Room Hire? Taking advantage of doing a favour?

[ThrowAwayQP]

This is a current hot debate where I am right now; so interested to hear opinions:

Background:
Our local community centre rents out rooms by the hour for community groups; Youth club, table tennis, am dram rehearsals, that sort of thing. And the centre is also managed and run entirely by volunteers of which I am one.

A volunteer will come into the building, make any changes to the room that are required (moving tables and chairs etc.) and then stay for the duration of the booking before locking up afterward. Pretty standard.

As it happens; one of our volunteer key holders also runs one of the groups that meet in the building; so opens up and locks up. Now here’s the who is being unreasonable:

The group is booked in and pays for 18:00-20:00. But the volunteer often gets to the centre for 16:00, sets up and then sits in the office working on her laptop until 18:00 - she says she would rather come straight from work than go home and come back out. Sometimes she will do odd things around the building that are on the jobs board - like mop bathroom, or clean the office etc.

Some people on the committee think she’s taking advantage of the fact she has a key and shouldn’t be in that early when she only pays from 18:00. Her argument, which I agree with, is that it’s no different from any other volunteer coming in early to set up (which has happened for other things without issue). Her group aren’t in until just before six so it shouldn’t be an issue.

She does open and lock up for two other nights in the week for groups she has nothing to do with and helps out at fundraisers and things - So isn’t a case of just doing things for her group iyswim?

So which side is being unreasonable?

Having done this exact role for our community centre the volunteer INBU and I hope the complaints don't reach her ears and demoralise her. The extra jobs are hard to find time for and it's quid pro quo that she gets a bit of extra work done for herself and for the centre.

Well, if they wanted to be really jobsworth about it they could issue her an invoice for the extra electricity and heating costs.

But considering she’s doing committee jobs some of that time (20 mins set up for her group, 20 minutes clear & set up for next group, 20 minutes mopping or admin) then really it’s hardly worthwhile charging her anything for an hour or so!

I’d be deeply annoyed.

If the committee insisted I couldn’t do this, I’d rota myself off the unlocking & set-up, for starters, and not do anything on the jobs board. I’d probably still do the lock up etc.

Because I’d been forced to drive home, so I would no longer be able to fit in the shift I was covering. Due to being at home...

Wow, the committee are being very shortsighted

I'm actually on a committee for a community centre and no, she is most definitely not taking advantage. If some members of the committee are being petty then they can sodding well come and open up and supervise for her! After all, she's paying for the hire. They can get a sodding mop out too.

This committee sound like the sort of reason that a lot of people get put off from volunteering.

If they want to lose a good volunteer presume, theyre going the right way about it. Very narrow minded

The committee are very unreasonable

Our committee, like most others in our area are really struggling to get enough people that actually give enough of a shit to help keep the buildings going. Oh people will piss and moan about the buildings having no one to run them but will shrink back in horror at the thought of having to volunteer themselves.

No committee should be acting so pissy about silly things like that. They'll lose good volunteers.

I used to do your job, OP, and believe me I sympathise; some committee members will moan about anything

Happily, there's a simple solution ... tell whoever whinges that the lady may not be able to open/close for the two others groups any more and ask them to volunteer for it

You'll almost certainly hear no more about it

If I was her I would be removing her volunteering for that evening and have someone else come in and then lock up after, especially as the group pays for the hall hire.
The volunteer that then comes in to do the group the next day will need to come early to set up if she nails out of unlocking and locking for the group she runs

I don’t think it needs much explanation, those on the committee complaining are being dicks. Seriously, let them do all that she is doing instead. People like this ruin things for everyone

Ridiculous! Why can't she stay if it is easier for her? She is VOLUNTEERING!

I wonder why you have such a set up though. I rent several village halls and community halls on different days for 2 hours at a time for classes and I have keys to the buildings and open and lock up on my own. Why do volunteers have to stay throughout the booking?

Sometimes she will do odd things around the building that are on the jobs board - like mop bathroom, or clean the office etc.

& yet some officious jobsworths, instead of recognising that as well her her usual voluntary contributions, would prefer that she flog all the way home & back again because ...
Because what?
Ridiculous & petty.

Unless she is preventing anyone else from using the office or other space in that time, then I think the committee are being completely unreasonable and utterly petty.

Wow!! The volunteers who feel she is taking advantage are being very mean spirited!!

I don't think the volunteer is doing anything wrong at all. She could, after all, sit in her car or a cafe and one of the committee could do any of the jobs she usually does. Bet they would have something to say then!

I would also say that if anyone speaks to her about this, your Centre will, in all probability, lose what sounds like a very good volunteer. And good volunteers are not easy to find!

As long as it’s not preventing other bookings then she’s doing absolutely nothing wrong! She’s doing stuff that would need to be done anyway in the way that fits best with her life and other commitments.

And if I was her and I was told to stop it then I would remove myself from doing everything except my own group! I do volunteer myself and it has to work with your life, especially if you have other commitments like work, children, elderly relatives etc

Good volunteers should be treasured, not downtrodden

I think it would be a tiny bit cheeky if she was using the building as some sort of office. However she seems to be using the couple of hours to set up and do some cleaning. By the time she's checked the job board, got the stuff out, done the task and cleared it all away, it can't leave long left. Surely the lighting/heating would need to be on for whenever those tasks are done and presumably some can't be done when the centre is in use.

I presume the committee members with a bee in their bonnet about it are falling over themselves to open/lock up a couple of times a week plus work through the job board

If they're that worried about an increased lighting and heating bill, then they should just discuss it with her and find ways to avoid heating/lighting the whole centre when not required.