Does anyone do charity/volunteer work?
Discussion
I saw a rather thought provoking programme & it's reignited my ambitions for getting involved & practically helping out those in far more difficult situations than my own...
Any chaps & chapette's doing any charity/volunteer work at the mo? Would love to know any tips in getting involved a bit more.
Alas I'm very much restricted to the South East with only 2hrs an evening to spare if I'm lucky & maybe a few hrs over the weekends.
Admittedly, I wish it was 14 day week rather than a 7 day week, then I could at least spend half of the "week" doing the volunteer work I want to do, with the other half spent doing what I do now & earning the money required to keep things ticking over
But alas, what can you do?!
Any chaps & chapette's doing any charity/volunteer work at the mo? Would love to know any tips in getting involved a bit more.
Alas I'm very much restricted to the South East with only 2hrs an evening to spare if I'm lucky & maybe a few hrs over the weekends.
Admittedly, I wish it was 14 day week rather than a 7 day week, then I could at least spend half of the "week" doing the volunteer work I want to do, with the other half spent doing what I do now & earning the money required to keep things ticking over
But alas, what can you do?!My business reguarly sends off computer parts that do not sell well over here (such as CRT monitors) to charitys where they are invaluable (such as Computers for Africa)
Even small things like the above where its not directly helping are still a lifeline for charitys, without the computers coming in for africa...no matter how many helpers they have, what would be the point?
Once my business is going strong and I could trust it to keep going should I go AWOL then I will be going out to africa or similar to hopefully do a few years charity work (probably just a 6 months stretch first to check I like it!)
Getting involved could be anything from volenteering your skills for free (such as our IT skills) or just taking one day out every few months to organise some sort of charity day.
Even small things like the above where its not directly helping are still a lifeline for charitys, without the computers coming in for africa...no matter how many helpers they have, what would be the point?
Once my business is going strong and I could trust it to keep going should I go AWOL then I will be going out to africa or similar to hopefully do a few years charity work (probably just a 6 months stretch first to check I like it!)
Getting involved could be anything from volenteering your skills for free (such as our IT skills) or just taking one day out every few months to organise some sort of charity day.
Edited by ymwoods on Wednesday 10th March 00:00
Edited by ymwoods on Wednesday 10th March 00:01
forsure said:
There are loads of fantastic opportunities on there.I work for a charity, volunteer for a local animal charity helping with fundraising/proactive/inter-agency work, and I'm hoping that if my workload calms down a little I might be able to take on a mentoring role for recovering drug addicts and adults freshly released from prison.
Yes maybe I should get a life, but I love what I do and as long as I keep a day a week free to catch up with friends and go out on the town etc I'm happy to spend the rest of my waking hours working.
I guess being able to spend my time as I like is the advantage of not pursuing committed relationships!
Edited by Wigeon Incognito on Wednesday 10th March 00:18
k feels like it some times.ymwoods said:
bigTee said:
Do about 4 events a year, last one was this weekend.....
What kind of events do you do?One before was a Zombie Walk.
I'm not a volunteer but I have worked in the Not For Profit sector.
OP, I think it's important for volunteers to work for an organisation they feel connected with, be it conservation, buildings, animals or people.
It's important because volunteers still need training and organisations lose a lot of good volunteers as it's hard to maintain their motivation if they're not particularly interested.
Secondly use a skill you have and maybe want to develop (eg we used to have music graduates running weekly music sessions for people with learning disabilities) this way you've got something relevant to perhaps your line of work or your hobby. We also had accountants, IT professionals and gardners who helped some of our individual services.
This way the volunteer not only gets the emotional rewards but a useful way to develop a CV.
Good luck - there are lots of really interesting volunteer opportunities out there.
OP, I think it's important for volunteers to work for an organisation they feel connected with, be it conservation, buildings, animals or people.
It's important because volunteers still need training and organisations lose a lot of good volunteers as it's hard to maintain their motivation if they're not particularly interested.
Secondly use a skill you have and maybe want to develop (eg we used to have music graduates running weekly music sessions for people with learning disabilities) this way you've got something relevant to perhaps your line of work or your hobby. We also had accountants, IT professionals and gardners who helped some of our individual services.
This way the volunteer not only gets the emotional rewards but a useful way to develop a CV.
Good luck - there are lots of really interesting volunteer opportunities out there.
Edited by parakitaMol. on Wednesday 10th March 08:48
I've been volunteering for the past 9 months on a project called Big Buddy, a mentoring scheme. Kids aged betweeen 8 and 12 are referred to BB if they feel that the kid would benefit from some one-to-one time. This may be because they have disabled siblings so don't get as much attention at home, it may be because of getting in with the wrong crowd; it could be a variety of reasons.
I've been mentoring a boy, who has just turned 12. We should meet up at least twice per month for at least 2 hrs, but we usually meet up a bit more frequently than that.
We have to set goals with the buddy so that they can achieve something from the project and we get a £25 budget per month on expenses. One of my buddy's goals was to be able to tie his own shoelaces, and when he achieved that we went bowling.
Some of the things we have done are cooking, badminton, driving range, ice skating and the cinema. Other times we just pop to the library and write up our scrapbook and go on the internet.
It's been great fun and I hope my buddy has gotten something out of it too.
I've been mentoring a boy, who has just turned 12. We should meet up at least twice per month for at least 2 hrs, but we usually meet up a bit more frequently than that.
We have to set goals with the buddy so that they can achieve something from the project and we get a £25 budget per month on expenses. One of my buddy's goals was to be able to tie his own shoelaces, and when he achieved that we went bowling.
Some of the things we have done are cooking, badminton, driving range, ice skating and the cinema. Other times we just pop to the library and write up our scrapbook and go on the internet.
It's been great fun and I hope my buddy has gotten something out of it too.
I'm a board member of a national volunteering charity.
I'd recommend volunteering to anyone. The benefits are huge! Self esteem, a feeling of a job well done, developing new skills, massively enhancing employability... you can't lose!
And by and large you can do as much or as little as you like.
I'd recommend volunteering to anyone. The benefits are huge! Self esteem, a feeling of a job well done, developing new skills, massively enhancing employability... you can't lose!
And by and large you can do as much or as little as you like.
johnvthe2nd said:
I've been a volunteer helper with the British Disabled Waterski Assoc for many years, at Heron Lake in Staines, we're always on the look out for like minded individuals to help with all aspects (new member recruitment and fund raising being this year's priority ..)
Fantastic!! Something close to my heart. We have a very unusual connection there.
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