GRcade

I've never done it, probably a combination of can't be arsed and refusing to work for free ('SELFISH BASTARD. BET YOU'D VOTE FOR HILTER' etc.) so I'm just wondering if anyone here has ever done so, and what you felt you got out of it, and whether doing so helped in other ways (career prospects, friendship).

(And no GRcade doesn't count, because it's PASSION)

Yes

EDIT - Don't have Charity tattooed on my arse though

DOUBLE EDIT - KK totally would vote for Hitler as well

Yeh quite a bit. Helping with friends charity events, helping the green party, making things for my friends charity events.

I'd rather do that than donate lump sums of money to groups.

Yes!

I went out to Colombia for a month to work with an organisation is dedicated to helping children from displaced families, extremely poor backgrounds and for children who no longer have families.

I hate to sound clichéd, however it was a very humbling experience - these kids were so positive in the face of adversity - it was incredible!

While there, I was usually just around to help the children out with their daily activities/home work and where possible teach them English ( at the same time they helped me with my Spanish!!)

TBH, I was really just there to give them my time and attention, the vast majority of the time I was just mucking about and having fun - from making paper aeroplanes to showing them how a digital camera worked!

If you haven't volunteered before I'd highly recommend it, you learn a lot about yourself & is very rewarding.


Edit: Also help out where I can at a childrens hospice with a bunch of work colleagues.

I haven't, and I feel bad about that...but not bad enough to actually go out and start volunteering.

Yes - went out to the middle of nowhere in Russia a fair number of times to work in orphanages out there. I'm expecting good karma for the next 45 years to even this out.

I did a few times as a teenager. Clearing up rubbish from the local parks/woodlands. It was actually quite fun from what I remember.

I am now too old and selfish to bother.

Moggy wrote:I did a few times as a teenager. Clearing up rubbish from the local parks/woodlands.

Moggy here, admitting to community service having been caught vandalising the school lavs.

Nope. We do have a lot of volunteering things through work with the community stuff we do so I guess I may do at some point through that.

KK wrote:

Moggy wrote:I did a few times as a teenager. Clearing up rubbish from the local parks/woodlands.

Moggy here, admitting to community service having been caught vandalising the school lavs.

As I wrote that I realised it sounded more like community service than a selfless act of volunteering.

Yeah, on and off for a few years before I found steady paid employment. Kept my CV current, got loads of free training out of it, and made some great friends. Definitely wouldn't have my current job without the skills and experience I gained while volunteering.

I volunteered as an admin in a hospital for about 4 years. Then my health took a bit of a turn so I stopped.

Yes and am looking to do it again.

I was a Volunteer mentor for a Childrens Mental health charity for 8 or 9 months, and I also worked as a mentor for bullied kids for a charity for the same length of time... both of these charties were run by the same parent company and it went bankrupt.. You might have heard of the bullying one as it was on ITV morning show and all sorts of stuff it was called Beat Bullying. I was ''employed'' by them when they shut down.

I really enjoyed being a mentor even if it did have its ups and downs... youd be talking over the computer to a kid who was saying how dark his life was and then he would tell you he had pushed a blade into his arm right then etc....

I did it at a point in time when I was struggling to find work and it helped me in interviews to have something to talk about but it also helped me feel like I was giving back. I put a lot of time into it but I think I partly have it to thank for finding work again.

I got into a really bad place at one point with my own mental health my ptsd and anxiety and such and I think helping other people helped me as well in the long run.

I volunteered at an Age Concern store for about a year and enjoyed it mostly.

Yes. Helped out at local school charity events on more than one occasion.

Yes and it was definitely a worthwhile experience.

I went to South Africa in 2009 to help build houses for orphans. It was undertaken as part of a youth scheme so not only were we helping the orphans over there we were also teaching our own youth some solid skills and how to be decent members of society.

Got to see some of the World Cup 2010 venues being built as well which was fun!

i volunteer doing fitness coaching for youth and have done for 7 years now ( )
highlight of my 'working' week

Being such a caring person in my full time job excuses me from having to do it voluntarily.

I volunteered as an animal keeper in Bolivia. A Jaguar and a pack of Howler monkeys. Highly strawberry floating recommended.

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