Following my attendance to an event on digital skills, one of the panellists (who works in academia) mentioned the spark that he saw in the eyes of his students when he invited someone from industry to speak to the class. Our volunteers often repeat this same story after delivering their training, before asking us to invite them again for repeat sessions! Based on this experience, I wanted to highlight the benefits of volunteering and present you with an opportunity, to join us during this academic year, that will contribute to your personal and professional self-development. 

Giving time

Now that Black Friday has passed and the festive season is approaching, we’re in gift-giving mood. While December tends to be synonymous with charity fundraising and donations, we often overlook the option or the opportunity of giving some of our time.

A truly transformative New Year’s Resolution could be to dedicate some time to volunteering; set some time aside to give back and help in your community. At JA Malta, we can offer you the opportunity of a truly rewarding experience wherein you can inspire today’s youth by spending time talking to them.

JA is built upon a global network of mentors and volunteers, without whom, we wouldn’t have the scale to be able to make such an impact. Being part of this worldwide network is a great opportunity to connect with changemakers, and be a force for good, no matter your level of experience.

Our mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy – this is your chance to get in and make your mark. This is especially true for any JA Malta Alumni as they can give back to the organisation as well as paying it forward to the new generation.

Helping young people to develop skills and undertake tasks in a facilitative style while sharing your own business experience helps to bring the activities to life and maximises their learning and enjoyment. Being visited at school by someone who works in their future dream job industry and having the opportunity to speak to them could inspire these youths and motivate them with real life experiences.

Benefits of Volunteering

Volunteering can help you gain confidence and improve your self-esteem by giving you the chance to try something new and build a real sense of achievement. It is a rewarding experience because you are making a difference to someone’s life, leaving a valuable and positive effect on people, communities, and society, in general.

You will get to meet different people and make new friends while being part of a community. Moreover, you will learn new skills, gain experience, and sometimes even qualifications.

So, my appeal to you for 2023 is to take on the challenge!

You can challenge yourself to try something different, achieve personal goals, practise using your skills and discover hidden talents, while of course having fun. Most volunteers have a great time, regardless of why they signed up in the first place.

What can you do?

You can teach youths the skills that they need to succeed by becoming a JA Malta volunteer. The excitement and satisfaction of transforming attitudes and helping young people open their eyes to the world of enterprise keeps many of our volunteers coming back year after year.

How does it work?

It starts with a Train the Trainer session aimed at giving you the necessary tools and context to impart your workplace experiences to our youth. We combine your personal experiences at work with content that is relevant to their age group to communicate essential life skills such as Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, and Work Readiness in an interactive and fun way to inspire them and giving them a break from routine.

Time Commitment

You will deliver the training on an ad hoc basis based on your availability. You can opt to deliver either one or several sessions throughout the academic year (January – May 2023) during school hours. Each session is approximately 4 hours long, and you may join either as an individual, as a group, or even through your employer to get time off to deliver these sessions as part of a CSR initiative.

You will be required to deliver sessions from our programmes, which you will receive training on, focusing on financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. The sessions are based on activities targeted to the youth with focus on engagement and interaction, while you share real-life experiences and case studies from your work experience.

If you are interested in being a JA Malta volunteer, please visit https://jamalta.org/volunteer or get in touch through email on hello@jamalta.org or fill in the form: https://jamalta.org/r/VolunteerWithJAMalta