Why Should I Volunteer?

Northumberland CVA works alongside more than 150 charities and community groups, supporting their amazing work for their communities. Most of these organisations rely on volunteers to provide services.  We want to help as many people as we can into volunteering.

But why should you volunteer?

Volunteering is a deal – it’s a win-win way of giving.

So you have to want to make a contribution to the cause – be it local, regional, national or even international. You give your time, your skills and efforts, the cause gains from that. If it wasn’t for your contribution the cause would have less capacity to deliver its service. Your contribution has a value, while it’s sometimes hard to measure in monetary terms, time is money. In some cases your contribution saves the cause real money – more than it would gain from a simple donation. Regular volunteering means you are probably giving much more value than you could afford to give in cash – especially when times or tight or your income is limited.

But volunteering is not a one-way street, because unlike a cash donation where you will get a ‘thank you’, when you volunteer you get something back.

Ten reasons why you gain from volunteering:

• Gain new skills and experience – expanding your cv is one of the most valuable things you can do and you can earn valuable references. In short, volunteering makes you more employable.
• Make a difference – the value of your efforts has a positive impact.
• See the difference – when your volunteering is based locally you can see the impact in your community, more generally you will see how what you do helps real lives.
• Get a new sense of purpose – if you’re in a rut, if your life has changed unexpectedly volunteering can give you a new direction and sense of value.
• Gain confidence – the chance to do something new, to gain a sense of achievement and by working with others you can become more confident of yourself.
• Meet people – get out more, socialise, make new friends be more active; it’s good for you and for your self-esteem and your mental health.
• Push yourself – take on a challenge and do things you haven’t done before. Maybe that will take you out of your comfort zone and in doing so you’ll learn more about yourself.
• Be part of something – you’ll be putting something back into the community and be a greater part of that community.
• Have fun – most volunteers have a great time!
• Satisfaction – in the end people who volunteer feel good about it. You get satisfaction from having made a contribution, from the knowledge that you have done a good thing.

You see, it’s win-win. A real win-win, and you’ve every right to feel good about it.