Volunteering ideas

[Susie]

I'd quite like to volunteer somewhere for about one morning/ 4 hours a week. Does anyone have any ideas of things I could investigate? I know a lot of places want you to commit to more, but realistically I can't, so that rules out things like charity shops etc. I'm good at things like financial management/ business planning/ fundraising (God help me ), but I'd rather do something hands on, with contact with people. I'd quite like to do the CAB, but I'm pretty sure they'd want more of a time commitment (I volunteered in the past and they did then).

Thanks in advance for any ideas! x

[fran]

Hi Susie, what about volunteering at your local adult community college to help adults learn to read and write. Or another idea, Toe By Toe is a reading programme in prisons and the scheme is always looking for facilitators (google The Shannon Trust)

As an adult literacy teacher I know how much volunteers are appreciated and we have several who help learners with the one to one help they desperately need.

[crowsashes]

check out the jobcentre web site - you can search in your area and a fair few places only want 4 hours plus a week some do just the odd day ( woodland trust) where they get loads of volunteers to repair fences, clear rubbish etc charity shops can take you on one morning a week too and are usually really grateful!

but i do recommend the job centre site for a start/heads up on whats wanted / available

[John Headstrong]

try http://www.cam-volunteer.org.uk/

most areas will have a volunteer centre of some sort, they go by different names in different areas but all do roughly the same thing.

[Susie]

Ooh,thank you very much! Great ideas, just what I was looking for. I'll investigate further. I never thought about adult literacy - that sounds interesting.

[Thomzo]

You are good. I did some voluntary work for the National Trust recently. They didn't seem to mind that I could only do half a day a fortnight. I had to give up when I went back to work but they were still really grateful for what I had done.

Zoe

[oldjerry]

Samaritans.

[homegrown]

if your on ish then you most likely know something about gardening, what about helping your locakl school set up a veg patch, thats what i'm hoping to do at my sons school this year.

[boboff]

All schools need "community" governors. All schools have a finance commitee, and have opportunities to get grants etc. Sounds like you would be absolutley ideal for this role. Primary schools are being asked to do allot more than before and allot of the heads just don't have the right support.

Its not 4 hours a week either, proabably more like 1 at the most, with a 2 hour meeting every 8 weeks, but this changes depending on what you do.

I do it, and really enjoy it, and more interestingly I feel that I make a difference to the school.

[Russian Doll]

move to esssex and help me lol

on a serious note have a chat with your local council..they normally have a volenteer database..also if you go throught them you can get crb checks etc done

[Mrs H]

if your on ish then you most likely know something about gardening, what about helping your locakl school set up a veg patch, thats what i'm hoping to do at my sons school this year.

Must be something in the air!!! That's what hubbie and I are about to take on and are really looking forward to it.
Another volunteering idea Susie is the PDSA. We couldn't have survived without them recently. They are a charity vets and provide veterinary care if you are on benefits and you just hav to make a donation. They hav been invaluable and I'm certainly going to do some stuff for them as a way to say thanks. Xx

[Susie]

Thanks everyone for the fantastic ideas. I'm having a bit of a moral dilemma, because on the one hand I have quite a lot of charity management experience and would probably be quite helpful on someone's board. On the other, I did not have a good time getting that experience and I'm not sure I can go back there emotionally, indeed if I ever had to attend another board meeting I might have a traumatic flashback and try to strangle someone under Any Other Business. It might happen.

Unfortunately I'm actually a bit rubbish at gardening, although I could certainly do something like that if someone else told me what to do - I'm going to look into National Trust stuff, thanks Zoe. I also found somewhere something about Age Concern wanting people to visit old people for an hour a week - this sounds like something I could definitely commit to, so I might give them a ring and start off with this, then see if I have time to do anything else. I'm definitely interested in adult literacy, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding someone to contact so I'll keep googling.

Thanks again, everyone, much appreciated .

[Susiwaa]

What about helping with a Rainbow/Brownie/Guide unit?

Girlguiding are always after people to help, even on an occassional basis. AND people with finance skills are often needed to help with unit accounts. You can do as little or as much as suits your lifestyle.

If you went for helping at a unit then you get to have great fun with the girls too!! If not, you would be supporting people to do that by helping with the finances or the fundraising.



Susi

[fran]

Hi Susie,

Did a bit of googling for you :

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/educat ... _learn.htm

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisur ... unteer.htm

Looks like the library might be a good place to start as further reading shows that they deliver adult literacy lessons and use volunteers to help.

[Susie]

Brilliant, thanks Fran. I'll have a look!