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.

can a non-profit organisation get their volunteers to carry out any duty for free (I'm talking both legally and morally here)?

Well yes. That's the point of volunteering is that you agree to do it. You volunteer voluntarily. You are not being "got" to do anything. You've consented to it. If you don't want to, say no.

There are probably some exceptions to where it wouldn't be legal to ask a particular person to do a certain- for example if the law requires a person over 18 to do a job, or it must be someone with a Disclosure and Barring clear record, or a policeman or a medical practitioner.

But most of the time if you don't want to do it, just say no. If you are prepared to do it but expect to be paid, that's a job not volunteering.

If you are prepared to do it for a discounted rate of payment, then ask if you want that and get your agreeement in writing /email so you all knwo where you stand.

A lot of charities are looking for free staff so go for the young and dress it up as work experience, after 40 plus years of working I think that's not necessary for me. I will volunteer after retirement but anything that's comes with too many rules will be a No

I'm a trustee of an organisation that depends on volunteers to provide the bulk of our services. During Covid, our work (which was then based on one to one visiting) couldn't be done. While we endeavored to provide a slightly different service at that time, many of our volunteers stepped back, as, quite reasonably, they joined us because the work that we did before was something that they chose to do, and the alternative service wasn't of the same interest to them. We restarted our original programme as son as we could, but bringing them back into the fold has proved difficult. In that 18 months or so, they'd found other things to do with their time, or found that they'd actually enjoyed having their time back.

Talking with trustees of similar charities, it was fairly evident that we were far from alone in finding that the Covid hiatus broke the momentum. Volunteers simply got out of the routine and didn't come back.

@CC4712

I looked into helping at a soup kitchen. They wanted me to sit an interview and if I passed, then commit a minimum of 6mths and complete THEIR food safety course at my own expense. I already have an advanced DBS and food hygiene certificate- but this wasn't accepted.

I then enquired at a food bank- but they only wanted people in the day- and I work full time

I'd forgotten the whole procedural rigmarole about volunteering. It's all come rushing back in a flood of horror. We lost so many interested applicants because the charity had in place a very strict recruitment and training programme (not unreasonably) but what was unreasonable was that it made a snail look like Usain Bolt.

This is a big problem I think. People who want to volunteer are usually keen and have decided they have time to do it now. Delay and obstacles (such as those @CC4712 ) just turns people off. A bit of flexibility where appropriate is good but it has it's limits as volunteers are often in responsible positions dealing with vulnerable people or children.

I'm legally qualified but am caring for ds who is disabled. I've volunteered at a number of places over the years and the process has become very arduous. My most recent one was for a DV charity, and I was going in to give the women legal advice and to attend solicitors appointments and court with them. There was a whole interview process, references, and four weeks training. I ended up being a dogs body for the staff, things like buying their lunch for them, litter picking the grounds and then it was just assumed I would take children out for trips because I have a big car. I wasn't happy about that at all, I wanted a break from dc and to make use of my skills. In the end I had to stop as ds didn't go back to school full time after lockdown, but I probably wouldn't have stayed much longer.
Banardos were great to volunteer with, I really enjoyed that but the 3 year project came to an end.

Volunteers simply got out of the routine and didn't come back.

I feel like this about work so god knows how volunteers are coping!

I feel as if I am a full-time volunteer. The joys of retirement.

I’m early 60s, retired, no grandchildren (childfree). I don’t volunteer but feel bad about it. I don’t want to be committed to doing something that feels like work, I retired after 40 years of 9 to 5 to get away from that. Also want to be free to go away or for days out whenever we want.

No time or desire to at this stage of my life. That will possibly change one day.

Reading this it all sounds like too much hard work. A long time ago I did a lot of volunteering at my dcs school. I raised a lot of money for the school. Never got so much as my petrol paid for all the running about I did for them.
I remember one teacher loudly explaining that the tea and coffee was for staff only, not volunteers. It benefitting my dcs but otherwise I would not do it again.
Places should be more grateful for the help they get.

As someone who is a paid staff member in a charity it's important to know how hard the "unpaid staff" (aka volunteers) work. I think the fact that I mentioned that in my interview was one of the reasons I got the job in the first place. Paid staff at all levels need to understand the reasons for volunteering and work to ensure the unpaid team members feel valued.

