Claudia’s Volunteering Story
Claudia has volunteered with CLAPA for many years. We caught up with Claudia about her volunteering journey and writing her dissertation about cleft support groups.
“My name is Claudia, and I have volunteered for CLAPA since I was just 13 years old, starting on the CYPC council. Since 2020, I have volunteered for the coffee clubs CLAPA runs for parents and have felt my whole journey finally had purpose and meaning. It has been a very rewarding journey for me to be on.
While in the third year of my undergraduate degree in Psychology, I had to complete the dreaded dissertation.
My heart did not need a minute to think about what I would investigate as I knew the main focus would be something to do with cleft. I realised once reading around the area that there is little research on the help support groups have in supporting parents with cleft children.
Even though I have seen these groups’ vital work firsthand, there was nothing out there to support this. So, I decided to research how support groups promote social support in mothers with children born with a cleft.
I found it a really rewarding experience and learned so much about a parent’s journey, which is one I had not thought about much. I now feel I have a much greater understanding of a parent’s struggle and how a cleft journey doesn’t just involve the cleft-affected person.
I am sharing this with as many people as possible. It is really eye-opening for anyone cleft affected or not and helps parents hopefully feel less alone as their thoughts and emotions are similar.
I really enjoyed the experience, which is weird to say, as during it, I struggled due to the copious days spent cutting words and stressing about deadlines. But anyway, if you would like to have a read and see what I found, I hope you enjoy it.
I am really proud of what I created, and I have to say none of it would be possible without CLAPA and their continuous support throughout.
And especially without the strong women who spent time with me over Zoom telling me about their journey and opening themselves up to me, this project really wouldn’t have been possible without you!
I received my grade back this summer and achieved a 75 in my dissertation, which is a first; I was over the moon and excited to finally share what was a nine-month journey.”
