Why volunteer     People choose to volunteer for many different reasons. For some it offers the chance to give back to the community or make a difference to the people around them. For others it’s too provide chances to develop new skills or build on existing experiences and knowledge.   Below are a few reasons why people volunteer     Make a difference to the lives of others  Help others less fortunate or without a voice  Feel valued and part of a team  Boost confidence and self-esteem  Gaining new skills, knowledge and experience     Regardless of the motivation people who volunteer find it challenging and rewarding.     Why I volunteer   I have been a volunteer for Canvey yellow door for almost two years. I volunteer as it allows me to build on my confidence and self-esteem which has grown since I started. It allows me to use my experiences to help others and make them feel good about themselves.  The staff and volunteers at yellow door are so friendly and helpful which makes y...
 What is self-harm     Self-harm is when you hurt yourself as a way of dealing with difficult feelings, bad memories or stressful situations and experiences. People have different ways of expressing self-harm such as;     Express something that is difficult to put into words  Change emotional pain into physical pain  Reduce very strong feelings or thoughts  Punish yourself for your feeling and experiences           After you have self-harmed you may feel a short term of release. The cause of the distress has unlikely not gone away and it may have come back worse. Once you become dependent on self-harm it may take a long time to stop.   Types of self-harm     There are many ways people can intentionally harm themselves, such as:     cutting or burning their skin  punching or hitting themselves  poisoning themselves with tablets or toxic chemicals  misusing  alcohol  or  drugs  deliberately starving themselves ( anorexia nervosa ) or  binge eating  (buli...