These days just surveying for the national bat and dormouse monitoring programmes, but I have done quite a range of other things in the past including: starting and running a Green Drinks group, pagan prison chaplain for the Pagan Fed, direct action with Greenpeace, local wildlife group committee member, starting and running a toad patrol group, helping at an old folks day centre, running a tea stall and car-parking at a few green festivals, crash and bash conservation work with various groups etc.

Tool libraries rock! Have volunteered with our local one for years.

Also book libraries often can use volunteer assistance!

I volunteer as a receptionist at a free-entry-but-donations-funded art gallery. Probably the most comfortable volunteer position anyone will ever have, as it’s really flexible with my university commitments.

What type of volunteer work do you like to do? Do you like the stuff where you are just a warm body - someone to hold a sign or greet people?

Surprisingly, something I really like about it is seeing all the people there and getting to talk to them, and the work environment is very nice. There are a lot of responsibilities involved too, which is both good and bad, but I like that I get to sit in front of a laptop and check emails when I’m not greeting people or selling stuff.

What about shudders door knocking?

I considered door knocking in the past, thinking I had no choice because the ecosystem of different volunteer roles wasn’t that varied. Glad that I didn’t, it’s definitely shudder inducing. It’s also kind of hard to see it as useful. Although, I did almost volunteer to do it for a fledgling political party I used to belong too, and I would’ve followed through on that.

Volunteer firefighter.

Drive the 3000L truck or 1000L tender. Run hoses to hydrant. Use mounted water cannon, or run hoses out. Put out, scrub, bush, structure, or vehicle fires. Rescue puppies from drains.

Getting plenty of training, learning lots of different equipment, have a good team currently.

Eg. Last week at training, I tried out the ‘Hot Stick’ high-voltage detector. For finding live wires, beeps when high current closeby.

Similar to this one.

We have a pro-bono program at work and I’m volunteering this month. We’ll basically be helping out non-profit orgs by providing free consultations on our topic of expertise.

I am a help a non profit that delivers food to unhoused people for free. it’s really great and I feel I am really making a difference in the community. I highly suggest people try some volunteer work.

While not really a volunteer position, I do spend a chunk of my free time picking up litter in my area. From snack wrappers to cigarette butts to midnight ditch tips, I’ve done it all.

I volunteer at a small music festival. We’re trying to help keep the village alive at a time when more and more facilities are closing. I run the website and social media, and take photos over the weekend.

Taking the photos is probably the most fun, as you get to be part of the festival and watch everyone enjoy the event you set up, as well as watching some of the acts. It’s exhausting though, as you don’t stop for the better part of three days.

This year I had a lot to do with booking the acts and liaising with the acts and the venues. That was really interesting, but it nearly killed me. I’ve got a chronic illness that tires me out, but I thought this would be ok as it’s mostly emailing and messaging. I had no idea how many random things have to be organised and rearranged in the run up, or how much can go wrong on the day!

I’m sticking to photos next year!

I volunteer on the board of an arts nonprofit

For the last few years I have been heavily involved in scouts due to my kids. It’s the first time I have had a volunteer role that felt semi-professional: I’m organizing other adults, managing money, planning events weeks or months in advance, etc. I didn’t initially want to be so involved. I gradually volunteered for one role after another because shit needed to get done and nobody else was willing to do it. I feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants, but everyone seems happy with my work so I guess I’m not screwing up too much.

Previously I did a handful of “warm body” volunteer jobs where I just had to show up on schedule and follow instructions. Fixing kids’ bikes was the most fun, but serving the poor was the most rewarding. The best volunteer role was delivering and serving dinners at a tent city hosted by a local church. We would join them for the meal and talk around the table. That was eye-opening. I went away with a lot more compassion for the homeless, and a lot more disdain for all the little ways my country makes their lives unnecessarily hard.

I volunteer at an “intergenerational meetup” and try to explain to older folks how computers and the Internet work. Every two weeks for 2 hours.

Did door knocking as a child to collect money for war memorials in Germany.

I am a founding board member and the treasurer for my regional timebank. I also have done custom software development and IT work for my county and city food bank. In the past, I was a founding board member and technology specialist for the local food co-op. I also used to own and operate a community bike shop where I performed free repairs for anyone who said they couldn’t afford it.

I prefer volunteer work that directly shores up my communities, promotes food security and social equity, connects local food producers to consumers as directly as possible, and empowers non-monetary exchange of labor and skills. For me, timebanks are the sweet spot for these goals. Everyone’s time is valued equally, and everyone has something to offer their communities on an as-able basis. More than that, a timebank promotes members to see all in their community as peers and neighbors despite any superficial differences.

I volunteer at a wildlife rehab clinic. I don’t get to treat the animals, but we get to do all the other work. I feed them, clean their area, check them to make sure their recovery is going well, we weigh them, prep various food mixes and formulas. There’s a ton of housekeeping like dishes, laundry, and sterilizing crates. I’ll also greet people that arrive with animals and grab one of the staff to get the intake started.

We also have events where I’ve directed cars where to park, ran games for the kids, and answered animal questions. I got put on the open house planning group so I will help plan and build new activities, and if we we’re able to get a new owl ambassador by then, I will run meet and greet things with it. I also got asked to help design some new shelters due the various raptors.

Our shifts are 4 hours, one day a week, from April through September, but I’ve been participating in random things over the winter.

I like working with animals because most of their injuries are caused by humans, and they are unable to advocate for themselves. I get to work with amazing people and see a ton of rare animals most people don’t even know we have. It can be difficult to see severely injured animals, have a lot die on you, to see people crying bringing in hurt animals, especially little kids, but there is also the reward of seeing animals recover and return to their homes.

I’m mainly there for raptors, but the most touching story was a little boy found a bumble bee with a damaged wing. He took it to his parents and he wanted to help it. They dialed us up and he asked if we could fix his bee. We can often fix butterfly wings, but bees are too tiny, and he was near the end as it was, but we set that bee up in a terrarium with soft bedding and half an orange, and for the rest of his days, we took care of that bee like any other animal we’d get through our doors.

I contribute financially, but I don’t volunteer.

I’ll be honest, I have my hands full enough as it is with my career.

I’ve only volunteered for things that don’t require directly working with or talking to people. Dealing with people directly gives me panic attacks. I’d happily work in a soup kitchen, as long as I am in the back making the soup and not the front serving it.

And I certainly wouldn’t want to do any door knocking even if I didn’t get panic attacks. I wanna help people, not bother them.