Volunteering

I do think the requirements for duplicating training don’t help either, of course safeguarding is important but I think most parents would be surprised a TA working in a primary school is expected to spend 3 hours unpaid doing the same safeguarding course she’s already done for work.

I agree with this.
It was supposed to have all become joined up when DBS replaced CRB checks - that was the hole point of the change - but sadly it never did.

I do find it's the same people that volunteer in communities though - you see the same people at events for different things.

Yes, you do find this, don't you? It's back to the 'if you want something doing, ask a busy person' thing. Plus, I suppose, you know how much difference it makes if everyone just chips in a little support where they can, so you tend to automatically do things like stacking chairs, or washing up when you go somewhere else - a little bit of whatever you can to help out.

I'm a single parent with 2 young dc so the majority of my time is spent either looking after them or working. When they are older jm hoping to do more.

Before my youngest went to school I was on the committee of the local toddler group, this was only possible because I worked fewer hours and had a toddler at the time.

I help out at PTA events at school and help with the cake sales etc if they fall on my shorter working day. I know the PTA wants more people to join but I just can't commit to the evening meetings and every school event.

I'd get involved in more community events but I don't always know when they're happening. There was a litter pick in the village last weekend which I gladly would have joined in with (kids would have helped too) but I didn't know it was happening until afterwards.

Yes that’s a good point. And if you start too late especially with younger ages (Rainbows start at age 4) then parents aren’t happy.
I do think the requirements for duplicating training don’t help either, of course safeguarding is important but I think most parents would be surprised a TA working in a primary school is expected to spend 3 hours unpaid doing the same safeguarding course she’s already done for work.

Thinking back to when I was in Brownies and Guides - several decades ago now(!). The leaders were often teachers, in the days when the job was much less full on and no OFSTED.

So they were available by 4.30 or 5pm to lead the younger groups - I had someone suggest I come as a leader to Rainbows a couple of years ago but a 4.30pm meeting would have meant leaving work at 3pm so was never going to happen! I just found a different Rainbows for DD to go to (and did go on the parent rota to help out!).
Nowadays teachers are often still working at school or at home into the evening. And the school holiday time is much needed relaxation rather than being ample time to go on a week's camp!

I agree with this, flexible jobs help.

I have a full time job & 2 kids but my job is very flexible so I can volunteer at Scouts. If I need to finish at a specific time I can accommodate my hours to fit this - I know many other people can't do this.
I'm lucky that I can also do the odd photocopy/printing at work too.

I don't get any paid volunteering time but I'm OK with that. I choose to voulenteer in scouting so it's my personal time I use.
My kids are involved in scouting so I feel my continued contribution also benefits them too - more adults mean more opportunities for more kids.

As other PP's have said, people forget everything at District levels down in scouting is totally volunteer led and sometimes expect too much/start to become entitled when it comes to wait lists - that's the bit I hate the most - no, I don't want to give another night a week to run a 2nd group, thank you very much.

I might not be so keen to take a week AL either....we tend to camp at weekends so 1 or 2 nights at a time, no extra time off needed.

I got a lot out of guides when I was younger so I like being able to give other young people the opportunities I got and that's why I do it.

In a past job we had paid volunteering days, the company did organise some but I also managed to get a couple of days off work to help set up camps that I would have taken from my AL so I was greatful they did that.

I do find it's the same people that volunteer in communities though - you see the same people at events for different things.

Huge differences between how practical jobs are for volunteering around too - in a different job and Guide unit the other two Guiders both got six weeks annual leave and a week's paid volunteering time. They also had permission to do photocopying for Guides at work.

They were astounded when I refused to go to a week-long camp because I only got four weeks annual leave, no paid volunteering time and didn't live anywhere near my family (ie the only way I could see them was to take annual leave). I wasn't giving up quarter of my annual leave for camp!

My old job offered paid time off for volunteering - up to a week per year - but it had limitations which made it very difficult to do it! It had to be in the same borough as the employer (presumably so they could use it as leverage in local negotiations) and couldn't be anything political or religious.

The reality was that I lived in a different county, let alone Borough, 45 mins away. It could have been fantastic for taking Guides away to camp but I wasn't going to get involved in a unit near work because I needed to get DD from childcare, get home, get tea then go to Guide meeting and I wasn't going to drive another 90 minute round trip to do that.

