Easy and impactful ways to volunteer
Easy and impactful ways to volunteer
“Volunteering is at the very core of being a human. No one has made it through life without someone else’s help” - Heather French Henry
As someone working in the charity sector, I get asked to volunteer in one way or another almost every day. I have mixed feelings about this, because I am a huge supporter of volunteering, of people using their skills and experience for good, but there are times when it doesn’t feel good, for example when it feels like people are taking advantage of your good nature, or making you feel guilty for not having the time to do what they believe you should be doing. So I’ve had to find ways to manage people’s expectations of how much time (and energy) I really have left over to give for free when working full-time with a young family, as well as my own frustrations about there never being enough time in week to fit everything in.
Formal vs. informal volunteering
A lot of volunteering goes unnoticed too. Informal volunteering can include all those little tasks we do, the times we go over and above, the small acts of kindness that make someone’s day.
This could include caring for someone, doing some shopping for a neighbour, or helping at the school fayre.
Unlike formal volunteering, for which you may have received some training, or been supervised in carrying out. This is more likely to be for a local club or charitable organisation, where you have agreed to give a certain amount of time, or to provide a particular skill, whether at an event, or in the service they provide.
For example, I get asked to be on committees almost weekly (formal volunteering). I rarely say yes to this, as my priorities around my work, my family and my existing voluntary commitments would mean I was spread too thin. Yet no one sees the regular litter picking I do on our local streets (informal volunteering), or the help to other parents unable to pick up their child from school, or the pro bono work I do for community groups (formal volunteering).
For access to the training and templates I set a low-cost fee, but this goes towards covering website costs and hosting. The many hours I spend writing and creating is entirely voluntary.
Why volunteer?
An estimated 14.2m people in the UK volunteered through a group, club or organisation at least once last year. (UK Civil Society Almanac 2023)
So, why do people volunteer?
Of course there are many genuine and altruistic reasons a person may volunteer, but there are also tangible benefits to gain from it:
The opportunity to gain or strengthen new skills
Work experience that may help with a future job application
Evidence that you’ve been placed in a position of trust
Knowing that you are improving the lives of others
Being on the right side of positive change
Being able to see the difference you can make in your community
Paying it forward by turning a negative experience into a way to help others
Ways to volunteer
We can fit most volunteering into one of two categories: time and skills.
However, most of us are shorter on time and greater in skills than we would care to admit.
So how do we balance the need for our time and skills with our motivation to do some good?
In my earlier post (see below), I wrote about giving your time and using your skills for good to contribute towards positive change.
Some things to think about:
You can volunteer:
in-person or online
on your own or in a group
within your community
in hospitals, schools, shops & cafés
at community clean-up meetups (find them on Facebook)
directly with a charity you’d love to support - most will have a page explaining how you can help
18 volunteering examples
marshalling a sponsored run
cleaning out an animal shelter
reading to children in schools
befriending elderly neighbours
mentoring people going for a job interview
training in first aid
joining the mountain rescue team
befriending the elderly, the lonely, or those facing illness
helping your local community
picking up litter
planting trees
cleaning in church
giving a number of hours of your work for free (pro bono) whether you’re a carpenter, counsellor, accountant or musician
delivering meals through a scheme such as Meals on Wheels
driving people to hospital appointments
beach cleaning
as a Scout of Youth Club leader
in your local library
The right volunteering opportunity for you
Here are five questions that might help you find the right volunteering opportunity, and say no to something that’s not right for you.
Which charity or cause do you feel strongly about, or have a personal connection to?
What are the skills and experiences you have, that could be useful to that cause?
What is your reason or motivation for wanting to volunteer?
How much time do you have available to volunteer?
What type of volunteer opportunity would best suit you? Formal or informal, in-person or online, regular or one-off?
But don’t forget…if the idea of volunteering feels like more than you can take on right now, you’re probably already doing enough.
Volunteering resources in the UK
Use the following resources to help you find the right opportunity, or to forward on to a friend.
NAVCA: The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action.
NCVO has a list of Volunteer Centres.
You can find more volunteering opportunities across the UK on the gov.uk website.
You might find the following free online courses useful:
Let me know about your experiences volunteering in the comments below.
Rachel