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.

I used to be a school volunteer and nearly gave up at one school as the form teacher, who showed her obvious dislike of me, would make a point of getting me to do stuff like to sharpen all the pencils or wash up after the teachers, but the following year I did reading for a different teacher which I enjoyed.

I have five volunteering days a year through work. It's actually really difficult to find anywhere to volunteer for ad hoc days for all the reasons listed above, or you can pay to volunteer with some of the higher organisations.

The company offers it as part of their 'social value' commitments but in reality the take up is incredibly low.

I don't currently volunteer as I haven't got the time between work and childcare, but I did for over a decade. I was a Samaritan for over ten years, volunteered in a prison rehab for several months and also trained prisoners to become Samaritans within local prisons. I've also volunteered in several animal rescue centres, walked greyhounds, and so forth.

It has all been amazing, but it's quite difficult to keep up once you're a parent if you're also working. A lot of places rightly want people who will commit to being there and I always treated my voluntary jobs as a proper job, but I just can't commit right now. I do feel bad about it and plan to return when my child is older.

I stopped volunteering in a charity shop because I needed to increase my income. Upped my hours at work and just do not have the time.

Totally agree with this. Volunteering squeezes the job market. And only people who are comfortably off can ‘gain experience’ for better jobs as they can work for nothing. Whereas poorer people can’t afford to do these ‘work experience’ type roles and can’t get into certain jobs. I’m not a fan of volunteering as you can probably tell 😂

From experience (of 20 years volunteering) those with the most time are the least likely to volunteer!! In my volunteering with young people, every single one of our volunteers does it on top of a full time job and their own family commitments.

My friend was a scout leader for many years. They were desperate for help. One mum said oh I can’t possibly I work ft and am a mum of 3, my friend said snap same as me you’ll fit right in. The woman was gobsmacked.

I was told by someone this week that "between having to ferry the (3) kids around to their activities and plan all the meals, I really can't fit it in" - it's 2 hours on a Saturday once every 6 weeks and even though their kids are all mid teens, they're a SAHM. They also sit in the on site cafe and chat to people during this two hours each week, so not like they're off doing other things.

The only two, out of probably 25 volunteers, who don't have a full time job etc are two who are retired and their kids left the club 15 years ago!

My utter favourite was on the PTA - trying to get volunteers for a 45 minute shift at an after school on a Friday event. "Sorry, Fridays are my me day, but I will see if the au pair can help". Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I was talking about this last night. Requiring volunteers to be so professional really blurs boundaries - the organisations and public expectations are sky high.
I’m expected to have safeguarding and first aid qualifications, complete detailed risk assessments, differentiate for children with disabilities etc. We have email and parent chat group and people expect prompt response (and chase). People treat us like a paid teacher but we are unpaid volunteers. In my day it was accepted it was ‘brown owl’ doing her best for the children and parents wouldn’t have dreamt of complaining.
I do think we need to be more explicit I’m an unpaid volunteer. Also trips - yes I’ve taken annual leave, yes I’m paying full price to accompany your girls on a 4 day trip etc.
I do it as I enjoy it but it’s a huge time commitment on top of a ft job.

The selfish honesty is that I don't want to have to give up my weekends for a charity I'm afraid. I'm so knackered and stressed even having two days off I'm not willing to compromise them. And whilst I could maybe fo something more sporadic, I don't really know how to get started... everywhere needs so much training and a longer term commitment it seems!

The easy to find (I'm sure there are other harder to find ones) volunteer roles round here turn up on job searches alongside paid jobs. They are a lot like paid jobs actually, with set hours/days and similar expectations to a paid role. They're taking the piss.