So the volunteering time never got used and I gave up being a Guider.

I'm DBSed with 4 different organisations. It was a bit tedious going through the repeat paperwork for 3 of them within one year.

My favourite is parkrun. I started helping one week when they were a bit low and I was happy that my children could run the juniors route solo, and a year later became a director which is roughly monthly. I fill the roster, take about 2 hours on site to check the course, set up put away, process results and sort tokens. Much easier to do for 70 children than 400 adults!

I've been with Girl Guiding about 15 years. Started by following a friend who was talking about the fun stuff she did witb the kids. Friendship and the girls keep me going. GG can be awkwardly beaurocratic with their prescriptive systems, I don't get the brunt of that, but one leader is reaching their limit.

Awkwardly I had sons, so they don't benefit from GG and I've ended up being an assistant at their Scouting units. I try to keep that down to being there for pack nights/ events. They transitioned out of Beavers at the end of Covid lockdowns and I ended up following to Cubs as they'd lost leaders through the year.

I used to do reading/ interventions with the DC's school. Covid stopped that and their restrictions limped on for years. I've got one child left at the upper end of the school, and now feel very disconnected from anything below y4 so have lost motivation to help the PTA etc. Their communication has also been poor, so you think you're helping with something until you chase up and find that you're not. I feel like I've done my time and put in more than average.

Our parkrun and Scouting both lost about a third of participants and volunteers. I've seen GG put out similar data nationally. Some older volunteers took the natural break to step back with reduced guilt. My GG unit did its best to plough on as normally as it could and retained its members well. It's taken the Scouts and parkrun about 2 years to recover.

I do feel more insular than I did 3+ years ago. 1-2 years of having most of my community links severed off for so long, I did get to the point of feeling fairly institutionalised into doing fuck-all at home. My sense of give and take in society has been fractured. I've largely resumed and carried on because it's good for me, and my sense of altruism and goodwill still feels dented. My care level is pretty proportionate to how much the organisation/ group prioritised getting back to normal function. Things still feel less fun than they used to.

I always had a give back mindset. My teachers gave a lot and I saw the value in it. I did things like DoE. There's been very little of my adult life where I didn't volunteer, even turning up to GG at 6pm with my baby and toddler having not been home since 8am and us being out for 12 hours total. That's where "I don't have time" often rankles, we all had demanding jobs with long hours and other commitments.

I volunteer in 3 different roles. Sometimes it can get a bit much (work full time but term time only) and often I feel people are taking the piss.

I volunteer as I don’t have children, my partner volunteers with me for one of the roles, I’m a Christian and believe if you can volunteer you SHOULD, often I get genuine joy and i guess…. Habit. I’ve done these roles for years. You just get used to it. I feel terribly guilty when I even consider “letting down” the charities I volunteer with…

They do say to give a busy person a job and they’ll get it done!!!

I volunteer as a dog walker at my local shelter. Absolutely love it - as do the dogs !!

I have five volunteering days a year through work. It's actually really difficult to find anywhere to volunteer for ad hoc days for all the reasons listed above, or you can pay to volunteer with some of the higher organisations.

Scouts sometimes get offers from companies for a load of office staff to come out and "give a day of their time" , but the reality means that someone from the group - who is probably already giving between 3 and 10 hours per week - then has to take a day of annual leave from their own work, to organise them / open up / be on hand / sort jobs / sort resources and so forth for a group of people who are probably well meaning, but obviously aren't decorators or builders or whatever.
It really is one of those things that sounds great in a company newsletter or website but isn't necessarily the most helpful thing for the Scout group.

The company offers it as part of their 'social value' commitments but in reality the take up is incredibly low.

See above.

Whereas my employers have just started offering 2 'Volunteering Days' a year, but won't let you take it either 'in lieu' or for administration - only for "an event". Of course, all the thousands of people that volunteer with Guides, Scouts, Cadets, BB, GB, etc have their "events" at weekends and in the evenings.
There are some companies out there who understand this and let their employees take a day off to do things like their safeguarding training, their paperwork, their shopping for camp, their prepping and putting away of tents etc etc , but mine don't.

