Westminster City Guides

City Guides have been busy over the past couple of months, attending The Regent Street ‘Taste of Spain’ Festival, Pride, and the Fuse Arts Festival.

One of the Guides, Joshua Buyukyilmaz has spoken about his experiences as a volunteer. Josh is currently studying retail at Camden Job Train and has used his volunteering experience to help build his skills and develop his CV.

You can have a ‘great crack’ (Irish for good time) by volunteering,” says Joshua Buyukyilmaz who has become an experienced volunteer while studying. He has participated in City Guides Events. He also spent six months at Oxfam in Highgate village where he discovered that “charity really hurts, because you have to lift boxes!

Joshua acted as a City Guide in the area around Trafalgar Square, in the heart of Westminster, on St Patrick’s Day. “It was awesome, people were positive. If people were lost I would tell them where they could go. I am glad I did it. You meet interesting people but if you are helping someone and it doesn’t go well, you don’t worry. The next person you meet may be the nicest person you meet all day.”

"That day was long and tiring but it was fun.” Though Joshua couldn’t help wondering why the Irish accents faded towards the end of the day.

Since volunteering, he has become more confident in dealing with the public. Now he knows how to deal with people, including the occasional ‘snob’. Joshua will be studying filmmaking in September. “I want to be a film maker, big budget Hollywood stuff. I don’t like independent hippy stuff. He would recommend volunteering to others because “at the end of the day you get a bit of a positive feeling.” He suggests giving it a go. “People should at least try it once. If people are looking for a job and can’t find one they could also try volunteering. Either look for it yourself or have someone help you find a placement.

For more information about Westminster City Guides Volunteering click here: City Guides

Article written by Rita Ali