...Volunteering: no, I am not rich and my free time is not unlimited...

After two posts (1,2) on volunteering, a third post covers two specific misconceptions: money and free time. 

Do I look like her?

The first misconception is that people who volunteer / are willing to volunteer are wealthy - or at least they have enough money to support themselves without working. 

Let me put this straight for you. 

No. That is not the case.

I have met several volunteers out there who can hardly support themselves - but they volunteer. 

I have me the odd old lady you is a low pensioner - she volunteers for her local religious centre. 

I have met the lad who has just graduated from university - and he volunteers in the hope that he can get the experience and skills to find a paid job. He's going to be paying his student loan in the next 30 years of his life, and he is living on tesco value noodles.

I have met that lady who feeds the poor, and she is poor herself. 

I have met a disabled man who has been volunteering with other disabled individuals and his disability allowance can hardly support him. 

I have met low-paid, redundant people, and pensioners, who volunteer in politics, as they cannot stand such an expensive life.

I have met 'myself', who has been volunteering for years - even when I was unemployed. And yes, I ended up working as a freelancer because all my volunteering (15 years of it) did not help me land a single paid job!

Of course, there are plenty of volunteers out there who happen to do both: work, and volunteer. 

Moral of the story: volunteering is not (only) for financially independent people. 

Free time? You must be joking, right?

The second misconception is time.

Free time does not equal unlimited volunteering and as I have mentioned before (post 2) volunteering can become an abuse if your boss asks you to volunteer for more time than you can afford. 

This post started with a specific thought in mind, which I am going to share with you as an example. In is related to childfree living.

I recently had a chat with one of the other volunteers, who happens to be a pensioner, and volunteers her time for the local community, doing various things. 

While we were at work, she asked me if I had any children, and when I told her I am childfree, she said:

'No kids? Then you must have plenty of free time. Why don't you also come and volunteer with us at the 'name of organisation here'? You know, we are desperate for volunteers on Mondays'. 

I was left with my mouth wide open: 

a) because the lady assumed that just because I have no kids I have way too much time in my hands
and b) just because I volunteer with one organisation, it doesn't mean that I should volunteer with every cause out there. 

Then, I realised that the problem here is labelling:

Labelling the childfree as = too much free time
Labelling the volunteer as = he / she volunteers for life / is a professional volunteer

Very wrong indeed. Volunteers are not life-committed volunteers. They need to work and get paid too - and certainly they want to use their free time THE WAY THE WANT TO. They have a life outside of volunteering.

Childfree individuals have no unlimited free time. The do have some free time, maybe more time than a parent has (it always depends on who you are), but trust me, we are very busy indeed. Many of us work full-time, and the limited free time we have, we want to devote it to ourselves, our partners, our dream-chasing activities. Therefore, don't ask the childfree to volunteer if they don't want to. 

No matter who you are, your free time is no exploitation material.

There you go. 
I. said. it.

...Volunteering... and abuse of volunteers...

I struggled to find a better word that 'abuse' to use on the title of this post. Frankly because this is exactly what I am going to talk about today. Abuse of volunteers.

I already mentioned possibly exploitation of volunteers on a previous post. I remind you that volunteering does not equal exploitation. The two are miles away when volunteers offer their services in return for something: training, professional references, networking, as a personal rewarding experience, in the hope that one can land a job...you call it. 

So, when is volunteering an abuse? 

I answer this question based on personal experience (I have been volunteering in various settings in the last 16 years). 

Are you shouting at me? No thanks!

Volunteering is abuse when:

• your boss keeps asking you to do more hours than you can give to the project / cause
• your boss makes you do the work that should be done by paid staff
• you have to pay your weight in gold in order to volunteer (a.k.a. 'milking the cow' volunteering')
• your personal information is not personal any more.
• you were supposed to be CRB checked in order to volunteer, but nobody has bothered to CRB check you. If your boss CRB checks you, you can put it on your CV. Although your new boss may CRB check you anyway.
• you do all the hard work while others (staff and volunteers) are watching - and they do not offer a helping hand.
• you are unsupervised
• nobody provides you any training / new skills
• your boss makes you do thinks without considering your health and safety
• your travel expenses are not (partly) covered - unless this is not an issue for you.
• your boss abuses your networking connections
• your boss abuses your 'repairing the laptop' skills
• they call YOU first every time they need someone to volunteer - and this happens ALL the time (or very often). You are not there to cover (all) emergences remember. 
• You are bullied by the staff / other volunteers (because bullying among volunteers does exist).
• your boss makes you do things that you don't enjoy, whether you like it or not. 
• you are seen in an inhumane manner (as a slave; use your imagination here). 
• you are brainwashed for things and you are emotionally abused (e.g. this frequently happens in religious and political settings of volunteering). 
• you are not allowed to offer your opinion / view
• the staff does not treat you as 'one of us' and as 'equal'. 
• your confidence is going down instead of going up while you volunteer
• you are not allowed breaks / time for yourself (e.g. time to pray if you are a Muslim). 
• you have to pretend you like doing something when you don't (don't pretend you can work with children if you don't like being around them).
• you are told to take illegal action whether you believe in a cause or not (use your imagination here). Unless of course you WANT to take illegal action (see 'activism' - nothing wrong with this). Then, YOU face the circumstances like an adult.
• people don't treat you with respect
• you don't enjoy it. 

I hope I have not left any major issues out but I am sure that you get the point. Be careful when you volunteer and make sure you know how to set your limits and how to withdraw from the post, if for any reason, you don't want to do it any more.