Meet the volunteer: Matthew, office volunteer

Matthew Dunn, HR Specialist

Matthew volunteered with us for 2 months, sharing his professional experience and supporting with projects around recruitment process, brand and marketing channel evolution.

Matt talked to us about what it's like to be a skilled volunteer at our head office.

What's your professional background?

My professional background is in Human Resources. I worked within HR across a lot of different specialisations and companies, including L'Oreal. Now I'm head of recruitment at GSMA in the mobile technology industry.

What made you decide to volunteer your skills with Cancer Research UK?

It's a cause that's really close to my heart so I knew that I wanted to do some form of volunteering. But really I think it was the opportunity to use my professional skillset to benefit the organisation that really made Cancer Research UK stand out from other charities.

How much time were you able to commit?

I volunteered for 2 months, during which I committed 4 days a week.

What work did you support with?

I helped the Volunteer Resourcing Team become better at recruiting volunteers who support a whole network of activities at Cancer Research UK. Specifically, I supported on issues around employer brand, recruitment processes and identifying new volunteer offerings.

What was the greatest challenge you encountered?

What I found particularly different was moving from the private sector into the third sector. It was interesting to see how another sector operates and learn about the different challenges and opportunities relating to this sector.

Describe your typical day in the office.

I was supporting on a lot of projects so my activities were very project-based. I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the team who was hosting me, mainly to really understand the organisation, how it works and what they needed. As projects progressed I was given the autonomy to develop different ideas, approaches and strategies and within that was able to meet with a range of employees and specialists within Cancer Research UK.

Of all the projects you helped on, what are you most proud of?

I'm most proud of the corporate volunteering offer. It was something that I was able to do more or less from start to finish. The idea was already there and the foundations had been laid, but it was particularly rewarding for me because by the end of my time I had delivered that idea fully developed and almost ready to be implemented by the team.

What did you get out of the experience?

For me a real benefit was contributing to the cause. I also found it interesting to see how another sector and organisation works. The personal benefit was really to be able to have a genuine impact and give real benefit to the organisation.

What would you say to someone considering volunteering at Cancer Research UK?

Do it!