Volunteering shouldn't be this hard, surely?

Oxfam shop need volunteers. National trust always need volunteers

You would never be bored if you joined your local u3a. I am on the Committee of ours so very involved with the running of it too, but for ordinary members, there are Speaker meetings, Outings and special Interest groups - eg walking groups, language groups, Philosophy, History, Canasta, Scrabble etc. You can do as much or as little as you like. I never have time to be bored, in fact I wonder now how I ever had time to work!
Good luck with finding something that suits!

I used to volunteer with WRVS. I took clients to hospital appointments and the elderly for shopping .The shopping was regularly but the Hosp Apps tended to be more random. If you have a local branch it's worth giving them a call. They are very flexible.

What about phone work from home for The good neighbour scheme

It costs a lot to recruit and administer volunteers , if you volunteer at a hospital there is a lot of training you have to do for example, which costs and that you have to do so you understand all the policies . If the role is one that needs doing every weekday not just it's a nice extra, the hospital needs to know you can make a commitment, they do get that there will be times when you are away, or unwell, so on top of not being regular you will also be away occasionally because of stuff like that. And so far away I'm not surprised that unless you have a rare skill they would be reluctant to pay the extra expenses. 10 miles @ 50 p a mile each way would be a tenner, at 28 miles away that would be an extra 14 quid, you'd get free parking plus probably a token meal voucher if you were there the whole day.
There is an amazing range of volunteer roles, in an event to present long service awards to volunteers I was sitting next to lady who had volunteered for 30 years helping people who needed help to learn about camouflage make up, for people who needed help, eg because they had vitiligo.
It's got to be the right role for the organisation and for you.
If you can do bookkeeping or accounts there are many organisations that need a treasurer, most of this could be done in your own time, if you were a trustee you would need to commit to some meetings as well. We don't know what you talents are and what sort of volunteering you. But as someone who has volunteered for years and been involved with the administration of volunteers I know a bit about it
There are always adhoc volunteering opportunities, for example locally the rotary club is after volunteers to do a stunt on their Santa sledge at the local supermarket. There are a lot of drop instructions locally and they can always have an extra volunteer for.making tea or washing up. Local historical.or.family history societies often have indexing and transcription projects which again can be done in your own time. Our community bus operates on volunteer drivers and administrators.
Register with your local volunteer services in your own town, the fact that you are willing to travel may mean there is a wider range of places you could go than someone who is reliant on the bus after 9.30

Fundraising from holding a bucket to writing a funding bid to search for funding to giving talks presenting there is lots as when thing to do .

Our local library has a register with all the local companies that are looking for volunteers - so many different organizations advertise in it

Before Covid I had spent many years offering my professional services to two specialist counselling organizations for one day a week, half a day each. I worked on a paid basis on the other four days for three other organizations. Apart from my annual holidays I prioritized my work both voluntary and paid. Odd days of volunteering do not really work if people are depending on you being there for them. If you are serious about volunteering and not just filling in the hours when you are 'bored silly' perhaps you need to rethink how you want the future to look for you? If you can make the organization more important than you are then go for it. If not then perhaps this is just not the right time for you to consider voluntary work.

How about your local library? Ours is run by volunteers and we don’t require anything like that sort of commitment

My Husband volunteers for the National Trust and they seem very grateful for any time you can offer. I volunteer for our local Hospisce and again they are happy with what you can give. I think a lot of these places are very short of volunteers.

'Volunteering' is quite a competitive field! I'm afraid your desire to help out when you feel like it but with no commitment isn't going to put you top of the list!

I used to volunteer at the Citizens Advice Bureau. Very flexible hours amongst their bank of volunteers.

I volunteer for the National Trust and there are loads of opportunities depending on your interest.I also help out at our local Tourist Information which is volunteer run.

