Voluntary > Reviews (14)

I hate the word volunteer, when referring to volunteering per se. It gives me the impression that any other work is done through coercion and ultimatums. It’s also a very weak word. ‘Volunteer’. Kids volunteer to be monitors at school (no milk, Maggie, no milk!). I might volunteer to cook the meal tonight (If I don’t, I starve!).

But ‘volunteering’, as in working for no pay for the benefit of others who could not normally afford your services, has much more impact than that I have already described.

Question: Are Category Assistants on Ciao, ‘volunteers’?

Well yes, they volunteer for the position, of course. Benefit? Endless benefit to the ‘community’ through advice, assistance, co-operation, reporting etc etc. Benefits to them? Mmmmm. Recognition maybe: financial nope.

What about Mrs Smith who pops in to see 84 year old Mrs Jones every day. She makes sure she’s safe; collects her pension (without pocketing a tenner for herself!); does a spot of cleaning; has a coffee and a chat…

Is that ‘volunteering’?

Of course it is!

Why am I defining this ‘job’ called ‘volunteering’?

Because, firstly ‘volunteering’ may, to some people, not be a job. Secondly, it isn’t only organised volunteering that counts and thirdly, it’s the end result that matters. The end result being a safer and friendlier Ciao or a happier, safer Mrs Jones.

Onto what volunteering has meant to me.

When I was 17, I was involved in doing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and was working towards my Silver award. As part of gaining the award I had to participate in three months Community Service, either through helping an organisation or a local project.

Our DofE group was connected with the local youth club that had a once-weekly youth group for 11-14 year olds. Another DofE bod and myself decided to set up a ‘Tuck Shop’ for the youth club for our Community Service.

With a £20 loan from the youth club funds, we bought stock from a Cash and Carry, pricemarked items, set up and sold our meagre selection of wares.

Within a few weeks, the tuck shop was breaking into profit very quickly and within 3 months we were keeping £100 worth of stock and had paid back the loan.
Our 3-month stint for our Community Service came and went, but we continued to run the tuck shop.

After a year, others were becoming involved and we were making a tidy profit (which was being used to buy equipment for the youth club). Quite a success from humble beginnings, I think. I know we’re hardly talking Richard Branson material, but we actually got a buzz out of the amount of profit that we were making and the extras that we were providing for the members (which not only included the footballs, CD’s for the jukebox, Disco hire and other things we were able to buy, but also a good variety of sweets, drink and crisps that they could buy at cheap prices).

It all sounds like I was complete goody-goody when I was a teenager (I had a dark side as well, honest!), but I did have selfish reasons for continuing to co-run the tuck shop for 2 years.

Firstly, I did get a buzz out of it, as I mentioned.

But secondly, in today’s competitive job market, I knew that any ‘extras’ I could put on my CV would be a massive advantage – voluntary work looks good on anybody’s CV!

Now, let’s fast-forward 6 years…

After a period of long-term illness I am getting bored, restless and worried about my future employment with a long period of sickness and as a result, not working for a number of months.

A suggestion is made to me by friends and family, “What about voluntary work?”

So, off I pop to the local Volunteer Bureaux and find out about filling some of my spare time. Volunteer Bureaux’s are wonderful places! They are so welcoming and believe that anyone can offer some sort of skill or time to work for an organisation that would be grateful for the help. I was able to specify the number of hours I would be prepared to work a week and the types of work I wanted to do. As a result I was given details of the Portsmouth Crafts and Materials Bank, run by the Beneficial Foundation, and asked to go along and talk to the manager there about working for them.

My work there mainly involved manual, repetitive work, but was exactly what I wanted. The people were friendly and GRATEFUL for my help. When I started I only worked 1 day a week, but later I requested to work another day a week as well. Ok, it was hardly a full-time occupation, but it was a great way of getting back into work.

Yet again, I had a worthwhile thing to put on my CV and a good reference. But it wasn’t just an accolade I wanted. I wanted to feel worthwhile again. I wanted to feel part of something. By working voluntarily, it improved my self-esteem, confidence and gave me structure.

So, there you have it. My experiences of ‘volunteering’. What does it show you?

I hope you have a wider perspective of what volunteering means and what YOU can get out of volunteering.

Volunteering doesn’t have to take over your social life: Hours are usually to suit.

Volunteering does pay! Ok, forget about a salary, although expenses are normally paid for costs incurred for travelling. Think of payment in an extra-special detail on your CV; increasing self-esteem and self-fulfilment. It can also be a good way of looking into a new career path or to further a hobby interest.

Many different people do voluntary work in all sorts of capacities. As well as the two examples I’ve given above there are opportunities to work in charity shops (my mother was one of those in Oxfam, although not old –ooo, heck!), schools, the NHS (hospitals have an amazing amount of volunteers!), schools, women’s shelters, animal charities and even working abroad for organisations such as VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas).

There are normally no qualifications needed for doing voluntary work, although for some jobs, work experience would be needed (i.e. accounts, homes repairs etc). Most organisations will insist however that volunteers provide the details of two referees and for some positions, you would need a police check (i.

e. when supervising children).

So, there it is. This isn’t a bullying tactic to encourage you all to become ‘volunteers’, but if you ever find yourself with spare time on your hands, do consider it as an option. Maybe Mrs Jones down the road would appreciate it…

Useful links for volunteering:

www.volunteering.org.uk - Information, advice and resources for those who wish to become volunteers.

www.millenniumvolunteers.gov.uk – Scheme for 16-24 year olds wishing to volunteer.

www.vso.org.uk - Voluntary Services Overseas

www.btcv.org.uk – Conservation holidays

For further sites just enter ‘Volunteers, UK’ into Google.
Contact your local council for your nearest Volunteer Bureaux.