Where could I volunteer as a writer?

Claireybear

Morning!

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of a charity / organisation that might need someone to write for them - eg articles, website content, newsletters? I am googling and trawling through lists of local charities but I need some inspiration!

I want to help somewhere in this way because, although I really want to do some voluntary work, everything I try seems to end up in failure - I have had depression for years and my confidence is very low. So I thought something I could do from home would start to build my confidence a bit.

I am doing a creative writing module with the open university, but I have always been fairly good at writing essays, articles etc so I am hoping I might find a charity that can make use of my skills!

Any ideas anyone?

tommyknocker

Hi there,

There are loads of article writing places online . . . where you either get paid for the articles submitted, or earn money based on some aspect of it. Do you particularly want to write for charitable organisations, for free? or earn payment for your articles?

heretolearn_2

Hi

In my previous career I was a copywriter (in house for 3 years and freelance for 3 years). Interesting work but hard to get into without a track record, so you are doing the right sort of thing.

Forget the online article mills; no professional writers work for them as the pay is ludicrously poor, the quality is generally low, and there is absolutely NO kudos to be gained with regards to building up your portfolio of work. The only on-line writing you should think of should actually be some free work - for blogs and websites IF you find ones that are going to be worth having in your cuttings folder. So high quality ones with a good reputation. It helps to have a specialisation or two as work leads to other similar work if you become known as the 'expert' or writer to go to on a topic.

Other than that, volunteering for charities is a good way to start getting those work credits.

I was lucky when I wanted to start freelancing in that I had a big folder full of work I'd done while employed. I'd also come from a background of working in magazine editorial. Is there anything you can start doing for the company you work for?

Bear in mind that creative writing is very different to copywriting. In many ways copywriting is easier (at least it is for me) but it is also a skill - have you had any training/investigated any training or work experience placements?

(P.S. I also did the OU A215 and A363 recently for fun, good luck with them, great courses, very interesting but NOT helpful for copywriting).

heretolearn_2

Hi

In my previous career I was a copywriter (in house for 3 years and freelance for 3 years). Interesting work but hard to get into without a track record, so you are doing the right sort of thing.

Forget the online article mills; no professional writers work for them as the pay is ludicrously poor, the quality is generally low, and there is absolutely NO kudos to be gained with regards to building up your portfolio of work. The only on-line writing you should think of should actually be some free work - for blogs and websites IF you find ones that are going to be worth having in your cuttings folder. So high quality ones with a good reputation.

Other than that, volunteering for charities is a good way to start getting those work credits.

I was lucky when I wanted to start freelancing in that I had a big folder full of work I'd done while employed. I'd also come from a background of working in magazine editorial. Is there anything you can start doing for the company you work for?

Bear in mind that creative writing is very different to copywriting. In many ways copywriting is easier (at least it is for me) but it is also a skill - have you had any training/investigated any training or work experience placements? Someone I studied with on A215 has just started a Commercial Writing full-time degree at uni, which is basically copywriting.

(P.S. I also did the OU A215 and A363 recently for fun, good luck with them, great courses, very interesting but NOT helpful for copywriting).

Claireybear

Thanks for your very quick replies!

I definitely want to do free work for charities, not paid. I haven't worked for quite a few years as been quite ill, so have got no specialist area or experience, just my willingness to help!

I'm stuck for ideas as to what sort of charity might like some help, in some ways it would be nice if it was a mental health charity, but I'm guessing big companies like mind probably pay people to do all their writing and stuff and wouldn't be interested in a little fish like me!

heretolearn_2

Yes, you need to be looking at local branches, for example, do they produce a newsletter? Is there a charity or organisation that might be interested in an article by you on some aspect of your personal experience with depression - experience as a service user - experience of other people's perceptions/prejudice/stereotypes?

kingfisherblue

Do you have a local community centre that would like help updating their website? Or maybe a church that produces a magazine each month? Could you see if there is a Council for Voluntary Service in your area? They often have lists of places that require volunteers.

Voyager2002

Claire: make contact with a local branch of Mind, or another charity whose work interests you and is in an area that you know about. While the head office will employ professional writers, local branches probably do not, and of course whenever they have an activity that they want people to know about they need to write something (such as a press release or draft article for the local papers...).

magthered

Hi Claire
We run a number of online tourism guides, if you're interested you could write a few articles for us and hopefully become an "expert" this way you receive a full page about yourself, all articles carry a link back to the writers page, others might just contact you for paid work, pm me if you're interested.

Claireybear

Thanks, some good ideas. I will send a few emails and see what they say, I just feel like I haven't got much to offer but I need to start somewhere to get my confidence back!

166million

You can volunteer for alzheimers society as a media volunteer and you might get to write press releases.