How to be a great volunteer and get the most out of volunteering

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Before you click away thinking "Oh, how boring", just ask yourself if you are a volunteer. You might think you're not but you probably are. If you help at your child's school or preschool, you are a volunteer. School governors are the largest force of volunteers in this country. If you're on the PTFA, PTA or whatever it's called, or have even ever stood on a stall at a fete, you are a volunteer. If your child or children are still too young for school and you help at a toddler group, you're a volunteer - even if it's just putting out the chairs and tidying up the toys. If you've ever hosted a coffee morning at your house, you too are a volunteer. If you help at a child's sports session, dance school, cub pack or guide company, you're a volunteer. And they're just the examples I can think of that most parents are likely to do.

Volunteers are a huge force for good. If people didn't volunteer, then quite simply, lots of things wouldn't run so smoothly, or at all. They raise much needed funds for community projects and charities. But it's not all one way traffic. Volunteering can really help people develop new skills that can be transferred into the workplace, it can help improve confidence and give you a sense of belonging. Just look how well received the Games Makers were during the Olympics and Paralympics!

But how can you get the most of volunteering? Having been a volunteer, managing other volunteers, an employee working with volunteers, and still volunteering myself, I have some views on that and some tips you might like to consider.

1. Don't be scared to offer your services. People often look at voluntary organisations and think they have it all covered, but the fact is they may be struggling with people doing multiple roles and they just need a break. New volunteers with fresh perspective and enthusiasm are always welcome.

2. Consider what you have to offer and what you can commit. There are volunteering opportunities that may take a few hours every now and then, ones that can be fitted in around very small children and can be done from home, or ones that are restricted to an hour at the same time each week. Go for the ones that fit you and your lifestyle in the best possible way. Choose things you enjoy doing because you'll enjoy it more and that way, you'll do it for longer. There are voluntary roles out there doing lots of different things, and using lots of different skills. If you want to develop a skill, volunteering is a great way to do that if you can find the right role - your local CVS can help you find something specific if you are struggling to find something.

3. Don't be afraid to try different things, especially if you don't really know what it is you want to do.

4. Get training if it's offered. Some volunteering opportunities (I'm thinking Samaritans here) have a compulsory training course that you must complete. Others may offer regular but not compulsory sessions. Even if it's optional, it will benefit you and the organisation you're volunteering for to attend some training, even if it means taking a little time out. Usually, the organisation will pay for your travel so don't worry about being out of pocket. Even if there is not structured training on offer, ask if someone can show you what to do if you're not feeling confident.

5. Don't be afraid to admit if you've bitten off more than you can chew. This is one aspect of volunteering that, as a manager of volunteers, I struggle with regularly - people take on something they can't (or don't want to) do so instead of telling someone or asking for help, they just go silent, do nothing or very little and cause no end of problems. Be honest with yourself - and if it's not working out, ask for help, there is no shame in that. Nor is walking away if you really can't do it. People will appreciate your honesty. No-one is indispensable. No-one.

6. Don't be a martyr. Don't take on lots of different tasks or roles because it looks like there is no-one else to do them and sigh about how there is no-one else to do them. I have known at least one person who had multiple roles who ended up dropping them all because it was negatively affecting their relationship. They believed that there was no-one else to do those roles but there are now several people are doing the things they were doing alone before. If it becomes too much and is affecting your health or well-being, it's probably not the role for you. Be honest with yourself, and with others.

7. Don't allow yourself to be treated as a second class citizen. Employees are not a better class of worker - they are paid for what they do, volunteers do it for nothing. You're amazing. Employees are usually there to help you. Tell them what you need and they will usually do their best to provide that, within limits of course, because charities are not awash with money. Don't be afraid to give constructive feedback if you are encountering problems with what you do.

8. Understand your role. Being a volunteer doesn't mean you don't have responsibilities - some voluntary positions come with a lot of responsibility indeed. If you have a responsibility, do your best to fulfill them and just like at work, do let someone know if you can't, for whatever reason.

9. Have fun! Volunteering is something you do in your spare time so it'll feel all the more rewarding if you enjoy it. If you have meetings, make them fun whilst getting the business down. This usually involves cake. Or wine. Or both.

10. Just do it! You have nothing to lose. And if it doesn't work out, just try something else. As I said before, it can be extremely rewarding and improve both your skills and confidence. And you might even enjoy it too.

Good luck!

My news (or what I was going to blog last night before sleep took hold of me)

I took my first radical step a few days ago. I stood down from my main volunteer role and it feels like a weight has been lifted.

