What volunteering do you do?

[Katisha]

People on here often advise volunteering in a general way - so specifically what sort of thing do you do, if you volunteer, did you need particular skills already, and is it rewarding? I'm looking for inspiration as I might stop work in the next year or so.

I'm the secretary of a community garden, and I'm also on the clean up team of the local leg of a canal which goes through my area. I use the towpath to get to work so feel I should put something back.

I'm a parent reader at a school and I also volunteer in a small village community shop. Currently I do at least 3h per week, but often more. Tried with the local CAB, but they made me jump through so many hoops for an unpaid, 1-full-day-a-week role that I wrote them off when I was offered my current job.

I don't volunteer currently but in the past I was on the committee of my local social club, then was a trustee and later Chair of a bereavement counselling charity.

One friend is the social secretary of her local branch of NAPO (retired police) and another friend volunteers at the local food bank. I know someone else who volunteers for a local community project for socially disadvantaged people and with the Canal and River Trust.

In my last job I supervised volunteers in our criminal justice and drug and alcohol projects and set up volunteering opportunities for our clients. Conservation programmes were very popular. I currently supervise volunteer counsellors on placement in a range of settings.

I volunteer for the shelter from where we rescued our last two dogs. We've moved too far from their base now to be able to dog-walk any more but we do home checks in our area and I help out with a small amount of admin remotely, writing social media posts etc.

I also volunteer one day a month at the soup kitchen in my nearest city. The tasks there vary - one month I might be serving the clients, another time prepping vegetables, or sorting clothes as they also take clothing donations for rough sleepers. It's an initiative supported by my employer so I get the time off to do it.

In the past I was trained by and volunteered for Samaritans, but I have to confess I stepped away because over time, the cumulative effect of dealing with pervy men on virtually every shift, who were using us to try to get off, became too exhausting to deal with (we could terminate the call once it was clear what they were doing but it often wasn't always immediately apparent).

PTA secretary
Parent helper @ Rainbows.

Oh I forgot, I'm also part of a local initiative that supports women who have fled DA to get back into, or into for the first time in many cases, the workplace. Mainly I give guidance on filling out application forms and interview skills training. That's a little bit on the back burner at the moment but I hope to be able to get back into it more regularly this year.

i help with reading for primary schools.
it’s a great experience, the kids love it and teachers also really appreciate it.

I will be helping soon with the MS society again (I moved so had to stop and wait for another opportunity!)

I did Samaritans. Did all the training, enjoyed listening and hopefully comforting the callers but I had to walk away. The other volunteers are vile.
laugh about the callers, they eat sandwiches whilst listening, give advice and are just awful!
on going training is recommended but not mandatory.
if you complain about anyone, it leaves a toxic environment.

it’s a real shame as I miss the callers

im sorry that turned into a vent about Samaritans

I've been a school governor for years. To do it well takes commitment and can be stressful and time consuming depending on what committees you are on or if you become chair.
I find it very rewarding.
I also help out at a community cafe and with the school PTA.

For a long time (20+ years), helpline work - no skills or qualifications needed, but you go through excellent and vigorous training.
I currently volunteer as an usher and tour guide at my local theatre, and I absolutely love it.

I’m an Alzheimer’s Society call companion. Involves making one or two calls a week to someone caring for a spouse, or someone who has Alzheimer’s. You’re given training and ongoing support. I love it - totally different to my day job and good reminder to enjoy life and the small things while you can and not sweat the small stuff.

I volunteer with a national humanitarian response group. They train us up and then deploy groups, often but not always at short notice, to provide emergency support and disaster response in the UK or internationally. A certain amount of fitness and resilience (ability to be self sufficient - not add to the crisis - and rough it a bit) is required, they attract a brilliantly skilled group of volunteers. There's quite a wide range of roles, so you don't have to be good at everything. It helps if your work are supportive of you taking 2 weeks leave at short notice, but UK deployments are often shorter. You don't have to be available all the time, but they ask you to volunteer 14 days or more of your time a year.

I am a STEM ambassador and work with young people trying to get the interest in STEM subjects improved, especially for girls.

I also work with a food charity, collecting from supermarkets to distribute to people. Anyone can have this food (you don’t need to be vulnerable) but this charity also supports families in need with non food essentials.

I work full time and also have a part time job (this is why I don’t do much housework, I just don’t have time) but when I retire I will increase the amount of time I give to the food charity. It helps my soul and I am very proud of it.

I teach literacy in a prison.

I'm the Chair of DCs school PTA (charity) & as such an co-opted to the Village Fete Committee too.
It's rewarding seeing our efforts benefit the school & children.
Skills - being organised, event management, social media & marketing skills, people management.

I help run a local Brownies group

I do a few things around full time work and parenting. I currently raise funds for a national disability charity which dc are a member of, dc help with this too but it's a lot of work designing, networking and advertising at nights - a skillset I do with my job so I'm fully trained already. I volunteer with the primary school and been a parent reader and attended school outings which are a lot more regular than you'd imagine. No skillset needed for this.

I've recently been asked by a similar charity to take on a national role which will be a lot of work arranging national events and raising funds, raising the profile of the organisation via channels we have access to due to dc's disability. I really want to accept but I also want to do it well so I'm still thinking this over. I've turned down roles to be on the board/treasurer of similar charities in the past year as it's a lot. If I didn't have work I'd have done it in a heartbeat.

I think if you're giving up your time you'd need to find something you're passionate about, for me it's creating a better, more tolerant and accessible world for my kids. I've had to research, be on the ball and make connections and now I get to help others along with my own.

I'm a School Governor and I run a local sports club. I find both rewarding. We live in a rural area with few opportunities and I feel like I am helping with this. I regularly have 50+ kids attend my sessions on a weekly basis and I feel that I'm having a positive impact on their life by encouraging healthy habits and developing self-confidence.

I'm a parish councillor and I volunteer for ParkRun occasionally.

I worked for a Lowland Search & Rescue team for 10 years, which was pretty full on. Very interesting and involved a lot of training/qualifications.

I'm a panel member for the Children's Hearings in Scotland.

The bulk of my panels are deciding whether a child needs a compulsory supervision order. Most are from parental neglect but sometimes because the child has committed an offence or is in or likely to be in contact with someone who has committed domestic abuse.

No formal qualifications needed to apply just the ability to make effective decision based on evidence because these are legal decisions.

There was a pretty intense 6 week training course and you achieve a unique qualification on completion.

I don't love it obviously because it's really harrowing most of the time but I do find it rewarding.

In the past I've been a school governor, which I found interesting and rewarding. At the moment I'm on the board of trustees for a local youth choir.

I'm having a break atm but I usually volunteer with Homestart. We support families who are struggling in one way or another. It can be for a variety of reasons and often it amounts to being a good friend / listener/ signposter. There is obviously a DBS requirement and training given. I've made some good friends and continue to support people years after they're 'off the books'

Do you count giving blood?? I have donated 47 times.

I volunteer for the ambulance service. I do 20hours a month oncall to attend emergencies in my community. It means that people get someone attending and starting the treatment/management of their emergency earlier than if they would if needing to wait for the ambulance to arrive which can sometimes be a little while especially at the moment. It can be difficult at times when the patient is very unwell but rewarding because you really are making a difference.
They gave me all the training and I share a bag of kit with another volunteer nearby.

I volunteer at the local primary school with swimming. Used to do more but my daughter started high school in September and they asked if I would still help with swimming.

I do volunteer roles at my local parkrun and I’m the treasurer for my local running club.