Volunteering

[rattymol]

The number of people volunteering has really fallen. I am interested in why. So
Yalu = I don't volunteer and won't
Yanbu = I do volunteer or would

Interested as well to know why people volunteer or don't volunteer.

My previous employer used to provide one paid day per year for all employees to volunteer. We had to organise our own volunteering placement or volunteer activity. It was not compulsory, but a percentage of people did take up this opportunity & the statistics were recorded.

If we raised money for certain charities, this employer also matched the money that we raised pound for pound.

I have seen a few advertisements on the TV where some other companies promote that that volunteering is encouraged.

That's exactly why I wouldn't do it

I couldn't deal with being told off for something like that

Never do anything for free, it costs too much!

I think there is also too much risk these days. We have all embraced the culture of blame and as such we must accept the consequences. Where we live, lots of youth clubs and sports teams have had to close because of a lack of male volunteers. The local kids who are into rugby don't want to be coached by women, and no men are stepping forward.

Mind you I can see why they are reluctant, a single malicious allegation from some pissed off kid could ruin their lives.

Far too much risk involved these days. Also quite a number of employment contracts have clauses about needing permission from HR to take up any volunteering roles, that and the mandatory DBS checks to prove you're not a child molester/serial killer on day release. I suppose for most people the hassle just isn't worth it.

People want to do the easy, most rewarding parts. In reality, it's tasks such as admin and cleaning that most need doing, but people don't want to do them.

In fact, it’s often people who are able and willing to donate money who are of most use. Then that can be used to pay professionals, resulting in a better outcome for the charity’s beneficiaries.

We met when we were both volunteers in Mountain Rescue; we stopped after a terrible experience but have always, ever since both had voluntary jobs or posts on the go. Anything from supporting individuals to gardening, DIY, dog walking, ecological work, treeplanting, huge amounts of diverse fundraising, teaching adult literacy, web design, editing local paper, fitting out then running a charity shop, PTA, scouts, upcycling, sports coaching.

The "do-good" ing bit is just a by product. I volunteer primarily for my own selfish pleasure, because it's fun and very enjoyable and a great way to meet interesting people. If anything voluntary ever stops being enjoyable, I just stop doing it.

At one point we started a food bank collection at work & people donated food

The food was taken to the food bank

The food bank wrote a letter

Me too ! I feel really energised when I've done it - much better than when I'm waddling round the damn course. When I retire I can see myself getting more involved as a volunteer with it, as it genuinely seems to have a lovely ethos at every different one I have been to.

I have always regularly volunteered (animal shelters, cinnamon trust etc) and a volunteering placement then led to paid employment in the same organisation. Them several promotions and a couple of children happened and there's a lot less time. I still volunteer now, just less frequently. I volunteer on an ad hoc basis for a local charity, they call me as and when they need my skillset. That could be once every 3 months, or it could be a few times a week for several weeks.

Apologies pressed too soon !

The food bank wrote a letter requesting money, not food

Everyone decided to stop donations immediately & we voted to raise money for a different charity instead

I volunteer at a local grassroots football club. There are a few people who seem to do everything - it's not easy to find people willing to volunteer. I do the welfare stuff, registrations for the junior teams, sort the DBS checks and managers training, deal with league affiliations and FA accreditation, work on the bar, work on the coffee/tea stand, help out at the events. So far this week I have had four issues to deal with/support, one involving driving to and watching an away game, one involving a two hour meeting, plus countless texts, whatsapps, emails, phone calls. I would estimate it takes between 15 and 20 hours a week of my time. I work full time and have 2 DC who also have activities they need transporting to and from, plus DH and dog.

It's exhausting, I don't really have any time to myself at all, but I do it because it's important to me that children have access to football and the benefits that brings - fitness, community, social skills, teamwork, fun, development. To see those who started at age 6/7 now becoming young adults and still being part of the club is wonderful.

I do sometime wish the parents had an idea of how many hours of time are given by volunteers so that their children can play football though!

I volunteered for about 10 years but as I took on more responsibility at work and caring for elderly family, I had less and less time for the increasing demands (both in terms of time/commitment and skills/management) of volunteering. When I first left the volunteering role, I was surprised by how much free time I had.

Oh and now that I think of it I arranged a clothes donations drive at work to provide interview outfits for women through referrals. That was great as only took a few hours of my time to drive the donations through and people got rid of unwanted clothing which were then useful to others.

I used to volunteer for things when my dc were little like Brownies or Beavers occasionally or the PTA. It I never wanted to get roped in on a regular basis as dh worked shifts.

I did do things at church as well

I recently lost my job on grounds of "we have volunteers who are willing to do this work unpaid". 0 hour contract temp seasonal so technically fair enough but to be honest it did irk me a little...

