Does anyone who works full-time also volunteer and what do you do?

Posted by Born-Necessary9533@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 23 comments

Today is the Big Help Out, meant to shine a light on the value of volunteering. I always feel like a bit of a shitbag because I don't contribute anything to society beyond anything my actual job contributes, but it seems to me that a lot of the people I know who actually do a lot of good in the community don't work full-time. Sometimes I've even looked for something to get involved in but nothing has seemed to fit around 9-5 work. Is it just me? If you are, or know someone, who volunteers while working full-time, what do you or they do?

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23 Comments

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nah_sorry_mate@reddit

I volunteer at my local village hall; I help out at events every couple of weeks and also minute the meetings, but it’s not a big time commitment.

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Exotic_Ad3534@reddit

Military reservist , deployed with the regular unit to a few places. Keeps my fit and i get a great sense of pride knowing I pay a huge amount of taxes to help so many in this country and then I am prepared to give my life to make sure lots of people can sleep soundly at night having a nice cushy life

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MintTeaWomble@reddit

I work full time and also volunteer two nights a week as a Guide leader. Some weeks I just attend the meetings, on other weeks I spend several additional hours organising things and doing admin. I really enjoy it, and as I'm single with no dependents, I mostly don't mind doing so much volunteering

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tanzy95@reddit

I've wanted to for ages but I've found a lot of charities demand a minimum amount of time which is often an unreasonable amount for a full time worker.

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scifisam2020@reddit

I don't any more. I sometimes consider it and then have to be realistic that I'm disabled and have a disabled daughter, am permanently tired, and it might actually be more appropriate for me to contact an organisation where people support us :D When I did do it, it was not just worthwhile, but it didn't really feel like I was losing time, because you get so much out of it yourself. That doesn't make it unaltruistic, despite what some people say - it still helps other people, and usually it's at some cost to yourself. But you do have to be realistic about what you can offer - being unreliable would be worse than not volunteering at all, and sometimes you might actually help them more with your money than your time. I have friends that volunteer for lots of different charities (mainly for refugees, homeless people, arts and animals), city farms, food banks, all while working full time.

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bettytown@reddit

I know a few people who look after guide dogs while they go through their training, they can drop the dogs off at the training centre before work and pick them up after work and so can fit it in around a 9-5 job.

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seeksadvic3@reddit

I want to volunteer but it's almost as hard as trying to get a job.

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Amybonbamy@reddit

I do different things. I do STEM volunteering, which is almost always during work time and I use my volunteering days for that. I'm a befriender, which is arranged around work. I also do things like litter picking in my local community which tends to be weekend mornings. And I do other volunteering through work. I work full time and study part time and honestly don't struggle to find time to do it.

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alittleunlikely@reddit

I work full time as a teacher and I volunteer for St John Ambulance. I attend training meets most Monday nights and then do my actual volunteer shifts on Saturday or Sunday when I have the time. None of my friends or family are a part of St John Ambulance, I just live near one of the units and decided to sign up to meet some new people and do something different with my free time. The initial training was hard work but the local shifts are usually pretty relaxed. I pick up about one shift a month at the moment but I'd like to have the time to do more.

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Low-Cardiologist9406@reddit

I volunteer loads and to be fair I don't work full time, however others in my group do. We try and make it so people can help when they can, an hour here or there. You'd be surprised how much good you can do with an hour or two a week. It's a good laugh too mostly!

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bluesam3@reddit

I'm a teacher. I'm also a scout leader. The two tend to fit together very well: Scout events, almost by definition, tend to happen when the schools are off.

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Ok-Kaleidoscope-2785@reddit

I work full time and volunteer with Scouts, usually one evening every second week. My husband is the Troop leader so I sometimes help him with stuff during the week though as well, to prepare for the sessions.

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Flyawaylittlemonkey@reddit

I'm a member of Good Gym, which is basically exercise mixed with volunteering. Mostly I do it to meet people and get out and about a bit. Most recently we have been renovating a community garden.

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AzuSteve@reddit

I used to volunteer at a Barnardo's charity shop whilst working full time. I was treated very poorly, so quit and never looked back.

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Even-Tomatillo-4197@reddit

I volunteer but I don’t work full time. When I did I don’t think I’d have had the energy to volunteer as well, especially as my kids were younger. If you have the spare time and the inclination to volunteer while working full time, that’s excellent, but I don’t think people should feel pressured to do it or made to feel guilty if they can’t.

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mellonians@reddit

It's great to volunteer, it's worth a lot more than money. You don't even have to volunteer that much for everyone to feel the benefit. I'm a youth leader and since the pandemic I've also done the responder app fetching the occasional old ladies shopping. Volunteering is rewarding and takes you out of your social circle. Oh and I work full time too. https://wearematchable.com/ is a good platform to hook up with opportunities, also crisis at Christmas is great. Hearing some homeless people's stories was shocking. I was like, that was or could be me.

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futuristika22@reddit

I work full time with a lot of long hour days and volunteer remotely for a charity that helps families affected by the war in Ukraine. It's a few hours every week. Also used to tutor 6-7 year olds who struggle with reading, but very strict hours and remote only format was a bit of a challenge after one school year. Volunteering is extremely rewarding and I have met amazing people while doing it. I'd love to contribute to something outdoorsy at some point as virtual volunteering is a lot more like real work rather than a completely different change of environment.

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FelisCantabrigiensis@reddit

I know someone who volunteers with the St John's Ambulance while working fulltime as a senior accountant. They had a front-row view of the Coronation parade. They also run a monthly music club event. I know someone else who runs their local and area guides while working fulltime as an IT professional.

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Born-Necessary9533@reddit (OP)

I do know people who work full-time who do scouts and guides, but in that case their whole family does it, so when they go do weekend events or pack holidays (they even do a week in France in the summer) they're not missing out on family time as they're all there. I volunteered in a scout unit when I was at uni but just went to the weekly meeting, it's a huge time commitment to actually the run the group, all the planning and paperwork, meetings, weekend events and camps etc. So massive respect to anyone who does that!

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destria@reddit

I work full time and I volunteer a lot, I always have. I don't think it's that much of a time commitment and I very much enjoy the work and meeting people. I'm a Girlguiding leader and run a unit meeting every week, plus all the admin behind that. I used to be a primary school teacher so I enjoy interacting with young kids and being creative and fun. I also volunteer for a local refugee charity and organize social/cultural events for groups of refugees roughly every three months. I only started doing this about a year ago and it's the least time consuming, but a lot of fun. I've helped on a coach trip to London with Afghan refugees and a picnic by the seaside for Ukrainians. Lastly, I'm a school governor, which is usually a meeting each term plus some additional duties like learning walks. This is probably the most time consuming and difficult because it does actually feel like work. But I work in education and it's good to keep my ear to the happenings of the school system.

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takeitbacknowyo@reddit

I've only ever known those working part time or needing experience do volunteer work. Well, friends and family atleast. I don't have the energy or time to help out. If i have either I'm spending it on family/friends.

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Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit

I have volunteered for a long time. I'm not currently working full time, but when I was I was still volunteering. I was a volunteer umpire for the regional [sport] organisation. That meant a lot of weekend daytimes spent at locations around the area. I stopped after I had a baby because the time commitment was too difficult. Nowadays I'm a volunteer for a local food charity (distributing supermarket excess). A lot of our volunteers have full time jobs but do a few hours in the evenings and at weekends. I've also encountered lots of full time workers through school PTA, Scouts/Guides, etc.

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