Volunteer Centre Edinburgh

Jo McFarlane is an Edinburgh poet who has been writing poetry since 2005. She studied at Edinburgh University where she gained a degree in Spanish and Italian, and then a post graduate qualification in Community Education.

She has since worked in various roles within the voluntary sector in Lothian, and now devotes her time to poetry and writing. She has produced 7 books to date, all of which have been self-published. Jo has had extremely favorable feedback about her poetry from highly-acclaimed writers, and is regularly invited to read excerpts of her work at groups and events around Scotland. Most recently she was invited as 'poet in residence' to the Scottish Recovery Network's Annual Gathering 2011.

Jo has had contact with our Health and Wellbeing team for a number of years and wrote “Returning Joy” about her experience of volunteering.

Returning Joy

The days I worked for nothing
but the joy
of having made a difference
were the happiest of my life.

The purpose which propelled me
to get up each day, the knowledge
I was part of something big,
however small.

And though I didn’t know it then,
the little acts of kindness I received
would stay with me
for all these years to come:

the homeless man who taught me
that a smile could melt the harshest winter,
or the colleague in the busy office
who pretended not to notice
that I couldn’t work
without a stress ball in my hand;
the skills I gleaned
from other peoples’ patience
as they filtered good from my mistakes.

I learnt so many things
that far outweigh the ticks on my CV

I learnt the greatest value
of my volunteering
was the joy it brought to me.