Volunteering
Volunteering is taking part in the organisations and processes that support our civilised society and way of life, so it is important to society that people want to volunteer. It includes both formal and informal activities across a wide range of tasks and skills. It includes work with public, private and charitable organisations as well as just taking part as an individual. Organisations who need volunteers usually either support people through providing services, or they are groups campaigning on issues. Or both. People volunteer because they have a skill or ability or experience they wish to share, or they wish to acquire additional skills and experience, perhaps to help them get promotion to a more management role.
Recognising volunteering as a powerful force for change, both on a personal level and for the benefit of society at large, many employers will support their staff who wish to volunteer through various initiatives, so ask your personnel section if they have any.
Volunteering England is an organisation which promotes volunteering and provides guidance and support to both employers and volunteers.
Most charitable organisations could not survive without an army of volunteers as they could not afford the full time staff in the numbers they would need to meet their needs. Public bodies such as schools and primary care trusts also need volunteers with management experience to help them manage their organisations and provide fresh viewpoints and experience. Many of them recognise the value that volunteers bring to them and recognise that the volunteer should not be out of pocket, so they usually pay travelling and other expenses.
If you are interested in helping an organisation and want to volunteer, contact them and say you are interested in volunteering and getting involved. They may have special events for volunteers where you can meet other volunteers as well as the organisations full time staff, socialise and also learn more about the organisation. There may be an interview before you are accepted but it is usually an informal one. For some types of work such as working with children or people who are ill, the law may require a more formal interview and identity/criminal record checks before you can be accepted. After acceptance you may be offered a training course to prepare you for your volunteering activities with them.
You could prepare for your interview by thinking about how you would answer the most common questions they will ask you. Those are:
Why do you want to volunteer?
What sort of work are you interested in?
What skills can you bring with you to the organisation?
What new skills do you want to learn through volunteering? and
How much time and commitment can you give?
The common questions would-be volunteers ask back are:
What expenses are paid?
What are the opportunities for training and qualifications?
What variety of work will they offer you?
What support and supervision will you received? and
How will volunteering affect your pay or benefits?
Make sure you identify from the outset what commitment you can comfortably give, and what you want to get out of this for yourself. Agree those with the organisations you help.
If you are interested in volunteering for gay and lesbian organisations, the first point of call can be London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard or your local gay switchboard.
The Horses Mouth is an online chat room where volunteers and organisations can introduce themselves to each other and support themselves.
Older persons thinking of volunteering can contact two organisations who specialise in matching mature volunteers to activities which need and value their maturity. They are
Reach on 020 7928 0452 and
RSVP on 020 7278 6601.
There are always opportunities for mature persons.
Volunteering England has an article indicating how welcome gay and lesbian volunteers are, and giving advice to organisations for helping gay and lesbian volunteers to take part and reach their goals. Organisations should review their procedures to make sure they are gay and lesbian friendly, advertise in the gay press, support and value the gay community, and include positive (but not necesarily identified as such) images of gay and lesbian people in their publicity.
Welcoming gay and lesbian volunteers
Other organisations and web sites of interest to potential volunteers are:
Volunteers’ Week (1 to 7 June)
Revised and links checked 11 December 2008
