Voluntary work is an antidote against individualism. It promotes solidarity, empathy and altruism and is perfectly aligned with Christian Humanism values promoted by the CEU. Therefore our Universities encourage it, offering solidary activities to our students through different proposals. All of them meet at the Feria de Voluntariado CEU, where each year students can discover the projects that better adapt to their concerns and integrate in them.

Volunteers, agents of social change

Each volunteer has a different motivation and each voluntary action seeks a different objective. Among the different reasons moving someone to make a bet on solidary actions, we find common features and attitudes. This is the case of the altruistic motivation to do good and help others. Being a volunteer is a choice that each person freely makes, which shows its responsibility with society and the commitment with the group it joins.

Voluntary work is a tool for citizenship participation in social changes. It creates a positive impact on the life of others either through initiatives developed in the closest environment or in others who defend international causes. One shall not lose sight of the many goals achieved at a social and environmental level thanks to the action of citizens’ movements. 

Being a volunteer eases the knowledge and understanding of reality as well as the acquisition of a series of highly valuable attitudes: critical and global thinking, awareness of others’ problems, committed and solidary overview of the world…Also skills such as the capacity to work by projects and in teams, to coordinate people, negotiate and solve problems, etc.

In summary volunteers are participative people, with initiative and non-conformist, passionate and with the ambition to improve the world that surrounds them. And if this were not enough, with their work they actively contribute to reach the Goals of Sustainable Development (ODS). These commitments list the basic principles to end up poverty, care for the environment and guarantee the dignified life of people.

Attendants to the 5^th Edition of Medipinas, the solidarity Medical Project of CEU-UCH.

Personal advantages of volunteer work

Volunteer work provides huge satisfaction which outweighs the effort and time it requires. Moreover, it is the crucial driving force of many social and charity organizations which otherwise, without these volunteers, could not carry out their work.

Volunteers receive continuous training and orientation, acquire experience, strengthen their self-esteem, know the different realities and people, broaden horizons….they will also form part of the history of the organization with which they collaborate and what is even more important, they will be carrying out activities to improve society.

For all these reasons, volunteers also improve employability of youngsters.  They can also know first-hand a very interesting sector to start an undertaking with values.