Volunteering

I am a churchwarden, which is a volunteer role with statutory responsibilities.

My church has a large staff team (paid and unpaid, but churchwardens don't make it onto our website, even though we are the first people that welcome visitors and regulars to our church).

We obviously run on volunteer labour, eg flower-arrangers, but they have a particular job to do and would not be asked to do anything outside of their lane.

Churchwardens, on the other hand, are expected to mop up everything.

My policy is to do my statutory duties, the things that interest me, but never to cover for someone who is paid to do their job.

Comments from others about paperwork and interviewing - this is called Safer Recruitment and it is particularly important when working with vulnerable groups and children.

Safer Recruitment requires there to be a job description, references, interview, DBS (if appropriate), training and appraisal. If you really think about it, it is reasonable, although tedious.

I get a break from CW this week, as I am a volunteer SATs invigilator at my DIL's school.

Dh volunteers his time at a sporting club and a school. I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter and offer my translation skills as I’m bilingual.
Tbh, I don’t have the time anymore working full time. Dh still has time to do his as it’s in the evening. So it really is a time thing for us.

I had very low self esteem as a teenager and did some charity shop volunteering for a year or so to build my confidence. It helped me in a lot of ways, but I eventually got fed up due to being asked to do managerial duties and run the whole shop without getting paid and pressured into volunteering on more days than I had wanted to due to staff and volunteer shortages. Looking back, it was so unprofessional of them to have an unpaid teenager running the shop most weekends

Maybe this isn't everyone's experience but it was with mine

Time, flexibility, and paperwork.

As someone who is a paid staff member in a charity it's important to know how hard the "unpaid staff" (aka volunteers) work. I think the fact that I mentioned that in my interview was one of the reasons I got the job in the first place. Paid staff at all levels need to understand the reasons for volunteering and work to ensure the unpaid team members feel valued.

I used to work for a charity years ago where they always had people wanting to volunteer. As a result the management were very cavalier with their attitudes knowing that if someone got upset and didn't come back there were plenty of others waiting to take their place. Problem was they started treating the paid staff much the same way. Horrid place to work.

Reading this it all sounds like too much hard work. A long time ago I did a lot of volunteering at my dcs school. I raised a lot of money for the school. Never got so much as my petrol paid for all the running about I did for them.
I remember one teacher loudly explaining that the tea and coffee was for staff only, not volunteers. It benefitting my dcs but otherwise I would not do it again.
Places should be more grateful for the help they get.

No time or desire to at this stage of my life. That will possibly change one day.

I’m early 60s, retired, no grandchildren (childfree). I don’t volunteer but feel bad about it. I don’t want to be committed to doing something that feels like work, I retired after 40 years of 9 to 5 to get away from that. Also want to be free to go away or for days out whenever we want.

I feel as if I am a full-time volunteer. The joys of retirement.

Volunteers simply got out of the routine and didn't come back.

I feel like this about work so god knows how volunteers are coping!

I'm legally qualified but am caring for ds who is disabled. I've volunteered at a number of places over the years and the process has become very arduous. My most recent one was for a DV charity, and I was going in to give the women legal advice and to attend solicitors appointments and court with them. There was a whole interview process, references, and four weeks training. I ended up being a dogs body for the staff, things like buying their lunch for them, litter picking the grounds and then it was just assumed I would take children out for trips because I have a big car. I wasn't happy about that at all, I wanted a break from dc and to make use of my skills. In the end I had to stop as ds didn't go back to school full time after lockdown, but I probably wouldn't have stayed much longer.
Banardos were great to volunteer with, I really enjoyed that but the 3 year project came to an end.

@CC4712

I looked into helping at a soup kitchen. They wanted me to sit an interview and if I passed, then commit a minimum of 6mths and complete THEIR food safety course at my own expense. I already have an advanced DBS and food hygiene certificate- but this wasn't accepted.

I then enquired at a food bank- but they only wanted people in the day- and I work full time

I'd forgotten the whole procedural rigmarole about volunteering. It's all come rushing back in a flood of horror. We lost so many interested applicants because the charity had in place a very strict recruitment and training programme (not unreasonably) but what was unreasonable was that it made a snail look like Usain Bolt.

This is a big problem I think. People who want to volunteer are usually keen and have decided they have time to do it now. Delay and obstacles (such as those @CC4712 ) just turns people off. A bit of flexibility where appropriate is good but it has it's limits as volunteers are often in responsible positions dealing with vulnerable people or children.

I'm a trustee of an organisation that depends on volunteers to provide the bulk of our services. During Covid, our work (which was then based on one to one visiting) couldn't be done. While we endeavored to provide a slightly different service at that time, many of our volunteers stepped back, as, quite reasonably, they joined us because the work that we did before was something that they chose to do, and the alternative service wasn't of the same interest to them. We restarted our original programme as son as we could, but bringing them back into the fold has proved difficult. In that 18 months or so, they'd found other things to do with their time, or found that they'd actually enjoyed having their time back.

Talking with trustees of similar charities, it was fairly evident that we were far from alone in finding that the Covid hiatus broke the momentum. Volunteers simply got out of the routine and didn't come back.

