To ask about your experience volunteering?

[climbingcorfecastle]

I am a long term carer and therefore am not able to work, so I try to volunteer as much as possible to give back etc etc. Over the years I've volunteered in various places, some very local and others large national organizations. One of the long time orgs is a children's charity and I feel very valued there; even throughout lockdown they email and check in with the volunteers fortnightly, thanking us and just generally keeping us posted. The other is a women centred organization, I started about a year ago and it is everything that I don't like. I find them to be very disorganized, have turned up many times at my allocated day/time to be told that i'm not wanted that day, but never a phone call to say so. I should just leave but it was actually really hard to get into, I had to undergo several interviews and then several months training and inductions and they always make a point of hammering home how many potential volunteers are on the waiting list.

Something on another thread made me realize that not all places are the same or hold the same weight/value for volunteers. Please share what your experience has been and if it has been helpful to you for employment.

Until lockdown I volunteered at a sports and social club for adults with disabilities, I absolutely love it, it's my favorite part of the week. I've made some good friends.
But I have had some bad experiences too, particularly when I was a member of my children's preschool committee. I won't do committees any more as it was.a.nightmare.
I think successful volunteering needs a clearly defined role so you know what you are committing to and managers need to remember that the volunteers are giving up their time to help, so be nice.

I've volunteered with two different places for decades, alongside other, shorter periods of volunteering in different ways with different things.

I'd reiterate what others have said. Ultimately, in a lot of volunteering roles, you are volunteering alongside other volunteers. Volunteers, like neighbours, or colleagues, or school mates or any group of people, come in all shapes, sizes and with all personality types. They come with some skill sets and lacking other skill sets. There are so many millions of volunteers across the Country, you can't really assume that 'all volunteers' are going to be the same.

Over the decades I've been volunteering, I've met hundreds of really lovely people. I've met a handful of people I've really struggled to take to. I've met quite a few that I've found quite difficult to work alongside for one reason or another. There are 'moaners' in any group of people. There are 'doers'. There are people that want to talk for hours at meetings. There are people that want to cherry pick the bits they want to do. There are people that put in a phenomenal amount of hours There are people who stay for 3 months and there are others that volunteer for 60 years. There are people that are disorganised but have a lovely manner with the 'clients' . there are people that are incredible organisers but might not be the best 'people people'. There are people that I might not 'gel with' but I can still acknowledge their vast contribution. Very occasionally there are people who just create more problems than the good they contribute. Overwhelmingly though, once you accept we are all different, you find that most people are lovely, and the secret is steering the people with the right skills into the right roles. There are volunteering roles for most people who want to help, it is just a case of matching them up.

Ho hum er um...
My list includes preschool committees, toddler groups, PTAs primary & secondary, sports clubs, scouts, brownies, dog-walking...

Basically if the group gossip constantly in meetings or bring big egos along, it's a nightmare.
The groups where everyone focuses & leaves their egos away are great.

I was a school governor for 20 years at various schools. There is serious responsibility attached to the role especially if a school is failing which was brought home to me well and truly when I was grilled very intensely by an ofsted inspector. I also had local authority officials be very rude and condescending to me at times and there was an attitude of.... if we can't pin the blame on someone obvious we'll blame the governors. At times it was like a full time job.

However in the long term it was very rewarding when we appointed a new head and she turned it around quickly and it was certainly character building.

I too was a school school governor at three schools over 20 years. I went from feeling very pleased when everything was going well with a great head at the first school to despair when she left. Her replacement looked great on paper and at interview but was a monster in post. Awful woman. Everything revolves around the head. I’ve worked with very competent heads and one or two that utterly winged it.

I left governance when I really wasn’t enjoying anything about it (at my third school) and even my reports on school visits were being altered by the head to suit her narrative. In 20 years I can rarely remember anyone saying thanks.

I now volunteer for the U3A and at least members say thanks and it takes less of my time. It’s been a pleasure. You cannot choose who you volunteer with and sometimes it’s great but at other times it’s not.

DD volunteered with the National Trust in vacations from university and loved it. She’s volunteered for the CAB and a Women’s Crisis Charity in her early 20s. She got on very well at the CAB but the women’s charity had volunteers she didn’t gel with.

