The Impact of the Service Pillar

Voluntary Service is more than just a checkbox on your way to completing the Award – its your opportunity to find experiences that shape who you are for the rest of your life. Whether you’re spending time at the local animal shelter, volunteering your time at a school club, or helping your community, everything you do today shapes who you are tomorrow. 

How Your Voluntary Service Shapes You 

Volunteering through the Award isn’t just about showing up — it’s about committing to something bigger than yourself. By returning week after week, you see the real change your efforts create, and you begin to understand the value of responsibility, consistency, and care for others. 

Through your Voluntary Service, you will: 

• Learn patience, compassion, and understanding of others 
• Strengthen your leadership and teamwork skills 
• See the real impact you can make in people’s lives 
• Build connections across different communities and with new people 
• Experience the fulfillment that comes from helping others 

Discovering Your Path 

Service is a chance to explore interests you may not even know you have. Many Award participants discover future careers, passions, or lifelong hobbies through their volunteering.  

What starts as a few hours at a food bank could spark a calling in social justice. Helping coach younger kids could open the door to teaching or mentoring. The Award gives you space to experiment, explore, and discover – when you look back in time, you’ll be able to trace the path you took and it can all start with your Service section. 

Volunteering: Shaping Tomorrow Through Today 

Don’t just take our word for it – hear from someone who has gone through the Award just like you. 

While Kathleen had dabbled in volunteering as a child through visiting long-term care residents with her father, it was the Award that transformed her interest into a passion. The required volunteer hours gave her structure and purpose, but more importantly, they ignited a spark that still burns today.  

From working at local shelters and coaching youth rugby to mentoring through rowing, Kathleen found herself giving back in ways that aligned with her personality and values. “It started with tracking hours and getting signatures,” she says. “But long after that, I was still showing up. It became part of who I am.”  

Want to read more about Kathleen’s story? Click here. 

Your Next Step 

Your Voluntary Service, like your Award, is what you make of it. Start by asking yourself: What do I care about? Who do I want to help? What can I do? What difference do I want to make? Then, commit to showing up – because when you show up, it becomes about more than just you. The more you give, the more you’ll grow — and the more your community will thrive because of you. 

Check out the Activity Zone for ideas

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