Not to be surprised that volunteering ha fallen since the pandemic?

[antelopevalley]

Since the pandemic ended, volunteering levels are far lower than they were before the pandemic.
I have a personal interest as I used to do lots of volunteering but no longer do and I am not sure I ever will again.
I have just seen a rise in selfishness and self-centredness and I no longer want to volunteer for local community projects to benefit those families who would not give a damn about me and my family.

*There are still about 500,000 people who are still advised to remain in protective isolation, because they are severely immune suppressed. So the need for deliveries hasn't gone away. It's not anxiety or selfishness, it's an ongoing need for those who are just as vulnerable as everyone was at the start. And lets not kid ourselves that we have low case rates.

Many are itching for this to change, but until the government reverses its decision about provision of Evusheld, they're stuck.*

this, x 100
it also has a knock on effect on others around us. My retired parents used to volunteer with several things but now they limit their exposure to people (their choice, I have told them not to do it for me) as they are my emergency ‘take the children for me’ option during my cancer treatment. So they’re doing everything they can not to pass on Covid to me.

for many of us the pandemic isn’t over.

I have just seen a rise in selfishness and self-centredness and I no longer want to volunteer for local community projects to benefit those families who would not give a damn about me and my family.

This might be your motivation for not volunteering, but most people are not so bitter. Instead, they have other commitments and fears.

Yes that’s true but didn’t apply to my situation. I know all the people I delivered to well as have been involved in their lives for years. Deliveries were done during proper lockdown as most people couldn’t get to shops but not because of health vulnerabilities. When restrictions lifted I get that they might have had anxiety about going out but that’s not what the service was for.

Sorry that was in answer to @nether

"However, I cant retire until I'm 67, and I honestly now think I won't have the energy or inclination to volunteer by then."

That's part of the issue, people are retiring later and/or like me are having to help with childcare. Some helped vulnerable neighbours during Covid and continue to do so. There used to be a pool of women whose five year olds started school, they wasn't quite ready to start work, so they volunteered, now benefit rules mean they have to work. You're saying that the families are selfish, does that include the children? Working with refugee/asylum seekers is very rewarding, but listening to the children's stories is heartbreaking.

Not quite volunteering but I have been trying to give blood. No appointments, so I gave up.

I am another doing less volunteering than before the pandemic. To be blunt I feel that volunteers are not treated very well by some charities. I recently did an Oxfam shop at a festival and the way the older retired volunteers were treated compared with the youngsters was shocking. The youngsters on my shift sat out at the back of the shop the whole time leaving the older ones to actually staff the shop. I was 'told off' by the young shift leader for being a few minutes late back from a 20 minute break (the only break in a 6 hour shift, not long enough to queue and get something to eat from a food stall). No seating provided even though requested it on the risk assessment I had to complete.

They keep calling me (despite me telling them I was moving house so would contact them when I was ready) so I looked online and my nearest donation centre is 17 miles away with no appointments until Christmas!

@Brokenwashingbasket

There were delivery services for the CEV and the elderly, plus anyone else who could make a good case why they needed them (isolating, usually) and I thought you meant those kinds of services. And they are still needed. Food parcels ended ages ago, but pharmacy deliveries and other forms of community support and general assistance are still required.

Agreed

Yes I think this in a lot of peoples minds.
I look at a lot of organisations that are currently bolstered by the newly retired- Scout committees, National Trust etc. and I wonder how many organisations will survive once most of us are working until 67.

I think volunteering is almost a luxury in the current economic situation...

People need more money to live and unfortunately they probably prefer doing additional paid work rather than volunteering.

With Covid many people also don't want to put themselves at additional risk by coming contact with more people through volunteering.

I have been doing some volunteering in the past few weeks but to be honest the charity I am volunteering for is really badly organised and the volunteering is not what I expected so I will stop at the end of the month. That's another issue as well: organisation not really providing a good experience for volunteers.

There are also too many organisation that get into the habit of using volunteers to do the work that should really be done by paid staff and that is never acceptable.

Red that is shocking, I work for Oxfam. Please report (anonymously if you prefer) your feedback, I will also report it back. I worked (volunteered - not part of my paid role) at a Festival as well but my experience could not have been more different, and I observed that all the other volunteers were treated very well - and I am one of the 'older' ones!).

