Why Volunteer?

Why not?

If you have some spare time and a hobby or interest then you can probably find something to volunteer for.  And before you start burbling on about the “type” of person who volunteers may I assure you that there is no “type”. All sorts of people  offer their time to do all sorts of things.  I’m sure that most of the people who know me wouldn’t have put me down as a volunteer but I am and it’s interesting (otherwise I wouldn’t do it) and I am getting something out of it as well on a personal level (otherwise I wouldn’t do it).

It only your job you do even when you don’t like it, because you have to.

For The Doubters

I sense that you are still not convinced.

Let me tell you about my brother-in-law and what his volunteering involves.  In the latter part of 2010 he will be spending around three weeks in the Caribbean scuba diving as a volunteer.

He dives for fun anyway and there’s a project to monitor the health of various reefs in the Caribbean. Add one to the other. How cool is that! He’s a volunteer.

He’s not expecting a 5* hotel or a limousine to transport him to the waiting yacht everyday and probably wont get them.  But almost a month’s diving in the Caribbean!!!

When he goes I expect him to keep me posted and I hope to create a page about the project and his experiences so come back at the end of 2010 and see what happened.

How To Volunteer.

At this point I will become serious and boring for a moment. Out there in the world there are thieves, rogues and vagabonds who are after you money or belongings. So if your voluntary work involves handing over cash, credit card details or your car keys then walk away and mention it to the police.

Enough of that.

What I did was I used Google and found the do-it.org site which seems to be a very good site for entering your criteria of where, doing what, etc and then it giving you a list of things in the area you entered.  You can also set it up so that it will email you with updates and new stuff. That’s were I found what I’m doing now.

Why am I being secretive about what I do?  So I don’t caus anty embaressment to anyone who I work with - after all it’s enough for some people’s nerves that I’m involved in the first place.

You can also look at the websites of the major and local charities as most of them have a page of volunteering opportunities and contact details. 

Don’t forget, being a volunteer could mean that you try your hand at fund-raising rather than working with people.  so if you bake a mean sandwich cake you can do what you enjoy and do best and still be helping out.  And it’s not just people, animals, the countryside and  old buildings need volunteers as well. Clean a canal one weekend, you may enjoy it.