current Issues in Tourism, 25

Brown, L. 1984. Ethnic and Regional Foodways in the United States: The Performance of Group Identity (Univ. of Tennessee Press)

Gallner, Virginia. 2018. Room at Our Table": Analyzing the Efficacy of Pro-Refugee Social Media Campaigns Based on Hospitality Values and Resource Sharing

‘Our Aims —’. [n.d.]. Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees <https://www.cheltenhamwelcomesrefugees.org.uk/our-aims> [accessed 5 June 2023]

Schmitt, Céline. 2017. ‘How Paris Is Supporting Refugee Integration through an Innovative Food Festival’, UNHCR Innovation <https://www.unhcr.org/innovation/paris-supporting-refugee-integration-innovative-food-festival/> [accessed 7 June 2023]

Stepakoff, Shanee. 2006. ‘Trauma Healing in Refugee Camps in Guinea: A Psychosocial Program for Liberian and Sierra Leonean Survivors of Torture and War’, American Psychologist, 61.8

‘The Power of the Potjie’. 2020. Cotswold Centre for History and Heritage <https://cc4hh.co.uk/the-power-of-the-potjie/> [accessed 7 June 2023]