I volunteer with an organisation in Bristol. I work with clients one to one. Once I have been allocated a client I arrange my time directly with them so it is very flexible. I try to keep to a set day & time but I can still take holidays when I like or make alternative arrangements when needed. Keep looking for something that suits you, maybe a befriending /home visit role would work rather than roles that are fixed to a rota.

That’s the reason after 7 years I stopped volunteering. Found I was treated as if I was a paid member of staff without the money,

I applied to the Independent Monitoring Board of my local prison. Each board has a limited number of members and are expected to do at least 4 days per month. We offer available days for a rota, which is drawn up every 2 months.
Look out for HMP independent monitoring board , or go to ministry of justice . You are required to be within 25miles of prison as could be called at night ( on your day) in an incident, to observe . Role is to monitor how the prison treats prisoners and staff and try to answer prisoner queries and complaints..all in the interest of fairness and decency for all. We do a yearly report to Minister of justice. Not too onerous and keeps brain ticking if you have retired from a demanding career.

I volunteered at my local primary school. As a teacher myself I felt I could help out hearing readers etc. All the essential but mundane things. But things were not good. I think the staff resented my experience; not that I ever mentioned it myself. I struggled on for two years then Covid hit and I did not return. Sad really

If you can commit to a rota of hours to volunteer then I’m sure you would have no trouble.

Half in half out whenever it suits you won’t work for most charities as they need to provide a reliable service, and may have a legal obligation to do so - for their governance regarding service management and risk assessment they have to demand you sign a contract to supply a certain cover of hours.

Being bored senseless in your retirement doesn’t qualify you as a volunteer that most charities want.

As a previous poster said, the charities aren’t there for you, you volunteer for them.

Sounds like you need a casual job or a course of study.

Cast your net wider.
Maybe start a craft based online business?

I don’t know if you’re near London, but I volunteer with Historic Royal Palaces and you pick your own shifts online and can cancel at fairly short notice if required.

sodapop

I do the rota for volunteers at the small library I help to run. I email the volunteers at the end of each month for their availability the following month. They are free to do as many or as few shifts as they want. Something like this would suit you Loobs

I volunteer at my local library on the same basis and it works very well.

In the past I've had a voluntary role where I realised that the paid staff spent a lot of time in the kitchen chatting and drinking coffee, whilst the volunteers did all the work, hence we were being asked to do more and more hours. When I resigned to some surprise, I pointed out that "volunteering" must also suit the volunteer 🙋‍♀️ .

I also do litter picking on sn ad hoc basis, and look after a tree in our street, weeding around it etc.

My friend’s husband drove children to their access visits -he was part of a pool of drivers, so this was ‘as and when’ rather than a weekly or whatever commitment.

He also tried to help a local charity sort out its paperwork and procedures - but that was a bit thankless!

I’ve managed to get my commitment to work to 2 days a week plus extra days that fit in, so it’s usually 3 or 4 days, there are usually shifts that fit in.
That works well because the holiday entitlement increases as well and I intend to continue as long as I can, certainly until I’m 70.

Have a look at www.doit.life where there's a page which lists all the available places in your location. Hope this helps.

I volunteer at my library, National Trust and a local trustee run venue. I can do what I want when I want as there is a rota to fill in. There are no demands and no accusations of it doing the hours. The key word is VOLUNTARY! I do not receive any expenses nor do I expect them. I did 10 years with Citizens Advice and got my parking paid! There are many opportunities around if you can be flexible . Don’t volunteer somewhere that requires you every week unless you are able to offer that commitment. Good luck!

Wolfie59

They don’t make it easy, do they. My friend who retired early from a busy PA/Admin role applied for a voluntary NHS administrator role. They wanted a reference from a person of standing in the Community such as Solicitor or Police Officer. She knows neither, so had to withdraw her application. Stupid. No wonder they struggle to get volunteers.

That’s quite normal these days . I volunteer in a charity shop and needed two references. They also check police records . My daughter volunteers on a phone line for age uk and needed similar references.