Elizabeth Mountford describes her experiences as a long-time volunteer, and the different perspectives and relationships that form between volunteers and their paid managers. Let us know about your experiences of volunteering below.
Elizabeth Mountford
Volunteering: the nature of the beast
Posted on: Mon 13-Jul-15 11:37:23
(19 comments )
Recently, circumstances have given me pause for thought about volunteering. For one thing, as the Women's Institute celebrated its centenary, I celebrated my second anniversary as a volunteer in my local hospital and I am thankful that I have skills which can be put to use in that context. Volunteering is a time-honoured arm for the need for service, sometimes ad hoc, sometimes permanent. I see it, amongst other things, as a back up for paid professionals who simply haven't time enough to do all a situation requires. There are probably two streams: one that uses the volunteers' professional skills directly, say when nurses go, temporarily, into an area where there is a severe outbreak of disease to do their usual work, and the other where the skills may well be professional but are no longer used in gainful employment, or are factored in for use when there is free time. In that case, the volunteering is often open-ended and can continue ad infinitum.
When I was in paid employment, one of my duties was to train and supervise volunteers who worked with the public in what has come to be called 'the helping professions'. They were a mix of people still gainfully employed and those who had retired or had no need to earn. All of them were happy to give time where they felt they could offer something valuable enough, where there was a need. A conclusion we came to which was incontrovertible, was that what they were doing was a professional job but without pay. Today, I still see that as the foundation of the phenomenon. However, there is a vital difference between that sort of professionalism and the paid sort: volunteers, being without monetary recompense, have a different relationship with the paid staff who manage them - if any. While the volunteer must give of her/his utmost, the management should bear in mind that the usual strictures and sanctions on paid workers may not be equally appropriate for volunteers.
The corps of people available to volunteer year after year after year is inevitably largely made up of those who have retired - often of the generation who took this need for service for granted.
The corps of people available to volunteer year after year after year is inevitably largely made up of those who have retired - often of the generation who took this need for service for granted. They may have had mothers who rolled bandages during the war or who made sandwiches for refugees created by the bombing and destruction. If I were able to state a viable demographic, it would probably emerge as a picture of a middle to late-aged woman or man with a certain level of education and, possibly, time, though they wouldn’t necessarily be cash rich. This would fly in the face of the need for diversity and equal opportunities, essential elements in the world of today. But wait a minute… Is this absolutely the case? Of course, if we keep the age, level of education and possible freedom from the need to earn, diversity and equal opportunities can easily be accommodated. Where there could be problems is where the diverse and equal do not have a history of volunteering and are also youngish and on a possible career path with a CV to consider. I believe that the foundation stone of 'professional' volunteering is long-term dedication and the gift of experience. I know, I know, it does sound like a band from the much-misunderstood Women’s Institute. Misunderstood because what they actually do is based on caring and compassion, experience and a belief in the duty to give back to society. It is in no way just 'jam and Jerusalem'. This kind of volunteer can work for as long as they and their marbles, can handle it. The young will be short-term, moving on to find a way to earn a living and add to the store of experience - or the humdrum - in the outside world. Volunteers must act professionally. Professional managers should manage them as volunteers.