Georgia secures volunteering role to top off personal development journey

Georgia Greenhill used to be too anxious to go to a shop by herself. Now she is part of running a shop through her volunteering with Barnardo’s.  

Her new volunteering role is the culmination of a big personal journey for Georgia, which started when she was referred to Bridges Project in 2023.

The Musselburgh teenager, who had just left school, started receiving support from the charity’s Group Programme just before her 17th birthday. Georgia recalls that she was ‘quite nervous’ and ‘low on confidence’ at the time.

“I wanted to engage with Bridges Project to get more confident in social situations and to get out of the house more. I also wanted to be around different people and meet new people,” Georgia said about her choice to start receiving support from Bridges Project’s Group Programme.

Georgia quickly became a regular in the programme’s group activities and got involved with everything from cooking & baking groups to arts & crafts groups and excursions in the local community with Bridges Project partners such as the Scottish Seabird Centre.

More recently, the former Musselburgh Grammar School student has been working towards gaining her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Together with five other young people, she is preparing for the expedition required to be completed for the Award. The qualifier for this is due to take place in spring 2026.

Georgia has noticed that she has grown a lot through all her experiences with Bridges Project.

“Bridges Project has helped me quite a lot. I definitely have a lot more confidence when meeting new people now,” she said.

Now 19, Georgia has started thinking about her career plans and is dreaming about working with animals in the future. To help her reach this goal, she has moved on to Bridges Project’s Spark Your Future programme, funded by East Lothian Council’s Employability Grants Programme as part of the Scottish Government’s No One Left Behind funding.

Through Spark Your Future, Georgia is receiving one-to-one support from Employability Support Worker 16+ Kelly Muir. The pair have been working on areas such as CV writing and Kelly has also helped Georgia identify and prepare for volunteering opportunities.  

The Musselburgh teenager has now secured her first volunteering role with Barnardo’s, where she is helping out in the storage room in the charity’s shop in her hometown once a week.

The 19-year-old said the way she approached Barnardo’s in the first place signified how far she has come.

“I couldn’t even go to a shop by myself before but I went into Bernardo’s on my own to ask if I could volunteer there. I’m really proud of how far I have come,” said Georgia.

Kelly is also impressed by what Georgia has achieved.

“I am so proud of her. She has committed herself so well to everything in order to progress on her career journey. It has been great to see Georgia flourish in confidence along the way,” said the Employability Support Worker 16+.