A lot of charities are looking for free staff so go for the young and dress it up as work experience, after 40 plus years of working I think that's not necessary for me. I will volunteer after retirement but anything that's comes with too many rules will be a No

can a non-profit organisation get their volunteers to carry out any duty for free (I'm talking both legally and morally here)?

Well yes. That's the point of volunteering is that you agree to do it. You volunteer voluntarily. You are not being "got" to do anything. You've consented to it. If you don't want to, say no.

There are probably some exceptions to where it wouldn't be legal to ask a particular person to do a certain- for example if the law requires a person over 18 to do a job, or it must be someone with a Disclosure and Barring clear record, or a policeman or a medical practitioner.

But most of the time if you don't want to do it, just say no. If you are prepared to do it but expect to be paid, that's a job not volunteering.

If you are prepared to do it for a discounted rate of payment, then ask if you want that and get your agreeement in writing /email so you all knwo where you stand.

About volunteering any activity. My husband has a chartered level skill that attracts a high wage in his field and thus has skills that mean he can easily contract/ consult providing expert advice and literally gets phone calls from the national provider over queries to do with regulations/ procedures. He ALSO does this job on a voluntary basis for a business (heritage version) usually a full time week or two every year, saving them thousands of pounds as it HAS to have this level of input for running / regulations/ insurance. It also means legal challenges would come to his door. So I think yes you can literally volunteer to do any 'job'.

Me and teen DS volunteer at parkrun. It's as low commitment as you can get, no forms to fill in and choose when you want to "work".
I also litter pick the estate and send annoyed emails to the council to get them to clear up flytipping.

@Gazelda I agree with these reasons for fewer volunteers nowadays

Also, I'm earning less in real terms than I was a few years ago, so I already feel my role has an element of volunteering to it

I get that volunteering can give you experience when you are young but at my age I wouldn't want to work for free. Much rather get paid.

I looked into helping at a soup kitchen. They wanted me to sit an interview and if I passed, then commit a minimum of 6mths and complete THEIR food safety course at my own expense. I already have an advanced DBS and food hygiene certificate- but this wasn't accepted.

I then enquired at a food bank- but they only wanted people in the day- and I work full time

MIL volunteers at a luncheon club for the elderly. Its 'run' by a family who are paid- the rest are volunteers. Customers pay £5 for mains, dessert and tea/coffee. There is always left over food. MIL suggested making up plates customers could take away and re-heat at home, even for say £3. Volunteers need to buy their own food and are not allowed to take any left overs. The family take home ALL leftover for themselves!

I have a question - can a non-profit organisation get their volunteers to carry out any duty for free (I'm talking both legally and morally here)? Cause I volunteer for an independent, not for profit cinema and most of my work is unpaid, but recently I had to do something which I really thought should be paid for. I had to work the bar at a rave night until past 1am, dealing with a drunk customer early on and obviously doing the physical work that comes with serving alcohol...all for free. I was initially told I was going to get paid (my fault for not getting it in writing) but my boss later changed her mind and said "You're a volunteer".

I've refused to do the next one but am still wondering whether I was unreasonable expecting to be paid if they're non-profit? Her reasoning for changing her mind was, "Do you know how much I'm paying the DJs?"

I volunteer as a mentor for people who are on probation. It takes up about 3 hours a week of my time. I only work part time though, not sure I'd have the time for volunteering if I worked full time, with other commitments too.
I'm lucky that I get expenses paid, mileage, and parking etc. I really enjoy it, but it's not completely fot altruistic reasons! I'd like to train as a probation officer when I've finished my degree, so it's good experience for that. Should imagine if I did become a probation officer I wouldn't be able to carry on volunteering, conflict of interest type situation I would think. Not sure I'd actively pursue another volunteer role in the future, but if I saw something that took my interest I might.

I volunteered for over 15 years and ended up being the chief volunteer in charge. In that time the main reason for people leaving was change in life circumstances. The volunteer demographic was younger women and the biggest single reason I'd say for people stopping was either people getting married or having children- priorities changing.

I stopped volunteering because I was volunteered out. I'd done so much for so long and then as with most things once you get to the organisational top of the tree it becomes unpleasantly political and managerial so you stop doing the actual core volunteering work you were interested in to start with.

Now I don't really have the time due to life priority changes but also feel demotivated. I can imagine maybe going back to it when I am retired perhaps but not right now. I do other free voluntary work that I wouldn't class as "volunteering" though like trusteeships, free education of others and so on.

When I think of volunteering I mean a very regular turn up and provide repeated labour situation like working at a soup kitchen or a food bank or brownies or scouts that sort of thing.

I've volunteered for different causes from time to time, some requiring a regular commitment, some more casual. I have limited free time so can't commit atm. I need to work to earn to live.
I've had public sector jobs eg in Education and NHS where Ive regularly worked unpaid overtime. I've extended my last sppointment because a patient is upset, or needs help using a piece of equipment. I've spent time shopping/paying/making resources to help patients and learners. I consider this volunteering. I've done this voluntarily.

Why don’t people volunteer anymore?

Why don’t people come back and engage on threads that they start?