2.1 Volunteers in specific organisations
In the next activity, you will think about your own organisation (or one you are familiar with) and consider what volunteers do.
Activity 3 What do volunteers do?
Thinking about the volunteers in an organisation, club or group you are familiar with, what activities do they carry out? The list of activities in Table 1, which are in order of the most common activities (based on volunteering in England), will help you. You might like to copy out Table 1 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] or download it and fill it in.
Add in any other activities you have identified that are not included in this list. Alternatively, you could apply the list to yourself if you are a volunteer.
If you don’t have an example of an organisation, you could choose a local museum and look on its website: there is usually a section called ‘get involved’ that will give an indication of what its volunteers do.
| List of activities | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| Fundraising | |
| Helping to organise an event | |
| Other practical help | |
| Leading, steering, managing | |
| Giving advice, information, counselling | |
| Visiting people | |
| Provide transport, driving | |
| Befriending or mentoring people | |
| Representing | |
| Secretarial, administration, clerical | |
| Campaigning | |
| Any other help |
Comment
You may have found it difficult to find the information if you are not working or volunteering in an organisation. As an example from my own volunteering, I know that volunteers are involved with all of these categories except visiting people, transport and befriending. This is mainly die to the nature of the organisation, as it is not involved in those activities.