The power of volunteering with David McLenachan

In the tenth episode of Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian Podcast, host Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe interviews volunteer and photographer, David McLenachan. David shares his journey from retirement to discovering a passion for volunteering, starting with The Met Theatre in Bury and expanding through various music festivals in Manchester. He discusses the challenges and rewards of volunteering, his photography career progression, and his role as a patient representative for Greater Manchester Cancer. The episode also touches on David's significant impact, his advice for aspiring volunteers, and heartwarming stories from his volunteering experiences.   In David’s own words: “I really think that's for any individual, that's the most important thing is to go out and make it happen. Now, it's really difficult to know in more specific detail how to do that. And people I've mentioned like Mac, M A C, is one route so that you can just identify the vast number of opportunities that they collate.  But there's many other ways as well. So it might be in a more local environment. So what do you have in your local community, your local town or area of Manchester that you might want to get engaged in?  Go and see them, find out if there's any need for any volunteers and see where that takes you.”  #volunteering #GM #manchester #SocialImpact #community #NonProfit   Did you know:  ·     Volunteering can be a great way to learn and develop new skills ·     Volunteering improves your mental health and sense of wellbeing ·     Volunteering can help people feel less isolated in their surroundings and form meaningful connections with the people around them ·     Volunteering can help you ‘pay it forward’   Key resources: Macc volunteer centre David McLenachan Instagram   Time stamps of key moments in the podcast episode & transcript:   (02:30) Volunteering at The Met (04:12) Expanding Volunteering Horizons (05:37) From Volunteering to Photography (07:03) Challenges and Rewards of Volunteering (11:18) Impact and Serious Roles (15:13) Advice for Aspiring Volunteers (20:59) Personal Reflections and Life Lessons (28:45) Heartwarming Volunteering Stories   Listen to the episode and read the transcript on www.meetthemancunian.co.uk