I run a large charity project that is popular with volunteers - we did see numbers drop post-pandemic but they are steady now. I’m not sure why we remain popular but my guess would be -

flexible (even though some people do the same timeslots each week)
tangible/immediate benefit
no make-work!
community based and very local

I’m very grateful for how loyal our volunteers are to us, and happy to work alongside them (I do the rubbish jobs!).

I would love to volunteer but the main barrier for me is time. Between work, being a single parent and trying to get to the gym fairly regularly there is just no time. Maybe when the kids are older I will be able to.

I am put off because 1) how will I get out of it if I don’t like it/can’t commit anymore (things change!) 2) what if I don’t know what to do/am given too much responsibility 3) don’t really want anything to do with the public after the hell of working in a call Center.

@MyFaceIsAnAONB

they should be interviewing you and going through expectations as part of that, you should also be able to say there are things you don’t want to do. This should be then reviewed to check it’s all working.

@woodhill she was a horrible woman. They were actually chatting about going to university as one of them was an academic placement. Making contacts is part of the volunteering process. She also tried to make my volunteers do paid staff jobs, FOH stuff. Which is not why they were there.

I am also a serial volunteer. I think a lot if volunteering us a luxury. For one organisation it costs me a lot of money as the expenses they pay are minimal.

I think people wishing to volunteer has dropped because:

• it's generally expensive and the colc means people can't afford it
• charities take advantage of people and expect too much
• volunteers aren't appreciated enough
• people see how others are 'on the take', think PPE contracts during covid and see how the country seems to have a 'every man for himself' culture and won't give their time for free/will go for paid work.
• people see how those in power/royalty, think the coronation, expect others to pay for them when their privilege and wealth grows by the day. They see these people being lauded for cutting a ribbon and shaking a few hands and getting hours of praise whilst more and more seems to be expected of them in the name of community and 'our reputation as a country'. Everyday hard working people being expected to just do it for the pride etc whilst they themselves are paid £££££
• younger people can't afford to volunteer and older people getting too old/not getting the healthcare they need to keep going

A few years if you hadn’t worked / had a significant gap volunteering was a good way to get current experience/skills or references. A lot of people kept volunteering even after they got a paid job. In our area the unemployment rate is so low many employers are taking on people without experience so no need to volunteer first.

Ive been a Girlguiding leader for nearly 10 years and am about it give it up.

The paperwork and admin behind the scenes takes HOURS each week. I work FT and have a toddler - i finish work, do tea / bath / bed etc, eat my own dinner and then easily do another couple of hours on admin / planning / chasing parents for responses etc.

Some of the parents are extremely rude - parents complaining about the waiting lists, the activities, we've worked hard to put together a summer camp for the girls and the first reply was a parent complaining about the day as her daughters couldn't attend. 5 leaders are giving up their own weekends to take the girls away and there was no recognition of this at all.

Then on top of this, a general unwillingness of anyone else to step up leaves all the pressure on an ever decreasing number of volunteers. So i am sadly adding myself to their number and stepping away before it starts to impact my wellbeing.

I have two voluntary roles. A major change to volunteering is so few places will take volunteers under 18 because of the changed take on child labour laws & the need for suitable child supervision.

Also a lot is put on volunteers and they walk way because of it sometimes. For example I visit elderly people, post pandemic and am encouraged to get them accessing the community but I'm very much left to get on with that brief. Volunteers at my friend's wildlife charity are expected to deal with members of the public, put in a certain amount of hours, attend training. All of this is great, you can understand why but there's no nurturing or support or thanks. In the wildlife ones you feel almost you're supposed to be grateful to be able to volunteer. It's weird!

@CheeseLouisePlease

Yes not good

Yes there always seems to be the officious types of people overseeing which I find hard to deal with

I used to volunteer for a youth organisation but my husband now works evenings and we have a small child so it doesn't work for me anymore. Paid employment has to take priority. I also found there was so much being asked of us in terms of admin, paperwork, training etc and not enough support to do it that I don't have the time outside of the 2 hour weekly session to do all the prep and admin needed.

I don't do any formal volunteering. I've 'done my bit' for school (listening to kids read/manning the tea and coffee table at fundraisers/selling raffle tickets etc), sports clubs (adding up scores, stewarding etc), helping vulnerable individuals: getting them to appointments, bit of batch cooking for them, taking them shopping. Stuff like that. Volunteering for organisations rightly or wrongly (I don't know) has a reputation for being treated quite badly and I'm not up for that.
Having said that I'm looking into teaching English as a foreign language and would consider volunteering for that.

Volunteered for a well known youth charity for decades. Through working full time and having my own children I managed it . But how things have changed, training (obviously safeguarding is important) so much admin, accounts, parents expectations are massive, first aid, paperwork, prep. It’s like a second job and becoming harder and stressful. I feel my time is nearly up.