To think some charity shop volunteers are exploited and should be paid?

[34degreesburningbees]

There's a young man with autism at my local (chain) charity shop and he works so hard - harder than I ever did when I worked in retail. He sees it as his full time job and they work him like it is one.

He has been there for years. It seems a bit, idk, exploitative.

AIBU?

I worked in the public sector, in a management role before I retired many years ago. I have done all sorts of work on a voluntary basis, Samaritans, treasurer for a local forum, board member for a housing management trust, and charity shop worker for the last ten years.

I enjoy it. I certainly don’t need to improve my CV, in fact I have helped a couple of younger volunteers with theirs. Not all charities or their shops operate in the same way, some of the opinions here are very far from my experience. If I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t. I’m certainly not exploited.

For some volunteers it’s about having company. Our managers supply snacks and drinks, some volunteers on low incomes appreciate those. For me, at 80, it’s about keeping active, and having purpose.

If we consider that the salary of the Oxfam’s head is slightly less than what they would pay for 5 x full time employees on a minimum salary, suddenly paying £120k for a.CEO who will be overseeing the retail operation of hundreds of shops PLUS many development projects abroad seems actually like very little money…