Volunteers!

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I had a message from a dear friend last night, one of my volunteers, who I worked with during my time at a leading  charity.  So today I wanted to talk about volunteers and volunteering.  It is a subject that is close to my heart for many reasons, not least what happened to me and who I worked for.

During my time working for an international charity, I worked closely with many volunteers.  At its height, I had around eighty volunteers under my direction.  To be honest, when I got the job as Manager, I had very little idea, what to expect, with regards to working with people, who had given up their time, free and gratis, to fight for a cause they believe in.  Like most people, I had a stereotypical view of what or rather who volunteers were.  On meeting my new team of vollies, I was surprised at the diverse number of individuals, from different backgrounds,  walks of life, with divergent goals and aims and indeed disparate reasons for giving up their free time, that I was confronted with.  Each person was volunteering for very different reasons.  

​Most of my team were retired, having worked all their lives in various sectors, from teaching, to accountancy and even the media.  All of them had a wealth of experience and knowledge, and were using it to give back in their own way.  I was truly amazed by their selfless attitude, dedication and sense of purpose.  As a group, my volunteers were extremely inspirational to me, so much so, I decided to take up volunteering myself.  I didn't want to work in the international charity sector, but wanted to channel my energy into something local, or at least with a local connection!

I saw an advertisement, in The Southern Daily Echo.  They were recruiting Mentors and Advocates for 'Action for Children'.  As a gay man, growing up in the 1980s, I was unable to have children, either naturally or through adoption.  I have always loved kids and would have loved to had a family of my own, so for me, the opportunity of speaking up on behalf of those who had no voice, was important.  We all need a voice after all! Public Speaking, expressing myself and holding my own in front of an audience, has always been something I am good at.  I enjoy getting my points across and could think of nothing better, than using my skills to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The training we went through was difficult and at times extremely harrowing.  We were given details of abuse, how to recognise the signs of ill-treatment, as well as how to deal with children in care homes and secure units.  Emotionally, the tutoring was hard to deal with at times, but it also made me very determined to complete the instruction and always follow the guidelines I was given.  Safeguarding vulnerable children and adults became somewhat of a passion.  Little did I realise, just how important this training would me for me in the future.  At the time I was trained to safeguard within 'Action for Children', I never expected to have to use this training in my own charity, the one I was actually paid to work for.

The impact my own volunteers had on me was profound.  They had taught me the value of volunteering within society and I had embraced it fully.  As my role at work changed and evolved, and my boss left and a new, rather illusive person took on the role, I began to find myself dealing with issues, that I had been trained to recognise, through 'Action for Children'.  I can't stress enough the importance of indentifying problems that were surfacing, causing harm to others, who were in many cases vulnerable.  As a Manager, it was always important for me to champion those who worked with me.  If they ever had a problem, I always made it clear, that they could always approach me, at any time. It is necessary, that people feel safe and secure with you as a Manager.  I always provided a good environment congenial to the success of those who worked and flourished within it.  I rarely lost staff and had others return year on year, to once again volunteer with our team.  This was a successful time for myself and all those who worked for me. Like most situations however, it would not last.

I had a new boss, someone I thought I could trust and at the beginning I respected and always took her advice, without hesitation.  She seemed like a good Manager, someone I could always trust!  Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. She was a bully, attacking vulnerable volunteers, for no other reason, than she saw them as lower than herself.  I had phone calls from distressed individuals, expressing, just how bad they were feeling, asking for help and advice.  I still trusted my superior at the time, but always passed on my concerns.  After months of ongoing strange and in some cases dangerous behaviour, I finally last my temper with my boss,  She was causing harm to people, I held in high regard,  She was not the altruistic, empathetic person I believed her to be.  In fact as I know now, she was the complete opposite.  This person was a dreadful human being, who's only aim in life, was to further her own end, with no regard for anyone, but herself.  Her lies, disregard for human dignity and ignorance of vulnerable people was beyong all comprehension.

Volunteers were being used and abused, many became ill and others were just driven away, for reasons, I still am unclear about.  These people were the backbone of our charity, working for nothing, yet the distain they were being treated with was unbelievable.  This was not the organisation I started to work for, many years before. Something had gone terribly wrong.  The more I tried to safeguard and whistleblow, the less notice, the people at the top took.  As I watched many fantastic and able people full by the way side, including other Managers, the people who should have helped were no where to be seen, sat in their glass castle, at Head Office, doing nothing, but protecting their own self interest.

This was of course a shocking time for me.  The details of what happened to myself and others, has been expressed before.  This is a blog entry about those 'good' people who gave up and continue to give up their time, working for a common cause, for nothing.  My decision to walk away from this awful charity, was mine.  There are many volunteers, who continue to work for them, who have no idea, what they have done to others.  The aim of the charity, to Make Poverty History, by empowering others was a sham and I had to live with that knowledge,

Volunteers are good people.  They work tirelessly for charities up and down the Country, all over the World, making money for  good causes.  Many of those who do volunteer are vulnerable and need protection.  When a superior, uses their influence to abuse others, they need to be stopped immediately, not left to continue to take advantage of those, who quite simply do not understand what is going on.

I salute all volunteers, miss those I worked with, every day and hope to also volunteer in Spain as soon as I am able.  The are the lifeblood of communities every where.  Keep up the good fight!  Whatever happened to me and others, should not detract you from continuing to do the job you do, so well.  If you experience any ill treatment, approach a trusted person straight away and hopefully it will be stopped, before it escalates further!

​Peace and Love Always!

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