Volunteering at Pembroke House
Pembroke graduate Daisy Prior (2012) talks about the week she spent volunteering with Pembroke House
Pembroke House is a community centre founded in 1885 by Pembroke Students in Walworth, South London which works to transform and build bridges in the local community. It has its own residency for volunteers to stay in and also shares its building with a church (St Christopher's, Walworth) although the community centre itself is for people of any or no religion.
The week I spent at Pembroke House was extremely rewarding. I was given the opportunity to use my passion for art and design to produce a map of local resources for the community street party, helping with Pembroke House's aim of sharing information in the community. Everyone I met was incredibly welcoming and I felt privileged to be part of a centre which brings so many people together, if just for a week. I found meeting local residents, church members, volunteers and staff really enjoyable, and the chance to learn more about a new community whilst contributing to the extremely varied activities there was very fun.
I stayed in the residency during my placement and mainly worked in the office, preparing for the street party. I helped out with some of the community groups such as a mum's group (Mumspace), the lunch club for over 50s and a gardening for wellbeing group. In addition to this, I helped the charity IntoUniversity prepare for a cake sale at the street party to raise money for new laptops and chaperoned some trips with a youth church group from Washington DC. This gave me the opportunity to attend tours of Westminster Abbey and Southwark Cathedral. I loved producing the map of local community centres for the street party which was the culmination of my placement. I spent the day of the street party on the face painting stall which was exhausting but really fun, reflecting the rest of my time at Pembroke house: really busy but very rewarding.
I would highly recommend getting involved with Pembroke House as it's a great way of contributing to a community. What's more, even a week or two of volunteering can be enough to make a useful difference and learn something new!
To find out more about Pembroke House, see their website.