I volunteer. I did a lot more volunteer work when I was a SAHM (NCT sales, PTA treasurer, some stewarding with Oxfam, etc) and I'm so glad I did. Most of my closest friends are people I met along the way in those roles.

I still keep up with volunteering but in smaller roles now. I'm helping to organise a school summer fair (DS isn't at the school anymore but I work there in the office and know how important every cent is now!) and have ended up helping with a local cub group on and off as needed (again, a group we aren't actually affiliated with but DS was doing his DofE volunteer role there and I've just ended up helping as well from time to time.)

Since you asked, I do it because they're usually events I find beneficial to myself or my family and I know those events won't happen if people don't put their hand up and pitch in sometimes.

(I also know why some people don't- they've probably been burned by putting their hand up and then being saddled with 3 hours of running a hook a duck stall with no break and no enjoyment with their own familes. Organisers need to make and stick to schedules or they lose willing volunteers very quickly!)

I don't think people can afford to volunteer at the moment.

Unpaid work has become a luxury.

People are getting part time jobs or doing grandchildren childcare to help their kids instead.

Housewives and the retired used to be the stalwarts of the volunteer sector but now mums mostly work, and retired people have part time paid jobs to keep the Wolf from the door so they don't have as much time or energy.

I have a voluntary role with my union, it's not super important, but it does help us function locally. So many people (who are in the union) are outright negative to me about this role, or even have told me I shouldn't be doing it, and yet I do think they would notice if it wasn't done. There's a small group of people, some of whom get paid a small stipend, who help the union function locally, and it's really hard when members who may one day need their help, essentially discourage people from taking on roles that would help them.

I also give my time to help run an activity in school which is unpaid, and whilst it could be seen as part of my job, I give up full weekends, and there is very little thanks. It's not exactly volunteering, but most people who do my job aren't giving up full weekends each year.

I also sometimes volunteer for one off sport events in the holidays.

Alongside this, I don't also have the time or energy to volunteer for charity, although I have done so in the past and would like to do so again at some point.

I do always think there's lots of reasons not to, but if more people were willing to volunteer there would be less burden on a few individuals.

Charities are valid to the same (often higher) standards as any other employer or company.

Argh. Charities are HELD to the same...

This is where the complexity of the ethics of charity often comes.

Lots of people wouldn't want someone working with their own children if they had a criminal history for say sexual assault, or their food to be made by people without a basic knowledge of food hygiene. They would complain if an adult didn't raise the right safeguarding for their child, If they were playing in an unsafe environment and their data breached.

However when volunteering often complain about risk assessments, food hygiene, dbs, mandatory training as unnecessary bureaucracy

It's a sore point of mine as someone that works in underdeprived areas where people think that others children are not deserving of the safeguards their own children are given simply because those children are in less fortunate circumstances.

When I worked abroad, I'd have to frequently explain that if a hospital/ orphanage/ school doesn't allow tours in your country then there's no reason why they should abroad. People would assume just because its Africa that simply by merit of their skin colour they should be able to spend a week teaching despite having no experience , or do a day visit to a children's home.

It's a real show of some uncomfortable thought processes

Likewise all those complaining about having to undergo training, would probably be horrified if there was a safeguarding our health and safety issue that affected a service user at another charity.

Volunteering with the vulnerable or the young, or where handling money is concerned, cannot be treated casually. Charities are valid to the same (often higher) standards as any other employer or company. All those who work, paid or unpaid, in their name, have to act properly, safely, and professionally. And that needs training.

It's interesting that many posters have said they don't agree with volunteering because it should be a paid role. And yet charities are constantly critisied for "wasting money on admin". As a charity you just can't win!

I was about to make the very same point. People seem to expect charities to give away every penny that's donated to them. And there've been threads on here where people have talked about refusing to donate to charities who spend (in their eyes) 'too much' in admin etc. Well that admin proportion pays people's wages. And the only way to keep them down is to have volunteers doing a lot of the work.

A lot of people volunteering on here have complained about how it costs them money. The organisation I volunteer for encourages its volunteers to claim for all expenses. Which is thoughtful and good of them as our volunteering requires a car and petrol use. But some people will look at our accounts and complain that not all our money goes straight to service users.

