Vounteering, what works well for you?

I just used to turn up, run my groups and go home again. I didn't expect much in the way of gratitude or further involvement. I did that for almost 15 years.
I now have an interview for a 'ward volunteer' post. I'm sure that existing staff will resent volunteers and that I'll be the lowest of the low but if I focus on what I'm supposed to do, which is to help and support patients who don't have visitors, I'll be OK.
Don't expect too much and you'll probably be fine.

I don't expect red carpets of gushing gratitude! It's a strange area. I think as the world is getting faster and faster, gentle and kind seems to be overtaken by targets and dare I say it a lack of manners.

I was very put off by the attitude that my time didn’t matter, the times I went along to help at my Granddaughters school only realise that the teacher I was supposed to be helping with gardening club was either in a meeting or just cancelled for another reason. No one ever thought to let me know I had to find someone to ask as even the staff had no clue who I was or why I was wandering around.

I volunteer for the Alzheimer's Society and my experience with them is brilliant.

Dh volunteers for RVS and his experience is good too.

I have had awful experiences and not stayed in those roles. I think it depends on the management to a large extent.

Part of why I volunteer is for me so it must be positive.

I volunteer at our local hospital and so far everyone I have come into contact with has been very friendly. They all seem very glad to have some help with things that they don't have time to do themselves.

Years ago I volunteered (via Age Concern I think) to visit an old lady who was housebound and had a carer. The first visit went really well and as she lived near by I was happy with the arrangement. However, the next time I visited, the carer answered the door and said the old lady felt that as she had a carer she didn't have time to spend with me!
My family thought it was hilarious that a, supposedly, lonely old lady would rather be lonely than have me chat to her.
Personally I decided that the carer was jealous of me chatting to 'her' old lady.

I was a volunteer home visitor for my local Age UK for 10 years. It was a marvellous job for me as I cannot commit to a specific day or time each week. AUK, would email me to ask if I could take on a client and sent me the papers if I could, I then contacted the client and arranged a mutually convenient day to visit. It was wonderfully varied work, I got benefits sorted out for 100s of older people leaving them better off and met lots of nice people. We had quarterly team meetings to keep us up to date and meet others in the team. Unfortunately, after 10 years funding ran out and the scheme ended.

Since then I have tried a number of other volunteer jobs, but they all want me to commit to a regular day a week, which I really cannot do. I did find another charity running a similar scheme, I will not name and shame. They had an immensely complex and arcane computer system that I could not get to run properly on my pc, the local organisers commiserated with me for the problem, but did nothing to help me sort it out and their HQ was no better. I struggled to deal with clients because everything had to be done elctronically, nothing else was acceptable and I often couldn't access the system for weeks on end. After a year I gave up and resigned and I have been looking, but have not found anything suitable since.

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My best experience of volunteering is when I have set something up myself e.g. a lunch club, book club, walking netball group, croquet club. I am looking for something now but I am thinking of telephone line support.

I've done a few volunteer jobs.

Main one I loved was teaching 50+ how to use their laptops. 4 at a time / 2 hours a week for 6 week. They were always a lovely bunch and so appreciative being taught by someone their own age.

One volunteer job I would not recommend is being a school governor. I've done it at two schools. Considering the pressure that is put on you, there is little respect for the work you do. I did meet some lovely teachers in this work though who appreciated me being in the school. Lack of respect came from management. You are expected to know a huge amount about the school (which involves a massive amount of time).

I work in the RVS (previously WRVS) tea bar at our local hospital, its in the Outpatients waiting room. Its a set day of the week, but if you can't make it they are very accommodating and arrange cover for you with no silly questions or complaints.
Its 4 hrs at a time, but I've had to stop for the moment because I broke my back 6 months ago and cannot stand up for so long. There is no space behind the counter for a stool. But if you can stand up for 4 hrs non-stop its a really fun job. They also provide a trolley service around the wards.
Get in touch with RVS from Google etc.

I was a Samaritan for 20 years. It wasn’t fun, obviously but I was in a lovely team. The training was interesting but tough. It has to be really.
I only gave up because my new DH didn’t like me coming home late at night when I finished my stint. Understandable I suppose. It was very rewarding but not for me now.
Church is looking for help at their coffee mornings and I am thinking about that. It’s only across the road as well.

My apologies. I am in a bit of a dither, I haven’t answered your question properly.
We were valued and it certainly mattered about being there. It’s important that you are committed and understand that you are responsible for providing a valuable service.
The training is excellent and combined with experience could lead to a career change, if you are looking for one. I loved it, but my resistance started to wear down and I was newly married and had a new life.