Ideas for the Boards.ie "Register of the Willing"

Gandalf23

Hello.

I've been looking at the "register of the willing" and doing a bit of thinking.

The pool of available skills and people is impressive, and I have a few ideas about how this could all be leveraged if people were still willing to donate their time. I know of many charitable organisations who would appreciate the offer of help in a number of areas ranging from building, to IT infrsatructure instillation and training, to organising computer or sports classes for handicapped/disadvantaged children etc etc etc. I dont envisage the "register of the willing" offering money or hardware etc, just their time and individual skills. I would see this working only in situations where an organisation/charity etc would have no other available resources to get the particular job done.

I have many more detailed ideas on how I'd see this working/organised/administered, and I also know of a few charitable organisations who might be interested. I am more than happy to devote my time and skills to this in any way that would be deemed helpful by the powers that be.

So what do ye all think?

Sherifu

Gandalf23 wrote: »

I have many more detailed ideas on how I'd see this working/organised/administered, and I also know of a few charitable organisations who might be interested. I am more than happy to devote my time and skills to this in any way that would be deemed helpful by the powers that be.

So what do ye all think?

I'd like to hear more.

RedXIV

I'm pretty sure i'm down on that somewhere so i'm in anyways

EDIT: Dammit, i'm not, may go fix that

Gandalf23

Sherifu wrote: »

I'd like to hear more.

Indeed my good friend you shall hear more!

I just wanted to hear a few opinions first. I'm not sure if this has been tried before, or what the original idea of the register was. I'm also not sure what the opinions of the Admins on this currently is ...

Slow Motion

Indeed I would like to hear more also. As an aside, if there is interest maybe you should request a "Volunteering Forum". Where specific ideas could be discussed and requests for help made.

Edit: just realised there is the B-Team

Gandalf23

A "Volunteering Forum" might be a good idea ... definitely worth thinking about.

I'm interested in hearing more about the original idea of the "register" first, and getting more opinions and feedback.

EDIT: yep, I know the B-Team is there, but a more focused "Volunteering Forum" (maybe based on categorisation of specific skill-sets, or volunteering for specific projects or in specific geographic areas for example) might be a good idea.

tSubh Dearg

It might be worth sending a link of this thread to DeVore as he's the one who has been trying to organise things here but he's also super busy.

Gandalf23

tSubh Dearg wrote: »

It might be worth sending a link of this thread to DeVore as he's the one who has been trying to organise things here but he's also super busy.

Thanks... done!

Slow Motion

Gandalf23 wrote: »

A "Volunteering Forum" might be a good idea ... definitely worth thinking about.

I'm interested in hearing more about the original idea of the "register" first, and getting more opinions and feedback.

EDIT: yep, I know the B-Team is there, but a more focused "Volunteering Forum" (maybe based on categorisation of specific skill-sets, or volunteering for specific projects or in specific geographic areas for example) might be a good idea.

That's what I was thinking actually!:)

Ron DMC

I added myself to that list. Obviously specific projects will make me think of better skills/interests as appropriate, head's just a blank at the minute.

Gandalf23

More of my thoughts on this below (please feel free to comment critically or otherwise). These are brief enough thoughts, and I have a few other ideas but in a bit of a rush this evening so bear with me!!

I think the idea of a new "Volunteering Forum" is a good one, and I would envisage the entire volunteer programme being coordinated thro the new forum. People could register in a number of categories according to their skillset, for example "building", "computer", "teaching/lecturing", "medical", "general dogsbody" etc. This could be broken down into geographical area, eg Dublin, Leinster, Munster, etc.

Details of the volunteer scheme could be advertised on boards.ie, and charities/organisations who are interested could contact boards with proposals for a specific project. I'm sure many boardsies know of worthy projects they could suggest for consideration. Any project suggested would be evaluated by the admins (criteria to be determined) and a "priority list" of projects drawn up. We could then allocate people with specific skills to any project prioritised, and put in place a project manager to coordinate that specific project.

I see this starting small and involving no capital expenditure on the part of any of the volunteers or boards.ie. I also see any initial projects being of short duration (ie a day or two at most). This could build over time to a situation where we have the skills to tackle more advanced projects.

I was spurred into thinking about this when a (fairly disadvantaged and broke) youth hostel contacted me last week looking for someone to teach computers to kids for a few Saturday mornings. I was also talking to someone last week who works for a charity in Kildare who was looking for some fairly simple building work to be done.

I see great potential in this, and I know with a bit of effort we could achieve a lot if we put our collective brains and resources together. I have experience in working on big development projects in Africa and South America for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, and I would be very happy to devote significant time and effort to get this up and running. I'm also willing to step completely into the background and happy to volunteer my skills in any way to help.

Guys, I know this can work and develop into something we can all be very proud of

311

I put my name down in the list ,but I got the impression as the thread went on that it was all IT related.

Personally I'm not interested in anything other than contributing my time ,by working at plumbing etc. I will contribute my time as a plumber/Gas fitter and I could spare the odd saturday ,providing I get advance notice.

I don't mind necessary maintenance work ,as long as it's for a charitible organisation or suchlike.

Gandalf23

Well done 311 ... this is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about!!!

I dont believe the "willing" list was ever meant to be computer skills only, but I'm open to correction on that.

funk-you

I threw myself on the list the other day. I think this is a great idea. My skills are mainly IT related and i will help out any way i can on that side. I'll also help out teaching guitar or music performance/recording or with any organising that needs to be done.

I have two hands(Woo-Hoo) so something like The B-Team hands for a day could offer people to do non-specialised things that pretty much just need doing in a charity. The hands for a day'll can be exactly what it says on the tin and is for boardsies who can help out once and a while but ordinarily wouldn't with a charity because they can't do it regularly/can't fully commit etc...

Just a thought. Any way i can help etc....etc...

-Funk

311

Don't forget about insurance by the way ,if any major work is done someone will need to be covered by insurance.

I don't mind participating ,but theres no way anyone from boards could be personally held liable for helping out.
Maybe a suggestion would be to work through a third party ,who would use boards members as part time/voluntary workers.

I'm fully insured to work on gas etc ,but I wouldn't be able to work on gas through a voluntary organisation ,it would have to be done professionally for insurance reasons.

Bob the Builder

Maybe location wouldn't be a bad addition to the list?

Maybe, we could get some online app to put in place, so that(just like the www.goldenpages.ie) they enter in what they're looking for, and where... they will then be offered a list of people and a "pm this user" button.

DeVore

Sorry, I missed this. Yes, basically you are thinking along the same lines as me G23. I will post more on this when I get a chance. Probably Monday.

Mostly what I need are targets/projects. If you know of smaller charities that could use our help, please post!

DeV.

Bob the Builder

Just to let you know DeV, I have exams next week, but after that, if people give me a list of people/charities to contact, or anything in Connaught, I'll be happy to help.