Aibu and not volunteer again

[Metoodear]

So I got myself on a very important volunteer job 6 months ago as I was only working one day a week

So thought I would do some good recently I had to resign as I have a pt job 3 days a week and tbh the volunteer job needs doing well and I wouldn’t have the time as I don’t want to a shit job because I am trying to do to much

Sent a lovey letter about how much I had enjoyed myself and thanked them for the opportunity


I didn’t even get a smiley face emoji back
Ducking rude or is it just me and they wonder why they struggle to get people

Aibu to think I should of got even a email thanking me for my time

[MunchMunch]

A lot of dickish posts replying to op.

No she doesn't want gushing letters or even emoji faces all she wanted was an acknowledgment of her giving up time to help others and as someone else says, she would probably recommend other volunteers to help there. As for 6 month being more hassle than it's worth?! Well it's better than nothing, the company had 6 months worth of free work and the clue is in the name - volunteering - if 6 months wasn't worth it for them then maybe they should hire and pay someone with a contract to work no less than x amount of hours.

Fwiw I agree, a smiley face emoji takes 2 secs to do once they've read it, if that's all the time they can spare!

[Imchlibob]

If you had been doing it for 6 years then you wouldn't be unreasonable. Doing it for 6 months then resigning is a massive pain in the arse as you will have barely got through the initial bedding-in period and now you're off again.

Ywbu to never volunteer again just because of this. However, next time you volunteer for something please make sure you have the wherewithal to commit to it for a decent amount of time.

[BlancheM]

Yabu. So unreasonable.

[Metoodear]

And often in place of just addressing the persons point try to embrass or be little by picking up on ones spelling or grammer very well known tactic on here

Please don’t is playing the man not the ball I have more respect for those who just say I think your wrong
Than look at your spelling look everyone how stupid the poster is

[lucydogz]

Yanbu. As someone posted already, it's no big deal for them to say thanks. Charities aren't always well organised.
On a similar note, I decided to give a big chunk of money to 2 charities last year. Neither acknowledged the donation. Eventually i contacted them both, just to make sure that they had received it and it hasn't gone into someone's pocket. Yes, they had received it, but, sorry, hadn't been organised well enough to s end an email.

[EssentialHummus]

I’m with you to an extent. For the last few years I’ve volunteered with two large-ish local festivals. At one the organisers come round to say “Thanks, well done” and usually to offer a drink and an invite to the festival after-party. At the second they barely deign to acknowledge your presence at events. Guess which one I’ll be carrying on with?

I don’t need my ego stroked and I participate because I think these events have an important community function, but “Thanks very much” seems a reasonable expectation in return for hard work.

[Metoodear]

Ywbu to never volunteer again just because of this. However, next time you volunteer for something please make sure you have the wherewithal to commit to it for a decent amount of time.


Yes your right sorry we had our boiler broke down so needed to go back to work to pay for it but yes unless I can commit more Than a few years one shouldn’t bother volunteering

[Lovelylovelyllamas]

Probably part of it is that you say you were volunteering for the council. My experience is that they would be less good at looking after their volunteers and thanking them.

[Willow2017]

God the 'hollier than though' lot are out in force today!
I volunteered for a charity while job hunting and had to give it up when i got a job. It was a lot less than 6 months and the manager thanked me for the time i did do. It doesnt cost anything to acknowledge someone's time and commitment when volunteering. If someone gives time and work for free its not much to expect a "Thank you good luck in the new job."

[Urubu]

YANBU I don't understand why people are so rude.

[Tara336]

I do think it’s rude not to at least send a polite thank you email. It’s just basic good manners! Saying that I left an 18 year career due to ill health and didn’t even get a thank you your service or a bloody leaving card (probably as I was only one who bothered sorting them). It’s just sad really that good manners don’t seem important anymore

[HamishTheTalkingCactus]

Yanbu, I agree with pp that a basic thank you is simple good manners! It's hardly a red flag for someone to want some sort of acknowledgment when they give up their time for no payment motivated by goodwill.

