Volunteer Work

simon86

Hello again all,
Just looking into doing some volunteer work in the UK - I was just wondering if anyone else here has ever participated in this? I really like the idea, I get to use my MCSA, Novell & Solaris knowledge all to help a non-profit organisation, seems like a good deal for me and them!
One thing I wanted to ask if anyone does participate in this is - What do you do regarding expenses? The site that gives me the info for who is looking for volunteers says that you should be able to negotiate expenses before you both agree to something. Just wondered what expenses there are - I understand fuel, but did not know if there was anything else that I would possibly need to take into consideration.
Any help you guys can give is greatly appreciated.

sprkymrk

I'm not in the UK, but started out doing volunteer work a long time ago. I did it for schools, a couple of churches, a place called Center for the Aged Services (an org that helped out older folks), and a local computer club that had about 300 active members. I enjoyed all of it and never had a problem with "negotiating" expenses. If they needed parts/material, they bought it. I donated my time. Gas/mileage was never an issue (I would have felt petty asking for gas money for the 3-4 mile drives it entailed).

I guess I would just recommend letting them pay up front for parts or let them provide them. Don't purchase something and then try to get reimbursed later. Sometimes I have found that letting them make the actual purchase is more of an eye opener than just telling them how much something may cost. An example is software licensing. This particular school (private) was all excited about buying some second hand computers for their computer lab at a bargain price. I told them they came without any software and thought they understood what that meant. Imagine their disappointment when they got the computers and realized it was going to cost another several hundred dollars each for Windows and Office. That was a tough situation as they first thought I had ripped them off. It all worked out in the end, but it was touch and go for a day or two.

grey fox

Hi Simon

Regarding volunteer work, it really depends on the organisation that you go to. The minimum expenses that you normally can expect would be any 'out of pocket' expenses for travel and the like. Some organisations will also pay you subsistence for lunches and stuff.

Volunteer work is how I got employed full time, so I think that it can be an excellent way to get your foot in the door for employment, but it can sometimes feel like a thankless task.

You can also get asked to do stuff that you wouldn't have considered to be part of the jobs you were expecting. At one place I did work at, I was doing jobs such as installing PC's, ranging to assembling office furniture and painting the walls.

If you get yourself placed somewhere with good people volunteer work can be a good laugh that will also help you learn valuable on the job skills which you can take forward to when you manage to get full time employment, so good luck and I hope I have helped you.

simon86

Thanks for both replies, they are both very helpful! I wouldn't ask for re-imbursment if I was only travelling a few miles, but most of the volunteer jobs are about 70miles away. My friend is also keen on getting involved, and I know that we could do a good job.
I was not sure if they are going to be willing to re-imburse me for 70 miles each away (although its prob only about £15-£20) - but thats still money that they prob don't want to have to pay.
The only other problem I would have is time - I currently work Mon - Fri, then every so often we do a weekend. Giving up my weekend to do some work is not a problem - but if it goes over the weekend, do you usually find that people are ok for waiting a week or so?
Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is new to me, and just want to avoid slipping up, or even worse providing poor service...

sprkymrk

simon86 wrote:

The only other problem I would have is time - I currently work Mon - Fri, then every so often we do a weekend. Giving up my weekend to do some work is not a problem - but if it goes over the weekend, do you usually find that people are ok for waiting a week or so?

As long as you are up front with them on the amount of time you have available there shouldn't be a problem. Either they are okay with waiting or they need to have someone with more time available. Just make sure they don't expect too much, and don't over estimate how much you can get done in a weekend. Most organizations that rely on a volunteer work force understand the limits of the individual worker's time involved.

grey fox

Exactly what sprkymrk said...

Be realistic with yourself as to how much time you can give, and that way you will also be honest with any prospective organisations that you might want to work for.

And regarding travel expenses again, £15-20 per week for travel would not really be all that much. Again just make sure that they are aware of your travel requirements before you both agree to any placements. Considering that they will be getting another pair of hands for such a low cost, they will be grateful to have you on board. I worked at 3 small organisations with less than 10 employees that had all of their time taken up with caseworking, so they were mostly grateful to have somebody around to take care of the more mundane issues.

As for completing tasks, I would treat them the same as tasks you perform in your paid work. If you are able to complete in the alloted time great, if not just make sure that someone knows what the score is. And try not to overstretch yourself.

Good luck.