Maurice, Volunteer actor

Maurice is a 27 year old out of work actor from Navan. Maurice found it very daunting being out of work for so long as the only thing he ever knew was acting. ‘My brain was becoming fried and I was becoming depressed with nothing to do. I went to the jobs club and this is where I was introduced to Meath Volunteer Centre.   They came into one day to explain the concept of volunteering and the benefits it could bring.’

‘I really wanted to do something productive with my time and thought I might as well give volunteering a go. Anything was better than sitting around the house. I had a chat to the Volunteer Centre about my skills and interests and they talked to me about an opportunity with Rehabcare that might suit me.’

‘The project was to develop a play with the service users in Rehabcare along with the help of another volunteer Stephen. This was a real challenge to me as I had tunnel vision when it came to acting. I never really thought about sharing my talent with other people and the benefits and joy this could bring. I remember the first day going up there – I didn’t know what to expect, but the atmosphere was electric. I knew that we were on to something good!’

‘We didn’t just want to do a generic play with the service users we really wanted to give them an opportunity to express themselves and use the play as a vehicle of communicating with the wider public what it was like to have a disability. We then built a play around this called ‘Connect’. Some service users were so shy at the start but you could just see them come out of themselves as the weeks went on. The buzz I got out of that was unbelievable and seeing the buzz that the performers got just made it all so worthwhile. You could really see them grow in confidence. The appreciation you get for the service users and the staff up here is unbelievable.’

‘Volunteering has really open different doors for me and made me open my eyes. I was always a bit apprehensive about facilitating a group but I found that I really enjoyed it. I’ve now decided that I’m going to go on to do a course on drama teaching.‘

‘I’ve also found volunteering to be a really great opportunity to meet new and interesting people and widen your group of contacts. You won’t hear about any new opportunities sitting at home and you won’t learn very much about yourself sitting at home either. Everyone out there has skills and talents they can share with others. I saw men up in the Jobsclub who were working for over 30 years of their lives and now they’re left with nothing to do. I know some of them went on to volunteer as well and they’ve also told me about their positive experiences.’