Volunteering                                                                                                                                                                       Page 1

Volunteering is all about giving up your time without pay to help others. Volunteering positions should benefit both parties. For yourself, there should the chance to do something new, to learn, to meet new people and to satisfy your conscience that you are helping others. For the beneficiary, there might be the chance to receive some funds, or to gain access to some much needed skills.

There are mainly two different types of volunteering that you can take part in; fundraising volunteering, or work volunteering.

Through volunteering your time, you can raise funds for a charitable cause. This might be anything from having a collection at your workplace, to running a marathon, or selling unwanted possessions. For some ideas about fundraising, have a look at some ideas from the NSPCC (National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children), by clicking HERE.

Before you start fundraising, you need to select a cause to work towards. Start by having a look on the LINKS page of this website.

The best way to select a cause is to simply think about what matters most to you. Do you care about health? education?, do you care mostly about children, or everyone? Do you care for domestic issues, or issues abroad? There are numerous causes you can fundraise for, its simply a matter of spending time to investigate.

Before you undertake voluntary work, there are some things that you need to think about:

Finding local volunteer work close to home should not be a problem, just contact a few local charities. Alternatively, contact some larger charities and see if they operate local support groups, or local events that may need your help. Doing voluntary work close to home requires a lot less organisation, as it means you can work for just a few evenings a week.

Undertaking voluntary work abroad, however, is a different matter altogether.