How Bryony from YMCA of Hong Kong Matched with the Perfect Volunteers | Time Auction Impact Highlights

Blog banner dimension TA Testimonial Template 3

Meet Bryony from YMCA of Hong Kong!

Bryony is the Communications Manager at YMCA of Hong Kong, an NGO that strives to provide holistic services for those in need in order to help them actualize their dreams!

Since YMCA of HK already has a well-established volunteer movement of its own, why did they still reach out to Time Auction for help? Even though most YMCA volunteers are in a sense, “alumni” as many are former program participants, most of them are more experienced in their own programs and are relatively young. In other words, YMCA has no existing database to request skilled volunteers for event support!

YMCA youth leaders at World Council
YMCA Youth Leaders at World Council

A Pleasant Surprise!

Bryony recalls initially learning about Time Auction and though she was excited about the prospects of this platform, she felt skeptical hearing that there were already 4600+ volunteers matched with over 360 NGO/SEs, and even more that are part of the community! She asked herself, “Are there really that many professionals willing to volunteer in Hong Kong?” Without any expectations, she decided to take a leap of faith and posted a project asking for event managers/planners to act as the advisory board for their upcoming Youth Symposium which celebrates their 120th anniversary!

Within days, applications came flooding in!

“I was in complete shock! We received 14 highly qualified and enthusiastic applications in a matter of days -- way more than we were even looking for!”

When asked, “What was the most challenging part of this process?” She responded swiftly with “Rejecting applicants! Each one of them was so compassionate and passionate about helping and it hurts me so much to only pick 5 applicants!”

After personally conducting 14 interviews, Bryony made the difficult decision of getting 5 perfect candidates on board!

“It was a perfect combination of diverse applicants but equally passionate and qualified! From newly graduated young professionals to a mid-senior expert, I am beyond appreciative of this team.”

Advisory Committee 2Y
These are the 5 volunteers Bryony recruited from Time Auction, Sampson (1st left), Esan (3rd left), Angela (2nd right), Hailey (4th right) and Anson on the screen, plus YMCA staff and youth leaders!

“In our team, we have two young women who are representative of our target audience for the Youth Symposium event. Having access to their personal experiences and opinions allows us to understand what would attract their demographic to come. Meanwhile, the more senior event organizers are able to give us professional tips on how to make things work in each phase of the project. Altogether, the brainstorming sessions with them have been incredible. Seeing them bring their well thought out ideas to the table, contributing whole-heartedly to the project both in-person and in their spare time has been heartwarming and inspiring, to say the least.”

Execution Team 2
This is a recent photo with the symposium execution team, with 3 skilled-volunteers Bryony has recruited from our platform.

“You can just see from my smile how satisfied I am with the quality of the skilled volunteers that we have recruited. Since everything was so on schedule, within 2 months, we were  able to get the entire rundown of the event consolidated!”

Trust the Process!

Service Trip Guangxi

Bryony urges more people to join the skilled volunteering journey! “NGOs don’t have many resources and we can’t hire that many people! Skilled volunteers help to save money and time while giving expertise that our core team may not necessarily have. The YMCA team sincerely appreciates all who are willing to devote their time to generate more impact for our cause!”

To NGOs, Bryony keeps it short and simple by saying, “Just post the project.” 

“Trust the process and the platform because there are so many experienced and qualified people out there willing to help and give back to the community.”

Thank you so much to Bryony for sharing her insights and awesome journey of using our skilled-volunteering matching platform!

To be featured as our community member, embark on your volunteering journey by discovering projects you can help with now: http://www.timeauction.org/projects 

Interviewed and written by Katia Shek

Updated on 5 August, 2021
Share on

Volunteer Your Skills for Worthy Causes

Ever thought you could volunteer with your skills?