I used to volunteer but had a bad experience that really put me off. There was no appreciation for what I did, just constantly trying to pile more and more onto me. I quit in the end as it was a thankless task.

I wonder if there could be centrally recorded training so safeguarding 3 or whatever would cover you for whatever role , same with first aid etc.
In organisation I volunteer with they insist on their own courses so a teacher or ta does safeguarding training paid at work then needs to do same again unpaid for volunteer role. It’s hours of training.

She assumed Friend was paid for the role not unpaid volunteer juggling ft paid job too. Lots do.
My experience (not scouts) has very much been that a handful of parents will volunteer and rest won’t ever. It’s up to them of course.
What does annoy me is the won’t ever camp moaning why aren’t the kids doing x or why has y been cancelled (not enough adult helpers)
Helping might be admin, planning, arranging a visit etc it doesn’t have to be in person help.

I've read this whole thread with interest as I both volunteer and manage volunteers (FT job at regional charity, we have high retention and application of volunteers).

I volunteer in 3 roles, 2 are local, 1 is ad hoc and 1 requires a block of commit (every other weekend for a term for example.) The 3rd role is an intense but ad hoc responsibility with a national charity. Support and organisation is 100% better with the national charity, but there was also more forms and training to get started. I volunteer because I enjoy it and I care about the causes. I'm busy, but Its something I make time for at the expense of other stuff.

It's interesting that many posters have said they don't agree with volunteering because it should be a paid role. And yet charities are constantly critisied for "wasting money on admin". As a charity you just can't win!

There's been a downward spiral for a while as people retire later, fewer SAHMs, and more expensive student tuition. Then covid meant a lot of stalwarts didn't return, often because health or social and driving confidence deteriorated. I also agree that the amount of training/paperwork/online logins can be off-putting. Some is necessary but it really needs to be kept in check.

Interesting though there has definitely been a cultural shift in the way people view volunteering. It's a lot more about personal wellbeing now rather than giving something back. It's important that volunteers feel fulfilled in their role but it's been taken to the extent that I think a lot of people forget volunteering is firstly about serving the remit of the charity, not providing you with a fun little hobby. The rise in social prescribing hasn't helped, and I'm constantly fielding requests from support workers who basically want me to provide social care or wellbeing days. More generally I've had some truly rediculous "applications", from people who expect us to bend over backwards to facilitate their day out and then are astounded when we aren't grovelling and grateful. There seems to be a misconception that charities should be grateful for any random offer of unskilled attendance, but in reality we don't need this. That's why volunteer roles are advertised in a more 'job like' way now. We might as well be upfront about the skills and commitment we need, rather than waste your time or ours. If its not a match for you that's fine, it will be for someone else, but I will always hold out for the right match because no volunteer is better than the wrong volunteer. Volunteers aren't "free" to a charity they take a considerable investment of time and money, so it has to be worth it. The "Big Help Out" actually received a lot of critism from NGOs as it perpetuated this idea that volunteering is just a random day of unskilled participation. But that's not volunteering, that's going to an event.

I've volunteered a fair bit over the years.When my DCs were younger listening to schoolreaders ,helping in the library and then at an adult education centre supporting adults with literacy problems for which i did a course.Also regularly litter pick.All very rewarding.I had a few years of not doing any but having more time now gave myself a shake and have just started something else in our community that takes up about 2 hours a week and loving it.I really admire those who commit more to eg scouts etc .Especially those that go on trips etc.

I tried volunteering in a charity shop about 10 years ago. I went for 2 mornings when my son was about 8. The deputy manager had a go at me for forgetting where the keys were and I thought this was uncalled for as she really did lose her rag. I left not only because of that but I simply could not justify the time and needed to keep working at my business.

I enjoyed the social side but think often the management just order u about without thinking how they are coming across.

I doubt I would do it again. On the other hand food bank arranging a couple hours a week I could see myself doing once my state pension kicks in in 7 years. Preparing supplies etc.

I volunteer at DD’s school and not just with her class. I’ve often been on things like sports trips at short notice as they can’t get any parents or more likely none of the parents are able to go from those classes.

I also lead a walking group once a week, and volunteer at parkrun. I volunteered at a local race too recently and enjoyed it.

I have met a lot of people from volunteering and as I currently don’t work it fills my time up and I feel I’m being useful.