Resign as chair..

[flashbunny73]

I just need to let off steam...
i have been on our nursery committee for 4 years and have been chair for the last 2 years. In the last 2 years i have had to deal with staff maternity leave, both members of staff resigning - both for good reasons nothing bad, recruiting new staff and OFSTED. This is on top of all the usual cr@p like parents not paying their fees, advertising, writing newsletters, dealing with complaints etc. I feel i have done 99% of the work with very little support from other parents and now we have new inexperienced staff so i am suppporting them. When we ask other parentx to join the committee they say they are 'too busy'. 3 years ago we ran at a loss and lost half our savings account. Through budgeting and increasing fundraising from £200 to £2000 per year we have just managed to earn the money we lost. The staff are nice but one is quite lazy and i am fed up of the backchat.
My child has 1 year left to go but i want to bail out at the next AGM. I feel its time for someone else to do some of the work. My husband has been nagging me to quit for ages.
has anyone else been through the committee hell??

[holeinmyheart]

I think that when you take on Voluntary work , you have to think that it is your choice, and not to expect any thanks.
After all you have volunteered.
If you feel so aggrieved and put on then I would give up now. I don't think I could continue with any role that was making me so resentful and unhappy.
Honestly, someone else will turn up to take on the job.

I have a voluntary role. I just do as much or as little as I like. I am not going to impinge on my family life or make myself miserable about it. I personally enjoy it. Once I stop enjoying it, then I will finish.
I don't expect any thanks, as it is my choice.
I think your DH is right. Resign.

[flashbunny73]

You are right i did volunteer but only because otherwise they would have had to have closed. Initially i found it interesting; EYFS, employment law, running a business etc but now the original nice staff have left. My son enjoys going so i dont want to fall out with them completely but i resent the lack of thanks, the whiney staff and the time it takes. I dont see that committee run nurseries are sustainable and another has closed in our area. I feel ive done a great job in tricky circumstances but i hsve run out of energy for it now. I had thought i would do 1 more year but i feel its coming to a crunch. just needed to vent my feelings!!

[holeinmyheart]

I sympathise with you loads flashbunny I think you sound heroic quite honestly, to have stuck at such a thankless task so long.

The following story has nothing to do with your dilemma, but shows some of the risks of volunteering.
The other day, a woman approached me and said' oh you're on the Council , then pointed to a drain and told me it overflowed during the last flash flood.

I am on the Parish Council which has absolutely nothing to do with responsibility for the drains.
As I was walking back to my house pondering ( and laughing to myself) on what she had said to me ( you can't imagine the effort we put in to try and educate people what it is a Parish Council do) I saw a lorry from the County Council, who were, wonders of wonders cleaning the drains. They come once in a blue moon to our Parish.
I swiftly directed them to the drain indicated to me by this daft woman.

I then knocked on her door and said the deed was done. Wow, was she in awe of my powers.

I was being totally silly when I related this story to my husband.

Then I had the thought that she might knock on my door next time her sink is blocked, and I sobered up.

Volunteering is a risky business.

[PreschoolHell]

My username might give you an indication of how my 3 years as a chair of a preschool went... Quit and do it now. I ended up with extreme anxiety, couldn't cope with my actual paid job and 6 months down the line am still on citalopram, in counselling and unemployed.

I've been through all you listed plus doing payroll every month (including when my youngest was 6 days old) and an employment tribunal.

If you don't want to do it - don't. You've done a huge amount already and it is fine to say that it's someone else's turn.

[lljkk]

I have been there, it's tough. Do what you need to.

[flashbunny73]

Thanks for your replies. PreschoolHell I'm so sorry to hear how you have suffered. The responsibility of it is the final straw and I cant believe you had to deal with an employment tribunal - that certainly would be the final straw. The secretary asked me today if I would change my mind but I said no, I'll be resigning this autumn. I feel quite sad but I have to let go, put my energy into my family and hope someone else (with half a brain...) picks it up.

Deep breath!!

And holeinmyheart your efficiency will certainly get you re-elected!!

[holeinmyheart]

Thanks flash bunny 73 but I do enjoy it at the moment as it is interesting. Remember the council meetings from The Vicar of Dibley ?
Anyway I hope you get a lovely thankyou from someone after all your efforts as you deserve it.
I don't think anything is worth stressing yourself about.
X

[flashbunny73]

Ladies, I am starting to feel better already :-)

[PennyJennyPie]

I can relate as I used to be codirector of our leasehold association. Let me put it this way - at one point I slept with a baseball bat next to my bed because I felt 1 person got so unhinged about majority vote decisions that had to be made. Never received a thank you or gratitude from anyone even the sane ones in 5 years.