Is there any volunteering that I could do tomorrow?

SkyBlooo

Wondering if anybody is personally involved or if there are any charities, groups or organizations doing some volunteer work tomorrow i.e feeding the homeless etc.

Serious question.

UCDVet

Best thing to do is wake up tomorrow and write yourself an 'I owe you'. People get warm and fuzzy around Christmas and the holidays and they want to help. And that's great. Usually though, charities get a big influx around the holidays and then, nothing.

So pick a day in March or October or whenever.
This gives you the added benefit of plenty of time to find a task you think you'd be a good fit for.

Holsten

Unless you've already prepared for it then no.

Applying to be a volunteer is actually quite the process.

Pinch Flat

Holsten wrote: »

Unless you've already prepared for it then no.

Applying to be a volunteer is actually quite the process.

Yeah found that out myself. Was happy enough to volunteer on Christmas - do anything really, deliver food, prepare / clean up / dig in generally.

Few places I contacted last week had already done indiuctions, drawn up Rotas etc. I guess it's something you have to register for weeks before christmas. As the poster says above its the other 364 days a year that matter just as much - so might give that a try

The_Morrigan

A lot of prep is involved in volunteering and volunteers sometimes need to be vetted. Gone are the days of rocking up somewhere to help out.

As has already been mentioned, there are volunteers needed 365 days a year, maybe head to Volunteer Ireland's website and check out some of the opportunities they have listed.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

SkyBlooo

The novelty of Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with this post, nor am I looking for instant gratification or a sense of well being.
I haven't just acknowledged the homeless or other people that are in need.

Personal issues have found myself with genuinely nowhere to go Christmas day.

If anybody knows anything do not hesitate to contact me on this, they will have a a hard-working young man very dedicated to putting in a shift tomorrow.

Nunu

SkyBlooo wrote: »

The novelty of Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with this post, nor am I looking for instant gratification or a sense of well being.
I haven't just acknowledged the homeless or other people that are in need.

Personal issues have found myself with genuinely nowhere to go Christmas day.

If anybody knows anything do not hesitate to contact me on this, they will have a a hard-working young man very dedicated to putting in a shift tomorrow.

I actually want to invite you over for Christmas dinner.

Tugboats

SkyBlooo wrote: »

Wondering if anybody is personally involved or if there are any charities, groups or organizations doing some volunteer work tomorrow i.e feeding the homeless etc.

Serious question.

Go for a drive tonight and find your own homeless guy. Bring him home give him a bed for the night and Christmas dinner tomorrow.

NZ_2014

You could tidy my room. And clean and wash my car.

NZ_2014

Tugboats wrote: »

Go for a drive tonight and find your own homeless guy. Bring him home give him a bed for the night and Christmas dinner tomorrow.

That sounds potentially dangerous.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

JaseBelleVie

My car needs a wash, you up for it?

michael999999

You picked the wrong forum to ask a question like that OP!

GreeBo

Fill up a few thermos flasks with tea/coffee/soup and head into town tonight/tomorrow morning, will be plenty of cold people who would like a hot drink.

It doesnt have to be all structured and organised, hot food is hot food, any time of year.

Aphex

michael999999 wrote: »

You picked the wrong forum to ask a question like that OP!

At least he asked it though. Good on you op. Have a nice Christmas

SkyBlooo

michael999999 wrote: »

You picked the wrong forum to ask a question like that OP!

Of course I anticipated the response I would receive here but my logic is that with all the negative attention and trolling it receives,
1 or 2 people might drop me a genuine PM because that is the only response that I will bother being attentive for.

That or post it on social networking where I would be ridiculed, humiliated and be prodded about an issue that I would rather not talk about.

Holsten

GreeBo wrote: »

Fill up a few thermos flasks with tea/coffee/soup and head into town tonight/tomorrow morning, will be plenty of cold people who would like a hot drink.

It doesnt have to be all structured and organised, hot food is hot food, any time of year.

Exactly, it won't matter one bit from someone in need where it comes from, be it your pocket or off an established charity.

Help wherever you can.

michael999999

SkyBlooo wrote: »

Of course I anticipated the response I would receive here but my logic is that with all the negative attention and trolling it receives,
1 or 2 people might drop me a genuine PM because that is the only response that I will bother being attentive for.

