Mild or spicy?

Hi Helen- it's certainly worth considering carefully what we mean by volunteering. We've just been talking about this post by Joe Saxton on another article on i-Volunteer here. I think you're right that volunteering is a subjective term- so the best thing for it is talk about what we mean by the word so we understand each other.

Interesting thoughts. To me, volunteering is about choosing to give your time to something you care about and are passionate about, with no financial reward.

More people might be involved in 'voluntary' work nowadays, but they're involved because they want to get the experience for their career. To me, that's not volunteering, and it's not good for any cause - quality voluntary work comes from those who care, not those who are there because they want something else and need to volunteer as a stepping stone.

Interesting post this... @cheryl_pj I do get your sentiment but I think that there is nothing wrong with wanting to get something out of your volunteering experience - be it developing social networks, getting career experience or simply wanting to do some good. I think we should accept that not all people are motivated by the same thing and the important thing is that people volunteer, regardless of their motive.

As for what is and is not volunteering, I do some shopping and other odd jobs for an older neigbour, I mentor a couple of budding journalists and I occasionally get involved in organising events for a local group for disabled children. I don't distinguish one activity as more 'voluntary' than another but I do consider myself as doing something that is above and beyond what my day to day life demands of me and to that extent I would call it volunteering - but only if I was asked to define it for the purposes of a conversation like this. At the end of the day it's the doing that counts, what we call it is neither here nor there and 'volunteer' is as a good a word as any.

@JustJanice

I certainly see nothing wrong with wanting to get something out of volunteering, but I think it's important to care about what you're volunteering for, too.

Like normal jobs, voluntary jobs should require particular interests and skills. I don't volunteer with the elderly, for example, because as much as I'd love to volunteer in every sector, I'm not cut out for working with such people.

I suppose in most cases the two overlap, and I might at this time be talking entirely theoretically (after all, I work with individuals who are volunteering for career advancement, but in a similar line of work), but I have my concerns about, for example, compulsory citizen service for children - if a teenager with no interest in a cause has to volunteer just to pass their course at school, in some sectors they may do more damage than good.

Maybe not. Maybe I'm completely off the mark, but it's certainly not something I support currently.

Hi @cheryl_pj - I totally agree that volunteering only works if you want to do it and that you're motivated to get involved. I help a couple of elderly neighbours partly because my mother died a few years ago and so I empathise with older people living alone and I miss their company.

I think interest and passion are key - skills less so unless you are looking to embark on a specialist role - you can always acquire these in other cases, one of the many benefits of volunteering.

And yes compulsory voluntereing is anything but and is in a different league - at least this government is dropping the compulsory element of the planned youth citizenship service. I can just imagine the response from my teenage daughter and her friends being told they have to volunteer because the gvernment says so!

@paddaniels, I missed that discussion, really interesting and useful. I have many thoughts/rants on these issues, at some point I might write them down. If you're really lucky, I might even edit them so that they're readable...

I've taken on volunteer roles mostly because they would be good for me, and they've never worked out well. I'll be honest, I just wasn't that motivated. And it's been my experience at work too, we'll be sent an application from someone who has great skills but no real information on why they want to volunteer for us particularly. And we um and ah over them, and meet with them, and so many times we end up saying "but oh, look at their skills!" But for many, various reasons, it just doesn't last. I'm getting much more selective now because of it.

And yeah, if you _have _to do it, for whatever reason, then it's not volunteering any more...