Why did you leave a volunteering job?

[FedUpVolunteer]

I’ve been volunteering in charity shops for about eight years and have had a new manager about once a year on average. I’ve recently started to resent the constant changes and having to get used to a new person’s different take on the job. I’m aware this is a me problem - the things that irritate me are quite small - but at bottom I feel unappreciated.

So I’m wondering, why have other people left volunteering jobs?

Too high expectations. People managing the work forget that it's unpaid. There are never enough hands and you are most appreciated if you don't set boundries.

Being blamed when something I was helping a paid employee do went wrong. When it was their job, their responsibility and actually their fault

There are lots of other types of volunteering you could do.

If you want to volunteer for your own benefit (to give yourself focus, routine, sense of purpose) or for the benefit of others (to give back, sense of duty) - you can find something that makes you feel appreciated and enjoy it. Rather than stopping volunteering full stop.

I ultimately left mine because I went back to work and did not have the time.

My mum left a volunteering role when they started being much stricter about security. Not that it wasn't justified, but she didn't want to submit a DNA sample and have her passport recorded. She felt it was too intrusive so she chose to leave instead.

I left because the manager was treating volunteer staff like paid employee's. She was expecting me to train new starters and was just expecting more and more from volunteers.
It all started well, but I can see why so many had left before me.

Where was she volunteering for?! 😂😂

Thank you for your reply but I wasn’t asking for advice on finding another volunteering job.

Too many volunteers who constantly think they deserve a medal and expect the world to revolve around them.
Either give your time for the benefit of the organisation or don’t.

This is a talk forum, people are allowed to discuss things. That’s how it works. It’s not ChatGPT.

If the managers are also volunteers then it might be that they have decided to do something else.

I have left two volunteering roles. One because it required a certain level of regular commitment and I wanted to travel so couldn't make the commitment again. Another because my heart wasn't in it anymore. I couldn't pinpoint exactly why, but I had been doing it for a few years and lost my motivation.

That wasn’t a discussion. It was a lecture. Bit like your lecture about what mumsnet is. Bore off.

@FedUpVolunteer hehe - they're all out today. It's too early for the Aldi car park 😁

I saw a volunteer admin role for a few hours a month. This had no contact with the general public, or would it have been privy to anything of a sensitive nature. I then started to read the application form; they wanted not only a CV and cover letter, but their own application form that was pages long, as well as 3 references up front. I just wasn’t willing to spend hours on the application, or have my references bothered for a volunteer role that I may not even get - it really was overkill.

I volunteered at the RSPB and quite enjoyed it but ended up getting paid work part time instead.

Yes, I’m suffering from lack of motivation and can’t quite work out why. The only thing I can think of is lots of petty rules and each manager has different ones, plus the general area I work in seems to be being sidelined.

You seem easily irritated on here, so it makes sense that you got irritated with your managers. I have been exasperated in my volunteering roles but not to the point of leaving, because they were brilliant organisations. The worst thing was being left hanging around with nothing to do for long periods because unpaid.

Do you often react like this? You seem quick to anger and also condescending. Perhaps this might be something to do with the high turnover.

Also, I did give my opinion on your actual question.

I was treasurer of the local village hall, my background is in finance, we found it very difficult to recruit new trustees but someone did. The woman in question was a complete nightmare and by the second meeting she attended, was the chairman and she brought along a group of her minions, merely to vote in her suggestions. She crossed the line a few times with me and was expecting me to spend all my time applying for grants to pay for her grandiose ideas, a year later all the trustees have left and her and her minions have complete control.

I'm thinking of leaving my volunteer role at the moment, because they often don't have enough for me to do. I want to help them but if they don't need me then I have plenty of other things I could be doing. I think some charities want volunteers but then don't know what to do with them when they're only there a few hours a week. I feel like they are trying to find stuff for me but I don't need that.

I talked to a local organisation recently about a volunteer role - an accounting role, which they approached me about.

The previous volunteer had made it his life , and expanded his role to the point he was putting in 3 days per week, unpaid, so they could let their paid employee go.

I refused the role; they were upset as they saw it as a great opportunity for me to add to my cv. I am 65.

I may seem easily irritated to you but several people have liked my posts so I’m not the only one. The rules that annoy me are often imposed by head office rather than individual managers.

A small team of us had a specialist volunteer role, loads of expensive training, PPE etc. We divided the tasks so we each did a couple of evenings. One person, R, with rather more time on their hands started doing the task every day, so we'd turn up and be told we weren't needed. The person overseeing us had a word with R and we thought it was sorted. Next time I arrived I was told the task had been done by R. I mentioned it to the overseer but got no support, so I stopped.

Hah!

I have agreed with you too, whilst noting that you've been huffy with other people on the thread.

I’m irritated with you as well, now.