It can be a great experience but occasionally it’s not. If something isn’t for you, move on. That’s perfectly ok.

I heard awful bullying stories about our school governors panel (primary school). The chair & his pals ignored anyone who wasn't part of their cabal, riding roughshod over other people. Turned noses up at anyone whose comments they didn't like.

This behaviour was kept hushed up by the bullying victim but she confided in a few people one of whom shared with me. But the victim thought 'Everything that happens here is confidential' so wouldn't raise a fuss about how she was treated.

Does working hundreds of unpaid hours in overtime in the NHS count? Didn’t feel very valued doing that TBH.

Small children’s charity that I loved and felt VERY valued.
DH trying so hard to volunteer for the local food bank pre Covid and getting no response, that led to going to the local council volunteer drop in...guess what, the coordinator didn’t show up and the library staff knew nothing.

Now we help at a small local charity and feel extremely valued.
I’m hopefully starting HomeStart training in the autumn and so far I feel the support will be good.

It’s a mixed bag.

I like the idea of volunteering but have never had much luck with it.

Ages ago when I was just out of uni I looked into an advert that refered to a group that did activities at a nursing home. I thought they were looking for people to join a group, they were looking for someone to set up and run a group and I backed out instantly as I didn't feel I had the experience. I also didn't know anyone I could recruit for such a group, I'd been persuaded to look into volunteering as a way to meet people. I was only young and it was all really awkward.

I've also volunteered as a helper for activities for children with additional needs. It was very much an environment where you get thrown in at the deep end. I didn't have a clue what I was doing.

I think you have to be a very confident person with a very can do, fake it until you make it sort of attitude to do well with volunteering. Maybe the sort of volunteering where you volunteer as a group and can learn from your fellow volunteers is easier, I think I might have been OK with that. My experiences caused me to lose a lot of confidence.

@lljkk sadly I've seen that kind of thing happen. Also where head and chair run a closed shop and if anyone challenges them there will be a huge fall out, threats of sackings, resignations and so on. Ironically this can be at the best schools, as the perpetrators know full well that if you're outstanding and oversubscribed nobody can touch you.

@PinkiOcelot I really like the idea of fostering birds. Are you able to share the name of the charity?

@BroomShacks it’s Problem Parrots. They’re always needing volunteers. Take a look at their website.

I volunteered at the CAB for a long time. I found it really worthwhile and invaluable experience for the CV after years of being a SAHM.

I was also on our allotment committee - awful experience. Allotments bring out some terrible behaviour in people. Would never do it again.

The worst were a couple of community projects which were essentially people coming together to form a project off their own backs. No hierarchy or oversight, just lots of people squabbling and jockeying for leadership positions with no-one to tell them to behave themselves. Most stressful thing I've ever done.

I volunteer with a large animal shelter. It’s very well run and has lots of different volunteer jobs. There’s a fairly large staff including three people who run the volunteer programmes.

They invest in training for volunteers and there are programmes where volunteers can end up managing paid staff. The charity recognises that it couldn’t function without volunteers and we’re never ever treated as ‘less’.

There are committees for various programmes which are made up of both staff and volunteers. I’m on a couple of them - we make decisions which impact the finances and future direction of the charity. Both of those committees are chaired by volunteers, not staff.

I think it’s a shame when organisations, or people within them, don’t appreciate how valuable their volunteers can be. It damages the organisation as fewer people are willing to volunteer.

My oxfam shop manager was awesome and actually taught me a lot about volunteer management and also about the organisational side of stuff.

Did volountourism when I was 18 which is a bit embarrassing now.

Had an awful time in Montenegro with an organisation that just didnt understand my motivation and hadnt really thought through what an overseas volunteer could do.

Have been a girl guide for 30 years. Had some awful experiences, and some of the most nuturing and rewarding.

I've found that I expect a professional approach and sometimes you get it and sometimes you dont.

@PinkiOcelot Thank you - I'll take a look 🙂

@BoomShacks you’re very welcome. You wouldn’t believe how many birds are given in to the charity.
I absolutely love them and have 4 of my own; 2 I adopted from PP.