A reflection on volunteering at St Joseph’s
St Joseph’s Services hosted placements for 3 Seminarians in March 2022, studying at The Royal English College of St Alban in Valadollid, Spain. St Joseph’s were approached by the Daughters of Charity to see if we could host 3 of the Seminarians and give them the opportunity to volunteer in our services. The 3 Seminarians who are in their first year of study to become priests were welcomed into Rosewell and were given the opportunity to meet a number of people we support and volunteer in a number of our services.
Michael one of the students said:
My name is Michael Furey, I am a first year student for the priesthood and from 7th March to 18th March I was on a placement with St Joseph’s Services. I am from Derby in England and am studying at the Royal English College of St Alban in Valladolid, Spain. This placement was in partnership between the college and the Daughters of Charity. During my time with St Joseph’s I worked at Wheatsheaf Lane and in the pastoral office in Rosewell.
“Working at Wheatsheaf Lane was a wonderful experience and helped me to learn more about the work of the care sector, experience the joys and challenges of working in care and gave me the privilege of meeting and working closely with the people St Joseph’s Supports.”
My work in the pastoral office showed me that St Joseph’s is very dedicated to outreach and mission for St Joseph’s service users, family and staff to ensure their wellbeing and spiritual needs are being met.
My time with St Joseph’s also showed me that the dignity of each person is truly valued and respected by giving people independence, opportunity and support. This placement was a time of real learning for me and I am very grateful to St Joseph’s for offering me this opportunity. I shall take a lot away from this placement and hope to use this experience in my continuing studies and future work with those in any kind of need.
The placement was a great success – not just for the students but the people St Joseph’s supports and the staff team really enjoyed the experience. We hope that we will be able to offer future placements and volunteering opportunities for anyone who wants to be involved in St Joseph’s Services.
