It begins at home
Want to help a good cause? Jonathan Goodall suggests rolling up your sleeves and heading off for a residential volunteering experience. Illustration by Ed McLachlan
If you’re fed up with lounging on a sun bed on holiday, why not think about recharging not just your batteries, but your soul – with a bit of hard work for a good cause in Blighty.
These days you can go on working breaks and stay “on site” for a week or more, to do such disparate things as plant trees, clear canals, fix dry stone walls, help to paint a National Trust lighthouse, or go on an archaeological dig. They are hardly holidays – most have quite basic accommodation (though these days you’ll find some en-suite bathrooms) – but that’s not really the point.
Last year the National Trust, Europe’s largest conservation body, saw its pool of volunteers grow to 52,000, largely due to an increase in group and corporate volunteering. They contributed around three million hours of their spare time, with a notional value of just over £22 million.
“Volunteering is the lifeblood of the Trust, but it’s not just altruism that drives people,” says Mark Crosby, the Trust’s head of volunteering. “The baby-boomers have grown up through an age of great competition with a lot of choice, and they’re looking not just to volunteer, but for experiences. They’re asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’”
Meanwhile, says Crosby, the competition for our free time is intensifying, with more non-charitable organisations, such as NHS hospitals and a growing number of primary care trusts, on the lookout for volunteers. The London Olympics alone is looking for 70,000 helpers for 2012. “Volunteering has risen up the political agenda,” he adds, “with all parties appreciating the benefits in health, wellbeing and social cohesion it brings.” Not to mention the free workforce.
“It seems that when we focus on the needs of others, we may also reap benefits ourselves,” says Professor Paul Whitely, commenting on a 2003 survey by the Economic and Social Research Council. “Voluntary activity in the community is associated with better health, lower crime, improved educational performance and greater life satisfaction,” he adds, confirming what social lessons we have already learnt from the world’s leading religions.
Age is certainly not a barrier on these “residential volunteering” breaks – though perhaps fitness is. You also get to keep fit, learn useful skills and meet new and probably like-minded people. In most cases no experience is necessary. You can even save puffins for free. The catch? There is a very long waiting list and you have to bring your own food. Everyone’s a winner in the business of volunteering, not least the volunteer. And, hey, you’re worth it.
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