That or post it on social networking where I would be ridiculed, humiliated and be prodded about an issue that I would rather not talk about.

Fair play for trying OP. Hope you have a nice day tomorrow either way!

YFlyer

GreeBo wrote: »

Fill up a few thermos flasks with tea/coffee/soup and head into town tonight/tomorrow morning, will be plenty of cold people who would like a hot drink.

It doesnt have to be all structured and organised, hot food is hot food, any time of year.

Don't do this if you live in Florida

anewme

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I think this is very unfair. They are not fussy and all are welcome so I dont understand why you feel it necessary to say "let them ram it"

A lot of planning and organisation goes into these events and they are not "exclusive" as you say, but managed successfully and planned in advance as any sucessful event should be. It would be very unprofessional of any organisations to wait till the last minute and see does anyone volunteer.

I am volunteering tomorrow (looking forward to it) and have registered since September, attended an induction day which included an overview of the event, health and safety procedures and roles were assigned.

It was made clear when you registered that it was necessary to attend the induction day and if you did not, it was not acceptable just to rock up on the day.

Sorry, this does not help you OP, but I felt it necessary to respond to that comment.

Penny Tration

anewme wrote: »

I think this is very unfair. They are not fussy and all are welcome so I dont understand why you feel it necessary to say "let them ram it"

A lot of planning and organisation goes into these events and they are not "exclusive" as you say, but managed successfully and planned in advance as any sucessful event should be. It would be very unprofessional of any organisations to wait till the last minute and see does anyone volunteer.

I am volunteering tomorrow (looking forward to it) and have registered since September, attended an induction day which included an overview of the event, health and safety procedures and roles were assigned.

It was made clear when you registered that it was necessary to attend the induction day and if you did not, it was not acceptable just to rock up on the day.

Sorry, this does not help you OP, but I felt it necessary to respond to that comment.

Some of them ARE fussy.

One turned away myself and my sister because we couldn't commit to a night every week for a minimum of 9 months!

anewme

Jingle_Balls wrote: »

Some of them ARE fussy.

One turned away myself and my sister because we couldn't commit to a night every week for a minimum of 9 months!

That's mad. I volunteered in August/September for Christmas Day and was made feel very welcome. First time doing it and looking forward.

Turtyturd

Go to the local Spar/Centra and volunteer to pack bags...the annoying c*nts who do that never seem to take a day off.

fryup

OP, you could wash the dishes at my house

eviltwin

Jingle_Balls wrote: »

Some of them ARE fussy.

One turned away myself and my sister because we couldn't commit to a night every week for a minimum of 9 months!

Depends on the charity. To be fair they need consistency with volunteers if they are to provide the right service to their clients. Too many people would be in and out the door otherwise which is a nightmare when you're trying to sort out shifts.

Saipanne

UCDVet wrote: »

Best thing to do is wake up tomorrow and write yourself an 'I owe you'. People get warm and fuzzy around Christmas and the holidays and they want to help. And that's great. Usually though, charities get a big influx around the holidays and then, nothing.

So pick a day in March or October or whenever.
This gives you the added benefit of plenty of time to find a task you think you'd be a good fit for.

Ouch.

the_syco

SkyBlooo wrote: »

Serious question.

Serious question needs a serious answer; you'll be in the f**king way.

=-=

I volunteer once a week at a no-kill shelter. Great fun, when I'm not shoveling puppy sh|t, picking up litter, doing the laundry, etc. Do it once a week, and it's not easy keeping it up. Try to go at least once a month, but if I can; every weekend. It was easy for the first couple of months, but life does get in the way.

Jingle_Balls wrote: »

Some of them ARE fussy.

One turned away myself and my sister because we couldn't commit to a night every week for a minimum of 9 months!

Completely understand this. It's not just a case of volunteering, but it's training. If you get trained, but don't come back for a number of weeks, you may forget what you learnt. If, however, you came back every week, you could be trained once, and follow-up training throughout the 9 months to give you more knowledge.

So depending on the charity, some will need to know you'll be available on a continuing basis.