I volunteer over the spring / summer / autumn as a steward for a sport that I love, the days are long and outside in whatever the weather is doing that day. I thoroughly enjoy it though and have met a lot of people through it. I'm also part of a local community driving group that was set up to help elderly / vulnerable / disabled attended gp appts, transport to the local lunch club or visit partners in nursing homes. The local hospital and social workers have picked up on this service and we frequently now get requests to take people shopping, help them clean their houses, transport people to hospital appts including minor ops which involve waiting with the person at the hospital and then making sure they're safe at home and collecting people that are being discharged after a stay in hospital as there are no carers in place yet. This is where I am stepping back as I feel we're covering the gap in social care / hospital care and services are never going to be improved unless volunteers step away

I help run a cubs group. I started doing it when my DC were in cubs and they needed the extra help and continued because a) they still need help and I am grateful for how much my DC got from the experience and b) we have a great team who have become good friends so it's really enjoyable. However, I have experienced quite a lot of pressure from the wider leadership team, and from parents, to do even more. Eg. being asked to take on additional admin/district leadership roles, parents 'suggesting' that we do more weekend/holiday activities (but never offering to help organise it), parents of children who want to join asking why we can't 'just' run a second group on a different day of the week when ours is full. Luckily my team of cub leaders are great and support eachother but we have had to be very firm about boundaries and how much extra time we are willing to give. I can see why that some people will be put off by the fact that once you start to volunteer you are asked to do more and more.

I think people also underestimate how much time it takes behind the scenes to organise everything and/or assume that volunteers have nothing else to do. If anyone reading this has DC in scouting and is not able to volunteer you should know that being the parent who reads messages, replies to event invitations on time and pays for subs/events promptly (or tells the leaders if there is an issue with this) makes out lives so much easier and we will love you for it.

Maybe one woman had a lot of family support and the other had none. Or one has a fairly chilled out job while the other is a trauma surgeon. Or one lives next door to the voluntary job location and the other is five miles away. Or one has kids with no additional needs and the other has. Or one has family that require practical support and the other doesn't. And so forth.

Maybe you didn't mean it this way or the volunteer didn't mean it this way but it read a bit like a 'gotcha' as if the person being asked to help out just needed to pull themselves together and do it, or the person who does volunteer is some kind of saint. Volunteering is wonderful but people are able to decide it's not for them or they can't commit. Sometimes a 'I can't, I'm too busy' is a soft 'I don't want to', the person in your story would probably do well to learn that rather than trying to put people on the spot.

I volunteer at DD’s school and not just with her class. I’ve often been on things like sports trips at short notice as they can’t get any parents or more likely none of the parents are able to go from those classes.

I also lead a walking group once a week, and volunteer at parkrun. I volunteered at a local race too recently and enjoyed it.

I have met a lot of people from volunteering and as I currently don’t work it fills my time up and I feel I’m being useful.

I tried volunteering in a charity shop about 10 years ago. I went for 2 mornings when my son was about 8. The deputy manager had a go at me for forgetting where the keys were and I thought this was uncalled for as she really did lose her rag. I left not only because of that but I simply could not justify the time and needed to keep working at my business.

I enjoyed the social side but think often the management just order u about without thinking how they are coming across.

I doubt I would do it again. On the other hand food bank arranging a couple hours a week I could see myself doing once my state pension kicks in in 7 years. Preparing supplies etc.

I've volunteered a fair bit over the years.When my DCs were younger listening to schoolreaders ,helping in the library and then at an adult education centre supporting adults with literacy problems for which i did a course.Also regularly litter pick.All very rewarding.I had a few years of not doing any but having more time now gave myself a shake and have just started something else in our community that takes up about 2 hours a week and loving it.I really admire those who commit more to eg scouts etc .Especially those that go on trips etc.

I've read this whole thread with interest as I both volunteer and manage volunteers (FT job at regional charity, we have high retention and application of volunteers).

I volunteer in 3 roles, 2 are local, 1 is ad hoc and 1 requires a block of commit (every other weekend for a term for example.) The 3rd role is an intense but ad hoc responsibility with a national charity. Support and organisation is 100% better with the national charity, but there was also more forms and training to get started. I volunteer because I enjoy it and I care about the causes. I'm busy, but Its something I make time for at the expense of other stuff.

It's interesting that many posters have said they don't agree with volunteering because it should be a paid role. And yet charities are constantly critisied for "wasting money on admin". As a charity you just can't win!

There's been a downward spiral for a while as people retire later, fewer SAHMs, and more expensive student tuition. Then covid meant a lot of stalwarts didn't return, often because health or social and driving confidence deteriorated. I also agree that the amount of training/paperwork/online logins can be off-putting. Some is necessary but it really needs to be kept in check.

