Dean Wilson
"I first got involved with the SAINT project after contacting VODA about volunteering - I had been involved with a few different opportunities but none of them had felt right for me. Josie from the SAINT project got in touch and I came along for the first meeting. I was a nervous wreck on that first day but I got on really well with the staff and the other volunteers in the Artists Unite North Tyneside (AUNT) group and that made me feel more comfortable. All of the other volunteers were creative too and had similar interests to me. Now I’ve been coming to the project for a while I feel like it has really given me my confidence back, I feel as though I could do anything, it has been such a big help. Our group has been making art work to donate to different causes in the local community and I feel like we have the potential to make a massive difference. We have been supporting the homeless community in North Tyneside and we are keen to strengthen these connections and find out how we could make more of an impact. I feel the SAINT project is different from other volunteering I have done before because as well as using our own strengths to help people who really need it we have the freedom to develop the project whichever way we like; within the group people are really supportive of each other’s ideas."
