Tell us all about it.

Redshift

I notice from the poll that there are a few people who are volunteers but not many have posted any of their experiences I find it hard to belive that in a community the size of boards that there are not more volunteers lurking. So what ever your experience tell us about it. This forum is not just more members of charity and reserve defence forces I would really like to hear from all those part time soccer coaches, scout leaders, community co-ordinators, people who drive all the local kids to school, and almost anything else that could be considdered voluntary work. I'm sure there are some funny and downright unbeliveable stories out there so shre the wealth.

star gazer

to make a difference is important. There is a dearth of community Mental Health facilities in Ireland and being a facilitator with Aware makes it possible for me to share a hope with people who suffer from depression/bi polar disorder et al. There is still a stigma against people with mental health difficulties in this country and it is important that those suffering most have somewhere to go and don't feel so alone in their suffering.

Volunteering is difficult. The lack of money for work is always in the back of my mind but it would defeat the purpose of volunteering to receive money. There are plenty of professionals and government paid people who make thier living out of mental health and they don't, on the whole appear to be getting to the root of the problems in that field. Seeing the smile on a persons face and a warm and genuine thank you is what makes the volunteering worth the hassle.

civdef

Civil Defence Volunteer:

The basic role of the Civil Defence is to assist the full-time emergency services as necessary. You spend most of your time as a member training for events you hope you never have to deal with. However, when events do occur, you get to make a real contribution, rather than just being an onlooker.

One of the clearest examples of this is when you're called out to assist the Gardai in a missing person search. As a trained volunteer, you can contribute more to the search than a member of the public who wants to help but has no training. Sometimes the circumstances can be difficut - e.g. missing children or suspected suicides - but you know that whatever the outcome, your contribution has helped being some closure to the family. Even in the saddest of cases, letters of appreciation from the families confirm the importance of the work.

The training you get also comes into play when you're not on duty. Have you ever been on the scene of a road accident not knowing what to do? The training you get shows you what to do, and maybe more importantly what not to do.

At the end of the day, it's about being part of the solution in an emergency, not part of the problem.

malico

star gazer wrote:

Volunteering is difficult. The lack of money for work is always in the back of my mind but it would defeat the purpose of volunteering to receive money.

Very true, but through volunteering I've finally realised that I didn't want to spend my life pushing pens behind a desk. I was a senior net admin and general computer geek (Still am!) for years, but through my volunteering and the contacts i've made, I've become a professional medic. I'm off the the US in feb for NQEMT-B, PHTLS and PEEP Training then back in April andmy company are sending me to the park for NATS EMT, if, of course, I come back from the states!

If you really like you volunteer work, go for it. Really, make a career of it too. I work for a private ambulance service for now, and wil be with the health board when I've gotten all i can out of the private service! Follow the dream!