I used to work for a charity years ago where they always had people wanting to volunteer. As a result the management were very cavalier with their attitudes knowing that if someone got upset and didn't come back there were plenty of others waiting to take their place. Problem was they started treating the paid staff much the same way. Horrid place to work.

Time, flexibility, and paperwork.

I had very low self esteem as a teenager and did some charity shop volunteering for a year or so to build my confidence. It helped me in a lot of ways, but I eventually got fed up due to being asked to do managerial duties and run the whole shop without getting paid and pressured into volunteering on more days than I had wanted to due to staff and volunteer shortages. Looking back, it was so unprofessional of them to have an unpaid teenager running the shop most weekends

Maybe this isn't everyone's experience but it was with mine

Dh volunteers his time at a sporting club and a school. I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter and offer my translation skills as I’m bilingual.
Tbh, I don’t have the time anymore working full time. Dh still has time to do his as it’s in the evening. So it really is a time thing for us.

I am a churchwarden, which is a volunteer role with statutory responsibilities.

My church has a large staff team (paid and unpaid, but churchwardens don't make it onto our website, even though we are the first people that welcome visitors and regulars to our church).

We obviously run on volunteer labour, eg flower-arrangers, but they have a particular job to do and would not be asked to do anything outside of their lane.

Churchwardens, on the other hand, are expected to mop up everything.

My policy is to do my statutory duties, the things that interest me, but never to cover for someone who is paid to do their job.

Comments from others about paperwork and interviewing - this is called Safer Recruitment and it is particularly important when working with vulnerable groups and children.

Safer Recruitment requires there to be a job description, references, interview, DBS (if appropriate), training and appraisal. If you really think about it, it is reasonable, although tedious.

I get a break from CW this week, as I am a volunteer SATs invigilator at my DIL's school.

There is no point in volunteering if you don't enjoy it, don't have enough time, not enough energy, support, under appreciated or in some cases funds

I agree that circumstances change

I have seen some advertisements where a volunteer role is the equivalent of full time paid job

Overall I have had good experiences so far

I am a Samaritans listening volunteer, i work full time and give around 5 hours a week including travel (not including lack of personal time/sleep missed/ time caught up sleeping when doing late night shifts/ plus petrol money travelling) I do it because I get a sense of pride and purpose, but there's a lot involved. Interviews, lots of training, and an expectation of a certain amount of shifts per year, to me its worth it to help those worse off than me.

I volunteer as a Cub Leader, and I do it because I love it.
It is time consuming, and takes some training, but there are smaller roles, for instance one of my assistant leaders does every other week as he works shifts.
We frequently have weeks off, if we are away on holiday etc.

Since covid, there has definitely been a reduction in volunteers, as some leaders, I think, realised just how much time and effort they'd been putting into running a group, once they were no longer doing it over lockdown.

Also, I think the pressure on parents these days is far more, often both parents working full time, so they are less likely to volunteer, and older people are working longer and retiring later than they used to.

Also, there's a definite trend towards people wanting more for less effort. Parents now want their kids to do everything - football, swimming, music lessons, cubs/brownies etc, which means they spend their entire week running around, getting their kids to clubs, and then feel they have less time to give.

That's awful

Does your poor mil not even get fed

No- the volunteers aren't even allowed a cup of tea- let alone to take any of the mountains of left over food home! All the food is donated also!

ALL plates, cutlery, glassware is hand washed by the volunteers (over 60 covers done in a day!) MIL raised over £500 for an industrial dishwasher- but the money disappeared when given to the 'family' and they still don't have a dishwasher! I'd like to report the 'family' but have no idea if its council run, private etc or who to complain to?

The family sound like crooks

Yes if you can report them

I dont volunteer because I really don't want to interact with more people than I already do! I find my job pretty intense, I usually work 7.45am to 6.30pm ish 5 days a week. I am director level so no paid over time. If there is an emergency in the night or weekend I'll be called on to sort it out. I prefer yo do something with DH or solitary - reading, cook a nice meal, Knitting etc. The thought of being involved with an organisation and its politics/squabbles fills me with horror.

I did. However I stopped because it wasn’t appreciated and the lack of value and no monetary reward meant I lost interest, as there was no driver behind what I was doing.

I don't volunteer because I don't have time. I work as much as I can because I need the money.
My dcs have volunteered and in local charity shops and the library but the charity shops won't take anyone under 18 now for some reason. Volunteering can be done by teens, retired people, people who want experience or those who are financially comfortable already.

Why should people do them? Why isn't it paid work?