Why do people volunteer?

I am a volunteer here at Moseley CDT - but I also work voluntarily for a number of other organisations. In fact, when asked to write this short piece I surprised myself when I thought about how much unpaid work I do!

People start to do voluntary work for a range of reasons - to help others, to fill time after retirement, to meet people, to feel useful, to support a specific interest or organisation etc. So, you may ask, why do I volunteer?

I first started over 15 years ago. I was widowed and working full time. My daughter was at university and my son had left home to work in London. Weekends seemed long - so I joined the National Trust as a room steward and am still there. I enjoy talking to the visitors and helping to preserve a building that is part of our national heritage (However I did not enjoy history at school!). So my first reason for volunteering was to fill time and to meet people.

I love gardening and gardens and it was probably only a matter of course that, through friends, I joined the Friends of University of Birmingham Botanic Gardens at Winterbourne on Edgbaston Park Road - a hidden 6 acre gem! Soon I was helping with teas on days when the Garden was open to the public - and then, suddenly, I was on the committee! My reason therefore for helping at Winterbourne arose through my love of gardens.

Music is another love and I attend concerts when I can. As well as encouraging the building of Symphony Hall, Simon Rattle (now Sir Simon) persuaded the 'powers that be' to provide the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with its own rehearsal building. This is now the CBSO Centre in Berkley Street and it is the venue for small concerts ranging from jazz to classical, from professional groups to school students. I now act as a volunteer steward for such concerts and, in so doing, have greatly widened my knowledge of the range of music in our multicultural city!

The age for retirement loomed nearly a year ago and I was not altogether happy with the idea of being considered 'on the scrap heap'. It was important to me to still be of use to others and to be giving something back to society. I am lucky to be in good health but I know a number of friends and contacts who have or have had cancer or other debilitating diseases. As a result I am now involved with fund raising at St Mary's Hospice - it is a lovely place at which to work and I have already learned a lot about the varied ways of extracting money for good causes from the public (and the routine of stuffing envelopes and counting mountains of pennies!).