Interesting though there has definitely been a cultural shift in the way people view volunteering. It's a lot more about personal wellbeing now rather than giving something back. It's important that volunteers feel fulfilled in their role but it's been taken to the extent that I think a lot of people forget volunteering is firstly about serving the remit of the charity, not providing you with a fun little hobby. The rise in social prescribing hasn't helped, and I'm constantly fielding requests from support workers who basically want me to provide social care or wellbeing days. More generally I've had some truly rediculous "applications", from people who expect us to bend over backwards to facilitate their day out and then are astounded when we aren't grovelling and grateful. There seems to be a misconception that charities should be grateful for any random offer of unskilled attendance, but in reality we don't need this. That's why volunteer roles are advertised in a more 'job like' way now. We might as well be upfront about the skills and commitment we need, rather than waste your time or ours. If its not a match for you that's fine, it will be for someone else, but I will always hold out for the right match because no volunteer is better than the wrong volunteer. Volunteers aren't "free" to a charity they take a considerable investment of time and money, so it has to be worth it. The "Big Help Out" actually received a lot of critism from NGOs as it perpetuated this idea that volunteering is just a random day of unskilled participation. But that's not volunteering, that's going to an event.

She assumed Friend was paid for the role not unpaid volunteer juggling ft paid job too. Lots do.
My experience (not scouts) has very much been that a handful of parents will volunteer and rest won’t ever. It’s up to them of course.
What does annoy me is the won’t ever camp moaning why aren’t the kids doing x or why has y been cancelled (not enough adult helpers)
Helping might be admin, planning, arranging a visit etc it doesn’t have to be in person help.

I wonder if there could be centrally recorded training so safeguarding 3 or whatever would cover you for whatever role , same with first aid etc.
In organisation I volunteer with they insist on their own courses so a teacher or ta does safeguarding training paid at work then needs to do same again unpaid for volunteer role. It’s hours of training.

I used to volunteer but had a bad experience that really put me off. There was no appreciation for what I did, just constantly trying to pile more and more onto me. I quit in the end as it was a thankless task.

It's interesting that many posters have said they don't agree with volunteering because it should be a paid role. And yet charities are constantly critisied for "wasting money on admin". As a charity you just can't win!

I was about to make the very same point. People seem to expect charities to give away every penny that's donated to them. And there've been threads on here where people have talked about refusing to donate to charities who spend (in their eyes) 'too much' in admin etc. Well that admin proportion pays people's wages. And the only way to keep them down is to have volunteers doing a lot of the work.

A lot of people volunteering on here have complained about how it costs them money. The organisation I volunteer for encourages its volunteers to claim for all expenses. Which is thoughtful and good of them as our volunteering requires a car and petrol use. But some people will look at our accounts and complain that not all our money goes straight to service users.

Likewise all those complaining about having to undergo training, would probably be horrified if there was a safeguarding our health and safety issue that affected a service user at another charity.

Volunteering with the vulnerable or the young, or where handling money is concerned, cannot be treated casually. Charities are valid to the same (often higher) standards as any other employer or company. All those who work, paid or unpaid, in their name, have to act properly, safely, and professionally. And that needs training.

This is where the complexity of the ethics of charity often comes.

Lots of people wouldn't want someone working with their own children if they had a criminal history for say sexual assault, or their food to be made by people without a basic knowledge of food hygiene. They would complain if an adult didn't raise the right safeguarding for their child, If they were playing in an unsafe environment and their data breached.

However when volunteering often complain about risk assessments, food hygiene, dbs, mandatory training as unnecessary bureaucracy

It's a sore point of mine as someone that works in underdeprived areas where people think that others children are not deserving of the safeguards their own children are given simply because those children are in less fortunate circumstances.

When I worked abroad, I'd have to frequently explain that if a hospital/ orphanage/ school doesn't allow tours in your country then there's no reason why they should abroad. People would assume just because its Africa that simply by merit of their skin colour they should be able to spend a week teaching despite having no experience , or do a day visit to a children's home.

It's a real show of some uncomfortable thought processes