‘It matters!’ — Kelsa reflects on her role as Community and Volunteer Relations Coordinator
Kelsa McDonald has been working for VoiceAbility in Edinburgh since August 2024. The Community and Volunteer Relations Coordinator spoke to us about her experience of working with the volunteer team within the Edinburgh area, the impact her work has, and what she gets out of it.
How did you find about the opportunity to become a volunteer coordinator and what made you decide to become one?
“I was working as a referral and information advocate at the contact centre and came across the role on the internal vacancies section of the website. Before joining VoiceAbility I worked as a line manager for volunteers in different roles within charity retail which I really enjoyed doing, and part of me did miss working with volunteers. I had a genuine interest in the role and knew I had the skills to apply for it.”
Tell me about your role: what does it involve on a weekly basis?
“My role is a bit different to the other volunteer coordinators. My official job title is Community and Volunteer Relations Coordinator and I work within the Edinburgh area only. A typical week for me would involve touching base with the volunteer team to update them with any upcoming opportunities for them, checking the progress of training and inductions, onboarding new starters, and organising our scheduled 1:1s and team meetings.
“The other part of my role is about engaging with the community — attending events, networking with professionals from other services, facilitating group advocacy sessions, and keeping our VoiceAbility Scotland Facebook page up to date.”
My role is really varied and I really enjoy everything I’ve been doing so far!
What is your favourite thing about being a volunteer coordinator?
“The fact that this role is a good mix of the things that I find interesting — delivering advocacy, managing a team of volunteers, and getting to attend events within the local community.”
What challenges have you faced during the role?
“It isn’t always easy to keep volunteers engaged, and what interests one may not interest another! It can be challenging to communicate with a wide range of people in a way that each of them will understand.”
What has this role taught you?
“This role has definitely taught me how to be a more effective communicator, and to have more patience with the ‘little’ things.”
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in becoming a volunteer coordinator?
“Be creative! People might assume that it’s hard to be creative in a role like this but in my experience, volunteers respond really well to new approaches and ideas.”
Don’t be scared to try out new things, or new ways of doing things.
And, finally, what’s your biggest takeaway from volunteering with VoiceAbility?
“It matters! The support of our volunteers means we can keep offering home visits, attending events, running group sessions, and that we can offer support with admin and research tasks. Life at VoiceAbility would be a lot more difficult without volunteers.”