Practical tips to Try New Things: City Visits and Volunteering 

The first ALAG-Autism Hub event of 2025 explored trying new things with a focus on some of the challenges and tips to manage these. This was an interactive session with discussion on the challenges of trying something new, the places people like visiting, volunteering and popular activities for the year ahead.

The first discussion revealed the obstacles to trying new tasks: anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, not knowing what to expect and wider safety concerns. This followed with discussion on volunteering. Volunteering was unexpectedly popular – with retail and customer interaction being highlighted as rewarding outcomes of volunteering. Other volunteering that was of interest was supporting young people, older people as well as working with animals.

London offers plenty of chances to try something new. A poll during the session suggested the audience wanted to try new activities as well as repeat activities in almost equal measure. Parks, gardens, theatres and museum were popular choices.

Several useful tips were discussed to help with a new adventure:

·         Trying something new with someone else.

·         Develop relationships with people you feel safe.

·         Ahead of doing something new seek out the support and understanding from those around you can trust.

·         Ahead of something new, research – I particularly liked the phrase “over prepare”.

With volunteering being a topic of interest at the session, below are some links related to voluntary positions of interest shared during the event and a link to general voluntary opportunities in London: 

https://reachvolunteering.org.uk/volunteering-opportunities-london

https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/volunteer

https://www.sportengland.org/guidance-and-support/volunteering-qa/getting-started

https://www.battersea.org.uk/support-us/volunteer/volunteering-battersea