I was the Regional Coordinator for the NCT in the North West. It was a role I had taken on by default, in the absence of anyone else and initially, I was just helping organise a training day for volunteers but I ended up taking on the whole role. It hadn't meant to be that way as I had wanted to stick to helping other branch treasurers, sharing the experience I had picked up doing the same role in my own branch.

I've been doing the job for two years. Some of it was hard work, some of it was a doddle. I became part of a fantastic, if disparate, group of ladies who do the same role in other parts of the UK. We regularly swap emails and occasionally met up at quarterly meetings; something not so easy for me due to the distance and the difficulties of arranging childcare if my husband was working the weekend (and there's a 50:50 chance of that).

I experienced some great highs and some awful lows. My high was organising a training day which was attended by over 40 people in March. We'd never had that many people turn up to such an event. Forty fantastic volunteers giving up their Saturday; barely a negative comment and lots of positive ones about how well it was organised and how much people had got out of it. My low point saw me in floods of tears over an email I received, which berated me and everything I stood for. Luckily, that low was a one off; it was soon dealt with and forgotten.

The problem is, as I've blogged before, I'm moving on now. I hinted at it, but didn't directly mention that I was thinking of giving it up. But it was becoming too much effort, and I have a growing interest in doing other things, like this. Tasks I was supposed to be doing were being left. My enthusiasm to get them done was waning.

And yet I felt guilt. I'd taken on the role because there was no-one else doing it, and hadn't been for some time. There wasn't anyone else coming forward to help me that could take my place. However, I knew from my experience as a volunteer, that guilt alone is not a good enough reason to stay, and that it is the wrong thing to do - to keep doing something that you're not paid to do, to which you are no longer fully committed. Far better to create a vacancy - because others will step in and cover - than to mess it up royally by being half-arsed.

I have always known that the treasury work is my strength. In NCT circles, I am famous for it, strange as that may seem. A lot of it is about how to use an accounting application, which I've used for years now, and I worked for several years supporting accounts systems. Some of it is training - again, something I have done in my working life. Some of it is just common sense, although you wouldn't believe that sometimes. I can help other people in other branches quite easily, without thinking too hard about it. In other words, I can still make a difference without putting in too much effort. That sounds perfect to me! I decided I would ask to step back and just do that.

It didn't make the process of resigning any easier. I had let it drag for a while. I attended a training weekend last month, which was enjoyable and useful but at the end of the first day, I was returning to my room feeling very emotional without knowing why. I got back to my room, lay on the bed, and just cried. I knew at that point that stepping back was inevitable; it was just a matter of when.

I finally decided to do it this weekend. I had wondered if I should stay for a few months, hope to find a successor and hand over to them neatly. I don't like leaving people in the lurch. The risk was that I would let it drag even further. I arranged another training day and I couldn't attend for childcare reasons. I could have booked a babysitter but it was all day and I wasn't comfortable with that, as it would have had to be a stranger. I lay in bed one morning thinking about when I should go when I realised that there was no point in delaying any further. I was making a hash of it now, so why stay?

I got up and I composed the email. I had tears in my eyes as I typed the words. It isn't a full resignation - because I offered to do the treasury work. Other parts of the North don't have any extra help with their accounts and so I can reach further than my own region. I said that in my email; that I still want to help with that, because that is what I'm good at. I told myself I wasn't completely walking away whilst I was writing it. I delayed hitting send, using Twitter as a distraction for a while until I could delay no further. The moment of truth. I cried. Whether it was with relief or with sadness, I don't really know.

I got a reply back the same evening and I even delayed reading that too, but the reply was polite and positive, if regretful at my decision. It asked if anything could be done or could have been done differently, but the answer is no. It's not that the role is horrible, it's just that it's no longer for me. My offer of helping with treasury stuff has been accepted and after a chat on the phone with someone yesterday, I've handed over pretty much everything else I had on my plate. I'm still helping my local branch too - although I am naturally moving away from that now that the children are at school and I don't regularly go to activities. The relief is enormous but I'm still feeling emotional about it all. To blog about it last night would have been a step too far and even writing this today has been hard.

It's been fun and I had a ball at times. It wound me up at others, and it made me cry just once - except for the process of making the decision to step back, which has been one of the hardest things ever. I achieved some things of which I will be forever proud. I will miss being part of the fab team that is Karen, Helen, Joanne, Elaine, Geraldine, Miriam, Lonnie, Claire and Hayley (and just recently, Caitlin) but for now, I am still allowed to play alongside them. If you read this, ladies, thanks for the support and the laughs (and late night wine-fuelled chats at conferences). If truth be known, I still feel guilty about going now, but I know that that will pass.

As one door closes, another should open, right? Let's see where this one leads.