We just finished our second year of volunteering at Old Ford School in Bow. We did this through City Action. I was one of the volunteers this term, and it left me with a few thought on volunteering:
1 - nothing, and I mean nothing we have done has generated the same level of buzz in the team than the shared experience of doing this.
2 - you can make a difference without committing huge amounts of time. It was half a day a month for me.
3 - it's very practical, and all absorbing - we tutor children who are 8 or 9 years old for an hour each, and after three tutoring sessions I'm ready for a break.
I'll ask my colleagues what they think about the experince and do a post that summarises their response.