The benefits of volunteering in retirement with Action Tutoring
At Action Tutoring age isn’t a barrier when it comes to helping others and making the world a fairer place! Our volunteers range from 18 to 80, and we welcome all individuals from different backgrounds to join our volunteer team as a tutor in English or maths and make a real difference.
Most importantly, our education charity is proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities organisation for its volunteers. Our tutors come from a whole range of backgrounds, including university students, working employees and retired professionals, inspiring pupils to consider future pathways and exposing them to a range of role models.
Retirement can be one of the most wonderful times of your life! More time to spend with loved ones, start a new hobby, explore new places – and perhaps to find a particular cause you’re passionate about.
Join our volunteering group, and be part of our mission to help more disadvantaged pupils receive the academic support they need to progress in life.
What will you be doing?
You’ll deliver tutoring sessions to pupils eligible for Pupil Premium and help them progress academically in English or maths, depending on your qualifications and experience.
The academic support your pupils will receive will make them more engaged in the classroom and you’ll be able to watch their confidence grow with every session!
To join our cause, all you need to commit is one hour a week for 10-20 weeks, either online or in-person. The sessions run at the same time and day each week, so if you enjoy volunteering with us, we’d love it if you continued supporting the same pupils with their progress!
“Before I started tutoring I didn’t feel great about English as I felt like I knew nothing. Now I feel much better as I can write more. I know how to answer the exam questions with the right structure. My tutors were really nice and went the extra mile for me. In the future I want to be an electrical engineer and I know my tutoring has helped me with my English so that I can get the grades I need to study for this career.” – Secondary school pupil, Birmingham
Click here if you are interested to learn more about the schools we work with and check if their locations are convenient for you!
What are the requirements to join our volunteer community?
Our amazing volunteers care about the wellbeing of the pupils, and not just their general academic success. That’s why we look for qualities such as patience, empathy and good communication skills in order to effectively pass on their knowledge to their pupils.
We are proud to work with many retired individuals (they are one of our main groups of volunteers!) since they are dedicated volunteers who want to give back to their community and share their knowledge with the younger generation.
This can help bridge the gap between the older and the younger people, offering both sides the opportunity to learn and grow from each other.
A retired IT technician, Phil found himself at a loose end and wanted to give something back to his local community. He believes maths is crucial for all pupils to master and so began volunteering with Action Tutoring.
He says:
‘’As a retired person with a lot of free time, I wanted to do something where I felt I was being active and contributing. I think everybody wants to feel that they are using their time in a positive way, which is more of a challenge when you’re retired. For me, tutoring has made me feel as though I am continuing to contribute.’’
What support will you receive from us?
Our Training and Curriculum team has worked hard to create the learning material volunteer tutors need for their tutoring sessions. They also provide an initial training which will help volunteers understand more about how our charity works, our values and further training opportunities that tutors can use.
Our goal is to offer our pupils personalised academic support through our workbooks and resources. We provide our volunteers with these, so we just ask for 15-30 preparation time per session, to familiarise yourself with the materials and the topic you’ll be tutoring.
Whether you choose to tutor online or in-person, our Programme Coordinators will be available to support you throughout your tutoring experience and manage any issues that may occur.
Curious to see who we are? Here’s our team!
What will you get in return?
Our volunteer tutors have not only made a positive impact on the lives of disadvantaged young people, but they have experienced positive benefits for themselves too.
Volunteering is all about feeling fulfilled and making a difference at the same time. Beyond how your physical health improves by voluntary work, your mental wellbeing is improved too. In particular, The National Institute on Aging reported that participating in activities that are meaningful and productive may lower the risk of dementia and other health problems in seniors.
Spending more time at home reduces the chance of meeting new people, something we’ve all learnt in recent years! To avoid feeling lonely, you can be part of our group and put your skills and knowledge to good use.
In addition, volunteering with Action Tutoring can be a brilliant way to interact with people of different ages from different backgrounds, cultures and experiences in new situations. This will be an easy way for all retired professionals to socialise and maybe make new friends while giving back to the community!
More information on volunteer opportunities for retired professionals can be found here. If you can’t find the answer to your question, get in touch with us by sending an email at volunteer@actiontutoring.org.uk.
Do you want to learn more about the impact of our work? Watch the video below!
Volunteering is free, and comes with a complimentary sense of fulfilment. Ready to take the next step?
