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At P3 Charity, we know the value and see the impact of what volunteering can do every day. From making a difference to the community, becoming a valued member of a charity’s team or improving your own mental wellbeing, volunteering can be transformative in many ways.
When we talk about volunteering, we often are drawn to talking about social good and the wider impact this has on local communities. Today, however, we’re going to be talking about the value that volunteering has on our mental health.
We’re joined by Charlotte Chambers, Finance Administrator for P3 Charity and volunteer for the Will Garvey Trust Foundation (WTF). Alongside her job at P3, Charlotte’s voluntary role for WTF helps to spread awareness and reduce stigma surrounding conversations about suicide in her local area.
At P3, we like to encourage all our colleagues – just like the people we support – to be involved members of their own communities, which is why we encourage volunteering both alongside work and outside of it.
Working as a Finance Administrator, Charlotte joined P3 in 2024. Since then, she has played a role in spreading mental health awareness around P3’s core teams and head office, where she is based.
Charlotte says, “I’m an advocate for mental health, I’m very open about my own struggles, but also what we should be doing to better other people’s mental health and wellbeing.”
In her own time, Charlotte volunteers for the Will Garvey Trust Foundation (WTF) – a charity founded in memory of a local man named Will Garvey, who took his own life – they raise awareness of suicide and promote communities who can support each other with their mental health.
Inspired to volunteer following her own experiences of mental health struggles, Charlotte opens up about how volunteering plays a massive role in improving her wellbeing.
Opening up about her own relationship with mental health, Charlotte is keen to say that through honest conversations about our own struggles we can help other people identify and overcome things they’re struggling with.
She says, “I had a lot of my own struggles throughout most of school, I had a lot of issues with mental health and suicide in university. Surprisingly, most of the people I knew were also struggling with it and at one point it felt like everyone I spoke to had their own issues, you know, it’s such a prevalent thing. Anyone can be affected.
“My main focus with [WTF] is around awareness and signposting, we find that at events a lot of people avoid us, but when they do, it can be awkward. But that really highlights why we need people having these conversations.
“[That’s why volunteering] has been amazing for me. All of my struggles really kicked my confidence down, but being able to get out there and talk to other people has really given me the confidence I need to be able to go out there and have conversations with people. It shows I have had these issues, but I still can go out and do what I want, have a job, live a happy, healthy, fulfilling life.”
“I think that volunteering has been a really useful wellbeing tool to give you confidence and give you the space to explore things you’ve not done before.”
“[Particularly] with work, which can be such a stressor for a lot of people anyway. It can really impact your mental health if something is going on, which is why it is the best place to start these conversations.”
Piloted in 2025, P3 is excited to continue its staff volunteering scheme into 2026.
Volunteering is central to the ethos of P3. That’s why throughout the last year; we’ve been encouraging all colleagues to volunteer with local charities that make a positive impact in the towns and cities where they live.
This helps build stronger community relationships, provides opportunities to learn about new systems and ways of working, and demonstrates the value P3 places on volunteering. Alongside the positive impact on the communities we work with, we also recognise the benefits this brings to our colleagues, including supporting wellbeing and giving people the chance to connect with causes that matter to them.
As Charlotte says, “I think [the scheme] is amazing, it’s great to have a workplace where staff can have the opportunity to do volunteering. A lot of people are put off by volunteering because of [other commitments]. The thing that scares a lot of people is they don’t have the time to do these things.
“It’s great that you’re given that time in your working hours to go and do something that will benefit you and the community as well.
“WTF and P3 have a great connection, [locally] we do a lot of work together, so I know from experience that [P3] has a lot of connections with other charities, too. This creates loads of opportunities for volunteering.
“I did a shadowing session the other week with P3’s Mental Health Helpline and then a week later I did some training with WTF – which informed my work and helped people there too.
“P3 is really accommodating when it comes to making time for volunteering and wellbeing, they give you paid time to take out of your work to do volunteering but are so open about their own work within the communities and other local charities, and what they do too.”
Volunteering brings with it a wealth of knowledge, and learning from other specialists directly strengthens P3’s multi-agency model. By sharing skills, insights and lived experience, volunteers help us build a more connected, responsive service – one that better meets the needs of the people we support. In turn, this collaborative approach not only improves outcomes, but fosters a culture of continuous learning, compassion and innovation across everything we do.
To find out more about P3’s values, approach and volunteering opportunities; click the buttons below.
