Journey to Volunteering
In semester one of my second year, I received an email from the Department of English and Related Literature advertising their pilot launch of the module ‘Beyond the Book: Community Projects‘. They were offering volunteering roles exclusive to students within the Department. These roles involved working with a variety of York-based charities with the aim of tackling real-world problems and supporting the diverse groups within the wider York area. Some of these projects included designing workshops for a local youth centre, capturing oral histories of women within a local theatre industry and creating a cookbook centred on the stories of asylum-seeking women.
Having had no prior experience in this and doubting my chances, I spontaneously decided to apply. Months later, I’m designing the front cover for a cookbook filled with the voices of women refugees in York. We worked on this in anticipation of York Refugee Week 2026.
Purpose of the Project
York declared itself the UK’s first Human Rights City in 2017. In one way, this made the burden of our task intimidating, but also more rewarding. Our job was to collect and collate recipes from women refugees in York into a cookbook. The aim was to represent our beautiful and multicultural city. We were working with York City of Sanctuary, specifically within their project ‘The Patchwork Kitchen’. In this, I had the privilege to participate in weekly language and cooking classes for women refugees. It was so much fun getting to know the members and encountering new flavours and palettes.
We also had the opportunity to reconvene with other community projects along the way, reflect on our progress and show support to one another. The task itself had many layers to it – a bit like an onion – and thus required a bit of organisation. These layers had a few challenges, such as language barriers, adapting to our university schedules and deciding how we would present the recipes and create an eye-catching design, whilst navigating unfamiliar digital technology. Whether you were a social butterfly or stronger in the creative arts (or both), there was a job for everyone.
Reflections
Writing essays are like cooking. You gather your ingredients (your research), you mix them all together and you envision your goal. Maybe you make some mistakes along the way and have to get a bit creative, but your concentration is focused. The result is then something magical and uniquely yours. I got so caught up in my work that I forgot to relate my degree to the real world. I gained an insight into working professionally, I experienced charity work, I learnt how to work in a team, I made new friends, I experienced new cultures and languages (with the bonus of trying delicious meals) and I learnt how to communicate beyond barriers.
In fact, the project was such a success we agreed to continue our work into the next semester. All of these have been invaluable to my personal life, my academic work, and for my future career.
Whether your interest lies in publishing, heritage conservation, and beyond, community projects have given me indispensable skills. The photos in this blog come from a singular cooking class where we learnt how to make gyozas. Personally, I had never attempted this before, but it reflects the wider journey I had undergone. I had been so dependent on takeaways and frozen-pack gyozas, I felt a gratitude and liberation in being able to call the homemade meal ‘mine’. In the same way, I am looking forward to eventually putting on my York graduation gown and being able to call the degree I will hold in my hands ‘mine’. If you’re an English student at York, I highly recommend choosing the ‘Beyond the Book: Community Projects‘ module if you’re able to. It will take you on an inspiring and fulfilling journey.
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