Volunteer work

GreyPilgrim

Does anyone here do it?

I don't know if it's a subconcious guilt thing but I feel the urge to be doing something useful with my life rather than just making shareholders richer during the day and sitting on my backside during the evening.

Is there much call for volunteers who can't really volunteer a great deal of time? I'd love to be able to offer 'something', but working fulltime, and having a child to look after means it would probably only be a few hours on a weekend (and even then, we like to keep one weekend a month free just to do something nice together as a family, you know)?

It all seems a bit lame, approaching an organisation desperate for help but then laying down conditions on what you can and can't do (like "Hi, I can work for you anytime, apart from mondays, tuesdays, wednesdays, thursdays, fridays, saturday mornings, ot three out of four sundays")

Does anyone have any involvement?

Snaggles

Hiya!

Have you had a look at TimeBank? There are loads of ways you can volunteer on there, and for each volunteering opportunity, it tells you what sort of skills they are looking for, what training you will need (if any), and what sort of commitment you will need to make.

If you work for a big employer, it's worth asking if they have any sort of charity schemes - for example, for every pound I raise for charity, my employer will also contribute a pound, and they will also donate money for each hour of volunteer work that I do.

fermi

There are some schemes that appreciate any time that you can give. People are needed in many different roles/ways and for different times.

A couple of places to maybe start are:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/C54806

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/

(and I would have inked to timebank, but I was beaten to it )

Snaggles

fermi wrote: »

(and I would have inked to timebank, but I was beaten to it )

Sorreeeeeeey

hypno06

In my experience, ANY time you can give as a volunteer is much appreciated, even if it is only a couple of hours a month - if everyone gave a couple of hours a month then just think how much "free" time would be given!!

When you start, make sure you tell them the minumum time you can spare - if you feel that it is not taking up too much time, and you can give more, then you can offer more hours, and they will probably snap your hand off. If however, you offer to do 3 weekends a month, but then decide you would rather do every other weekend because you are tired, or it is impeding too much on "family" time, then it may be difficult for you to broach the subject of cutting back, if you see what I mean!

OH and I have both done voluntary work for years - to varying degrees of time involved, but always much appreciated by the people we are helping.

Let us know how you get on.

churchrat

hi-- don't know how old your child is but what about a school gov?? even if yours is not at school yet you can still get involved. both me and OH have done this and although it can bring its own probs it is a great job. Most meetings are in the evenings and many employers give tome out if you need to go in school time (although my school never asked for this) you get to help your community in soooo many ways and help tomrrow as well. it will also give you most weekends free, apart from times you need to go to fairs and jumble sales!!!
we have always done some sort of vol work and have gained great deal from it. it also keeps things in perspective when you are fighting the debt giant:D
good luck with whatever you do:T

Burlesque_Babe

How about your local hospital?

You can volunteer as much or as little time you can give and it can be on the wards, hospital radio, in the fundraising shop, hospital library, tea shop - loads of different things.

All ages did it where I worked, from students wondering if they would like to work for the NHS, through to Mums with a few hours to the retired.

Batfink

Hello
I have found this website to be excellent when looking for opportunities:

http://www.do-it.org.uk/

So far I have offered my services for three postings on the site - though ended up actually not doing any of them..... The first sent me an application form much like a job application with questions like 'What do you think you can bring to this role?' etc which put me right off. The second I went and met them but it just turned out our times weren't compatible and the third took so long to contact me that I was already doing something else. However - these were problems with the organisations wanting volunteers rather than the website!

I did eventually find something that suited me, and volunteer every wednesday afternoon. I find it very rewarding - its a nice feeling, costs me nothing and I enjoy doing it anyway!

Good luck.
x

linniestorm

I've been a volunteer for my local youth service for about seven years now and I can tell you, I get as much out of it as I have given back! Not that's its not difficult at times juggling it with a full time job (I started doing one evening a week, now do two) but it's worth it. And I find they've always recognised my input as a volunteer and worked with me and been flexible about what they expect if I've got other commitments on. I'm now doing two nights because they're putting me through a nationally recognised youth work qualification, and they've also been encouraging me to apply for jobs that come up locally, which if I can fit it in and I can get one, will help me get debt free faster, whilst doing something I enjoy at the same time!! Everyone's a winner! :rotfl:

lushlady

you could pop into your local CVS (community volunteer service) - not sure what they are called in your area, but if you google your county name and 'volunteering' it should come up. They will have a whole list of volunteering opportunities.

I volunteer with the local Youth Offending Team and really enjoy it.

Have fun!:j

elsien

I wouldn't worry about having to set conditions on what you can do. I did volunteer dog walking for the Cinammon Trust - as I work full time doing different shifts each week, I couldn't even stick to the same day or time. As long as the dog got its couple of hours each week, everyone was happy.

As other people have said, even an hour a week can make a lot of difference, and as long as you are clear from the start about what you can offer and when, you'll be welcomed with open arms, I'm sure.

When you contact your volunteer service, have some sort of idea what you are looking for - outdoors, office/admin work, children, people with disabilities, whatever; otherwise it can be a bit overwhelming seeing all the organisations looking for help, and not knowing where to start. Most of all, have fun doing something you enjoy - makes it easier on the days when you don't really feel like making the effort.