I volunteered for an animal charity pre pandemic. I stopped when entering lock down as I work in an NHS hospital and was trying to cut down contacts outside work to reduce spread. When I called to say I could volunteer again last spring they were all enthusiastic to have me back but haven't been offered a single job (I was their long distance van driver). They refuse to take me off their lists though and still harass me with their volunteer spam because having me on their books gets them more funding from hq.

I will return to volunteering, but not with them, when I've got a few things sorted out personally. Maybe the food bank...

Some people are volunteering because of the pandemic - at vaccination centres like myself or supporting people in the community. Most of us are retired so raising the retirement age will deplete the supply of fit, healthy retired people able to do this.

Before the pandemic I volunteered for an educational charity plus the free child care of course.

Yeah covid has really fucked everything

@nether mine was for a small organisation that supported a particular group of vulnerable people (but not health related). I have been involved for years but the pandemic pushed me over the edge. I think many people are suffering from volunteer burn out. Also the pandemic was stressful for everyone and I found dealing with other peoples stress harder than usual.

I get what people are saying about people being angry, it does seem that way. I am not angry, maybe just more hesitant to get involved in other peoples lives. People are needier than ever. It’s probably a very selfish reaction but I find it overwhelming. Like everyone my situation has got harder and instead of volunteering I am motivated to look after my own. I have also volunteered all my life and was brought up by parents who taught me to always give back. So many people don’t bother and never volunteer for anything. I am a bit fed up with being dutiful! Also feeling cynical about about how much good some volunteering actually does.

This.

I see it particularly on the roads, aggressive men harassing lone female drivers. Way more common than it used to be. Stress about money, ptsd and grief from pandemic, fear of climate change and russia… There’s a lot of anger about.

I volunteered during lockdown for a couple of things. I would not do it again in a hurry. As a volunteer, I am giving up my time for free to help out - I appreciate people have specific times and roles they need filled, but if you are that specific, actually pay someone. Volunteer does not equal skivvy. If I'm giving up my time to help out, I do not expect gratitude but I do expect a level of responsibility or involvement less than that of paid staff.

People on furlough were volunteering for Covid related stuff like the vaccine centres and community groups. Now they're back at work.

In my own organisation we lost some older volunteers due to Covid. The work we did had to change somewhat in our delivery because of the virus, and it no longer worked for them for a variety of reasons, all of which I completely understood. We're still not fully back to our original style of working, so pulling them back in isn't really an option.

Some early retired people have also gone back into at least part time paid work, and I suspect that many more will over this winter.

I don't think it's directly because of the pandemic but over the last years the trend has been to be so inward-looking. Spend hours overthinking your mental health, navel-gazing about your identity, curating your social media.

I listened to an interview with Helen Joyce recently where she said "if you're feeling down, go outside and do something nice for someone else". I agree, it has always taken me out of slumps. I think more local volunteering would do more to solve the MH crisis than anything tiktok MH "activists" have ever done. We need those real life social bonds.

My Dcousin used to run a hospice, she said that managing the volunteers took quite a lot of time, as of course they weren't being paid they could say no to shifts and many volunteers do so for their own personal needs, which may not be in line with the charities aims. They also had thank you coffee events every six months to acknowledge the volunteers.

I do very little now - do a bit through work. My experience is the more you do, the more is asked of you and I tend to say yes until I get overwhelmed.

This is why I continued as a Cub leader for much longer than I was happy to. After lockdown - lots more children, far fewer volunteers - I was terrified every week of going in to hut to mix with 25+ children from 6 different schools and the infection risk.I was working harder than ever at work, and running to stand still, but I didn't want to let the Cubs down.

A couple of personal things happened to make me resign in the end. Only really got more volunteers when I did.

Pre-covid I volunteered for CAB, one day a week in the local office for several years There were about 40 volunteers.
Like everywhere elese they went to an online model during Covid.

They haven't reopened the local office. They say we can continue to give support online but don't seem to understand part of the reason most people volunteered was to get out the house and interact with real people. Fine to make do during Covid but not what people want permanently. Only 3 volunteers are still left.

I am a trustee for a community arts organisation which relies very heavily on volunteers. Many of our previous volunteers were older people, and many are still anxious about being around people they don't know, so they have dropped out or say they will return, but won't commit to when. They are also two years older, so some are frailer and less able to get involved. We are slowly recruiting new volunteers, many of whom have moved into the town over the last two years and who are keen to get more involved in their community now that they can.