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What the advert said I'd get vs. what I actually got?

AndyAndy Deactivated Posts: 185 Helping Hand
Hi folks,

Continuing in our Work and Volunteering theme and pushing the volunteering focus on the boards at the moment we wanted to think about your volunteering expectations and your actual experiences.

One thing that came up in our in-house discussions were some of the unforeseen benefits of volunteering and your expectations of your volunteering role before you started.

So, we wanted you to think about the volunteering you're currently doing, what the role said you'd be doing before you started and what eventually came out of you doing the role? Were their additional benefits to your volunteering that you didn't expect? Was there something that came up that you didn't anticipate and didn't like? How did the role change over time?

If you don't currently volunteer and are looking at volunteering, what do you think about the roles that you see? What would you like to gain from your volunteering and what else could come up that you might not expect?

Anyway, over to you...

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My volunteering with St Johns Badgers meant that I was able to learn some first aid skills that meant I was able to help a man who had passed out in the street.
    Volunteering in a charity shop has meant that I have the experience of working in retail and am able to use tills and have improved my maths skills meaning I am now in a good position to get a job
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Volunteering in a hospital (on a weekend too) meant I had the orthopaedics ward and the general medical ward at St Mary's in London. I had a great mix of people - bikers in orthopaedics as well as elderly people waiting for hip replacements. I learnt how to have patience with elderly people and compassion towards people who (at the time) I couldn't relate to because I had never been in vast amounts of pain and had never spent a night in hospital (I wasn't even born in one). But it taught me that when we are vulnerable like that we need someone to sit and listen even if we're in so much pain we don't make sense. And now I've been in that situation it's made me see things in full circle and I think if I hadn't seen it I wouldn't be able to see things as I do and I think that it really helps now I'm studying social and cultural theory. (If any of that makes sense?)
  • AndyAndy Deactivated Posts: 185 Helping Hand
    I really like your one Flow, being able to help somebody in the street further down the line thanks to some volunteering that you've done in the past could never have been foreseen and also shows that volunteering and the skills you gain from it, stay with you.

    And your's Miss_Riot are just super, that sort of patience and compassion is really hard to learn, and it's just a lovely example. :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I once volunteered with a good friend of mine for Crisis. We were shaking buckets and asking for donations outside a Rod Stewart concert at the O2. I expected a fairly dull evening and wasn't really looking forward to it on the way there if I'm honest as I was tired from work.

    What I got was really unexpected! Lots of random people wanted to chat about the cause and people were amazingly generous with their donations. There ended up being a group of about 6 of us and it was a really fun night, we had a laugh and came away buzzing with how much money we had raised. It also helped to push me out of my comfort zone as you had to shout really loud and encourage people to give donations and at least come across as confident!! I'd definitely do it again :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I once had a job interview to work in a school as an administrator. I went to the interview (at my local firestation!!!) and it turned out that I had to collect money. I ended the interview straight away. Even the people who were interviewing me said that they should have wrote the ad out more carefully/properly.
  • JamesJames Deactivated Posts: 1,706 Extreme Poster
    I volunteered as a marshal for a charity fun run once. The advert said I'd have to stand in a little marquee and register the runners, which sounded fine. So, I arrived at the park - a really nice, but quite hilly park - helped them set up the marquee and waited for the runners. No sooner had the run started, than a massive storm hit us, blowing all the flags marking the route away. I had to sprint through the pelting rain trying to replace the flags so people didn't get lost. It was knackering - I hadn't been expecting to do the run myself!
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