Added to that, most charities would prefer 2 people a night instead of having 20 people once a week, as this would ensure a better sharing of the load, and also ensure that the clients are looked after better.

Furthermore, for certain charities, familiarity and trust takes time to form. Irregular and sporadic appearances won't provide this, and thus you'd be useless to those sorts of charities.

The_Morrigan

People being turned away has nothing to do with fussiness.

It has to do with insurance, health and safety, Garda vetting, child protection and an individual's ability to do a task well.
I've seen first hand people being declined with regards to volunteer roles because they are just not suited or pose a liability to other volunteers and the public.

Saipanne

Tugboats wrote: »

Go for a drive tonight and find your own homeless guy. Bring him home give him a bed for the night and Christmas dinner tomorrow.

Hahaha

FloatingVoter

OP, you are well intentioned. In this time and place there may be drunk people. Come January, there will still be homeless people needing foodruns etc. January is a week away. The help-for-a-day brigade will melt away and someone will need you and thank you for any services rendered.
In the meantime, Happy Santahats.

JohnMearsheimer

My girlfriend works in the volunteering sector and for the past 2/3 weeks she's been dealing with a lot of people only interested in volunteering on Christmas day (not saying that this is the intention of the OP). She points out that there's training involved, possible vetting and a lot of planning gone in to events before Christmas day so people just can't really turn up at things out of the blue. She's mentioned to a few people that there's more than one day in the year that they can help out and has got the head ate off her on the phone by people feeling indignant.

A lot of organisations like to keep their volunteering spots for Christmas Day for their volunteers that have been committed to them for a long time.

Littlekittylou

The_Morrigan wrote: »

People being turned away has nothing to do with fussiness.

It has to do with insurance, health and safety, Garda vetting, child protection and an individual's ability to do a task well.
I've seen first hand people being declined with regards to volunteer roles because they are just not suited or pose a liability to other volunteers and the public.

Over the years it's gotten more involved. You have to get garda vetted and sent in application forms now. The whole process for that alone takes four weeks.Then you get clearance etc. Then they assess your skill set and then you chose when you want to do it.

Even if you have been volunteering for years you still need to do garda vetting every time you re apply.

It's more the rigamarole. You get a copy of a passport or drivers license etc. You put down every address you have lived and what year and then they ask have you ever been charged with or convicted of an offense in my case I answer no. Then it's confirmed by the guards. Then you send your c.v and what experience and skills you have and what your schedule is or what work you do etc. And you are told what they need.

If you did have an offense and you have to tick yes there is a line saying 'What is the nature of the offense?'.

Once you do all of this it really depends on what they need. Some need a commitment for a few months some you can go when you like for a few hrs. And some do a rota every week or month.

The DSPCA could never allow someone with a conviction for animal or child abuse on site for obvious reasons. And some people sadly do actually volunteer for less than altruistic reasons.

I have done a lot of volunteer work running up to the Christmas but I am not doing anything now until the new year. Christmas is a tough time to volunteer OP. Everywhere is crowded.

It will take four weeks usually for you to be vetted and get the application forms in anyway. So do that in Jan if you still want to. You can't get vetted by your local Garda station you have to give the info to the organisation and they send the forms to the Garda Central Vetting Unit.

It's a pain in the butthole but it's great craic once you get started. You meet some lovely people. Also I find the summer is a great time to volunteer. Especially if you have to be outdoors a lot. Thank GOD this was a mild winter. I hate being cold!

But do try in Jan you will find something that suits you :-)

PizzamanIRL

The_Morrigan wrote: »

People being turned away has nothing to do with fussiness.

It has to do with insurance, health and safety, Garda vetting, child protection and an individual's ability to do a task well.
I've seen first hand people being declined with regards to volunteer roles because they are just not suited or pose a liability to other volunteers and the public.

Exactly.

It might be volunteering but it's still a job. They can't just give their materials/food to any Tom, Dick or Harry who comes up to them and expect them to go hand them out or whatever.

FloatingVoter

....happy Christmas to them that are out tonight and getting in now. Or waking early (alarm bombs). I'll be doing a bit myself come the new year if I'm up to it.

Best wishes and this season was designed for you if anyone.