Discover volunteer projects where you can use your skills to support causes – all while building your resume, gaining references and making a difference!
Discover Projects
【2024義工活動】點樣加入義工行列?5大義工服務種類推介
你對「做義工」嘅認識有幾多?好多人都未必熟悉除咗賣旗籌款同探訪老人院之外,仲有咩其他類型嘅義工服務。究竟坊間有邊啲做義工嘅途徑,可以搵到適合自己嘅義工機會呢? 其實香港大大小小嘅慈善團體或非牟利機構  (NGO) 都會招募義工,而非牟利機構嘅義工服務範疇亦非常多元化,包括技能義工 (Skilled-volunteers),善用義工嘅個人技能同專長服務社會。你可以根據唔同嘅服務種類,或者按自己嘅喜好、關心嘅社會議題選擇義工機會。以下係5種常見嘅義工服務範疇同機構簡介畀你參考: 目錄 (一):動物福利 (二):長者服務 (三):青年發展 (四):環境保護 (五):社區服務 技能義工配對平台推介 常見嘅義工服務範疇(一):動物福利 如果你係狗奴、貓奴,或者鍾意動物,不妨考慮做動物義工!除咗有機會親身接觸毛孩之外,仲可以利用自己嘅一技之長,支援NGO嘅日常運作。雖然根據政府公佈的數據,動物棄養嘅數量有持續下降趨勢,但因近年的移民潮影響,保護動物慈善協會表示棄養寵物個案兩年升近三倍。因此,很多關注動物福利的團體都十分需要義工加入服務行列。 義工服務性質:清潔籠舍、照顧動物、活動推廣等 香港動物基金 Hong Kong Paws Foundation 香港動物基金係一間完全依靠慈善捐款同義工支持嘅動物福祉組織,希望拯救被虐待、遺棄同走失嘅動物。 香港愛護動物協會 SPCA (HK) 香港愛護動物協會係本港首間兼顧動物福利各方面嘅慈善團體,提倡善待動物,同時打擊同防止虐待動物。 Bring Me Home (Suppaw) Bring Me Home (Suppaw) 係一個寵物社交網站,亦係香港首個無償動物領養平台。 嘉道理農場暨植物園 Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden 嘉道理農場暨植物園為需要支持的農民提供農業援助,幫助他們過上獨立嘅生活; 並為公眾提供休閒同教育體驗。  Team for Animals in Lantau South (TAILS) 南大嶼山動物保護隊為有需要的貓狗提供救援、醫療、絕育、養育、庇護、寄養同領養服務,包括那些 流浪、被遺棄、受傷、虐待同忽視既貓狗,大力提倡動物福利,相信教育可以創造有利於香港動物嘅變革。 立即發掘更多! 常見嘅義工服務範疇(二):長者服務 隨著香港長者人口上升,越來越多關注老人家嘅機構都招募緊義工,希望為老友記送上更多關懷。 義工服務性質:家居維修、網頁設計、文字翻譯等 […]
Time Auction Star Volunteers — Natalie Chan & Winson Lui (HKUST) at Dinner with Tom Mehrmann, Former CEO of Ocean Park
What does running a major theme park have in common with volunteering? More than meets the eye, apparently. Being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean serving as CEO for hundreds of staff members. It can also mean organizing service trips and leading your teammates. Joy is not just found on rollercoasters and ferris wheels; it is […]
How Law Student Catherine Channels Education Into Volunteer Work | Time Auction Impact Highlights
Meet Catherine! After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature and Sociology, Catherine is now pursuing a postgraduate law degree. Prior to joining the Time Auction community, she already had abundant experiences in volunteering. From teaching underprivileged children to planning accessible classical music events, it’s clear that this is not her first rodeo as a […]
Green Monday Lunch with Chua Hoi Wai, Chief Executive at HK Council of Social Service
It’s been heart warming to see a growing number of young adults exploring a career/ side-job in the social service/ social enterprise sector! However we also understand it is not an easy task in Hong Kong. As Chief Executive of HK Council of Social Service, Mr Chua represents and oversees more than 400 non-government social […]
Community Spotlight: Mandy Lai, HR Professional
Curious about what volunteerism and Time Auction events are all about? Meet our community who has shared their memorable experiences in their volunteering journey and meetings with our featured guests! Meet Mandy Lai! Mandy is an HR professional with 7 years of experience and 10 years of volunteering experience, mainly focusing on youth development. Apart […]
How AWEsum Care Prepares Advance Care Panning for Elderlies | Skilled Volunteering Case Study
The Challenge AWEsum Care's mission is to promote and ensure that Advance Care Planning is accessible to people in need, particularly the ageing population in Hong Kong. This planning includes three core documents: the Will, Enduring Power of Attorney, and Advance Directive. AWEsum Care regularly hosts witnessing days to assist elders in signing an Enduring […]
The Journey to be a Google MD — Lunch with Leonie Valentine, MD of Sales & Operations, Google HK
“Your 20s are about exploration, 30s for consolidation, and 40s for acceleration.” At lunch with Leonie Valentine, Managing Director of Sales and Operations at Google Hong Kong. We learnt that career isn’t a smooth climb on the ladder, and often it takes decades of trial and error before you can find the right direction and […]
Top