Fangyu Liu, 23, from China, volunteers as a Covid-19 vaccination volunteer at the Town Hall for MHCC.
I was assisting with the vaccinators to arrange the residents taking vaccine in order, meanwhile, I provided some basic translation to help the non-English speakers from China, as I can speak Chinese Mandarin and basic Cantonese.
I saw the opportunities online and contacted the relevant Officer by email. I have been volunteering for two months.
I got involved as firstly, as I can speak more than one language, and I believe I could be helpful to some residents who may have difficulties understanding English since Manchester is a multicultural city. Secondly, it is a great chance for me to engage with the local community, and know more about how the vaccine progress work. Thirdly, I personally enjoy helping others and I suppose this role is really meaningful for me to have further work or research in the Health and Social Work areas.
All of my colleagues are supportive and nice, they are from diverse countries with different nationalities and ages, I could learn many things such as patience and communication skills from them.
I feel much more proud of myself, and this motivated me to engage in more volunteer activities in the future. Volunteering makes me feel positive - both the colleagues and residents are nice and polite. I felt really proud of myself when I helped others and they in return thanked me.
The most memorable moment was when there was an aged lady from Hong Kong. She came to the Town Hall site alone to get the vaccine, but she seemed to struggle with English. She then asked if I could translate English into Cantonese and I did, she was really happy and thanked me with a big warm smile when she had done her vaccine.
Volunteering is really a great opportunity for you to get engaged with the community and society, just don't be shy or afraid of making mistakes the first time.