[Willow2017]

As for never volunteerung again Bollocks!
Where i volunteered they had long term people who did the day to day running of the shop and a high turnover of short term. They were very glad to have anyone who wanted to do a few hours a week behind the scenes. It didnt need training nor specialised experience but it was just as important to the charity.
Many people are expected to volunteer while on jobseekers obviously when they get a job they have to stop. Are charities supposed to turn people away unless they can commit for 6 years?
Good gravy!

[TheFirstMrsDV]

Oh come on.
Of course they should have acknowledged her email and thanked her for her help.
Volunteers are not minions, there to do the work no one else wants to do because they can't do anything else.
They give their time for free and make a vital contribution to charities and organisations that couldn't function without them.

Willing to bet if the OP was written differently and no emojis were mentioned there would have been very different replies.

If you think your voluntary contribution should go unthanked and unacknowledged you are not being zen you are being a martyr.

[GerdaLovesLili]

In a world where councils are using volunteers rather than paid staff for roles in services like libraries and museums, one would expect the council to at least acknowledge that you have donated your time and expertise and to say that they will provide you with a reference at the end of your service; it's the professional thing to do.

The volunteers will pass-on their experience within the volunteer role, and the council will find it harder to fill those places if they don't treat their volunteers with the respect and thanks they deserve.

If you gave your service notice that you would no longer be able to help the rather than just leaving them in the lurch, YANBU.

[LizzieSiddal]

Gosh there are
Done rude people on this thread. Of course YANBU and they should have thanked you. It’s common basic manners to thank someone, however short the time they spent there.

If you think the OP doesn’t reserve a basic “thank you”, I’d hate to think what your manners are like.

[LizzieSiddal]

*some not Done

[JaceLancs]

I work for a small charity we wouldn’t be able to provide some of our services without our fab volunteers
We hold regular volunteer team meetings to discuss current work and use this as an opportunity to thank people, provide a Xmas celebration and small gift and award certificates and have a party during volunteers week
I would always reply to a resignation letter or email with a sorry to lose you and thanks for what you have done response
Some of my current volunteer team have been with us for 20 years!
That said anyone who stays for less than 6 months is not worth our while in terms of cost of training admin DBS etc - but people’s circumstances change and that doesn’t always happen - I would certainly not make them feel bad about it

[Mrsmadevans]

'I have a job now a clearly made a good impression'
So am l understanding this you 'volunteered' for the council, who then gave you a job, then you wrote them that you are leaving the volunteering job and they are expected to thank you, essentially for giving you a job. You are very lucky to be given the job imho and it is you who should be thanking them for letting you loose for 6 months and network, which has gained you this job.

[timeisnotaline]

While it is nice to be thanked, if the position required any sort of training then 6 months is very short to help out - I can easily see people thinking ffs she’s leaving already? Why did she even bother?

[Myimaginarycathasfleas]

I suspect a charity would have thanked you, but you say it was for the council. Probably just an oversight or no one took responsibility for acknowledging your contribution.

[hellokittymania]

As somebody who runs her own organization, I value whoever works for me, or whoever volunteers. Goodness, I even gave somebody birthday money. And yes, you should have been told thank U

Working in the sector isn't easy. We should not be expected not to be told thank U for the hours and hours and hours we spent doing it. It's like people who don't expect us to get paid. Why shouldn't we expected to get paid just because we work in this kind of sector?

[BertrandRussell]

They probably should have acknowledged your email, if only to show they had got it.

But saying that you’re never going to volunteer again for anything because this lot didn’t say thank you is plain daft.

[hellokittymania]

You get good volunteers, if you treat them right and care for them. Not saying thank U for somebody service, it's not treating somebody right.

[hellokittymania]

Lancs, I completely agree with you and I do the exact same thing. Both with my employees and volunteers. I'm always amazed when people think we don't deserve a thank you for the work we do. Or we don't deserve to be recognized for the work we do.