Volunteer Interviews

The Volunteer Development Agency, which is the main umbrella organisation promoting volunteering throughout Northern Ireland, has pin -pointed 4th - 10th June, 2007 as "Volunteering Week", a time to celebrate the contribution made to the community/voluntary sector by volunteers.

Kilcranny House wants to acknowledge the huge contribution made to the project by our volunteers. At Kilcranny we often describe volunteers as the backbone of the Centre. They come from all walks of life, from a variety of cultures and beliefs and their ages range from 19 to 90 (well, almost!). They add variety and a certain reality to our programmes; having someone from a different culture involved in the schools' programmes or in the Ethnic Minorities Support Programme, makes the work much more real. Similarly, a retired person with a proven background in, say accountancy can be just the right person to volunteer on a Management Committee - and a few strong bodies can make a big difference to a flowerbed. Having a wide range of people means you have a wide range of opinions that better reflect the diverse community we work with. It also keeps the project lively!

What about the volunteers themselves? Why do they give their time and energy to help? Here are the views of three of our current volunteers.  Their answers reflect a bit of the flavour of what volunteering, and not just volunteering at Kilcranny House, is about. Other volunteers with other skills and interests might have different answers. FRANCES is on our management Committee, JULIE helps with the Schools programmes and supports allotment users and JONAS, who's from Germany, is living at Kilcranny for a year and is involved in most aspects of the Centre.

Why did you volunteer in the first place?

Frances: "Because I was asked!. I was interested in Kilcranny, so volunteering gave me a chance to get to know more about the project. I also like to feel useful".

Jonas: "In Germany you have to do National Service, it's compulsory. I chose to do social service, which is quite like volunteering. I've always supported the idea of volunteering, but I wanted to actually do it".

Julie: "I've always volunteered. It's important to do work that matters. For me the financial side of things doesn't matter. I've volunteered  in Peru. I've a good friend living there and it was a way for me to see her and to help out with the community. I've done it here at Kilcranny. I get lots of benefits, but money isn't one of them. That will change when I have to pay rent, but right now it's what I want to do most".

What do you like about volunteering?

Frances: "You grow as a person. Kilcranny is a diverse, community-based organisation with lots of things happening, whether it's community relations or environmental work. I've learned about things I knew very little about and that I wouldn't have had the chance to find out about otherwise. It opens doors and it can be good fun. Best of all it's a chance to meet and get to know people that wouldn't be in my circle of friends. It's exciting, it broadens my outlook and it stops me being too narrow-minded. I enjoy the challenge of it all, being on the Management committee can be very challenging!"

Jonas: "First of all you get to work with people who are very motivated. Volunteering is about doing something without financial reward, so you have to really want to do it. For me it's about wanting to change things, to make things better or maybe easier for people. I like volunteering because it's different. There's not the same pressure on you that there would be if you got paid. If I was doing it for the money it would make it different. I've learned new things and I've met new people. In September I will start studying medicine (hopefully) and the volunteering has been great. As a doctor I need a certain ability to work with all types of people of all ages, people who like me, people who don't. I've improved greatly in working with different people and that is through volunteering. You learn better what your goals are. It makes you more secure about yourself. Before I came to Northern Ireland I felt insecure in myself. Volunteering has given me great strength".

Julie: "I like working with people so that's the sort of volunteering I do. I want to have a positive impact on someone else's life and especially in Peru I was able to care for the people I was with. Whatever skills I have I want to put them to good use. I like having The chance to learn about things I'm interested in but don't necessarily know that much about, like the allotments at Kilcranny. I think what I find amazing about volunteering is the selflessness. The people in Peru were such an inspiration; they worked so hard and got so little money. They were so selfless."

What do you not like about volunteering?

Frances: "What you could do is limitless, so I have to consciously decide what I'm not going to offer to do...you have to be able to say 'no'. I don't always like to be depended on and volunteers need to be dependable. Sometimes on the Management Committee I can feel like I have to do things, I don't feel I have a choice and sometimes they're things I don't think I'm good at. This just doesn't refer to Kilcranny, it's probably true of all organisations today, but we can suffer from tick-boxing and you can't always be spontaneous and open-hearted in the way you'd like".

Julie: "It can be hard to work and to volunteer at the same time. I'm working part-time in a Drug and Alcohol Treatment centre in Belfast. It pays the bills and it gives me time to volunteer, but it's hard splitting the time. I don't like volunteering in places where you aren't allowed to get involved and you're not given responsibilities. Sometimes you have to struggle to be given a role,  not just a job which no-one else wants to do; it's okay filling the envelopes sometimes, but not always. I want to volunteer to share the skills and knowledge I've got".

What do your friends think about you volunteering?

Frances: "I haven't got any friends! Seriously, most just see it as part of my life."

Jonas: "I don't think they fully understand the concept of volunteering. They know roughly what I do and they find it good."

Julie: "Most people I know are into high-powered jobs and they find choosing to volunteer pretty unusual. My parents find it extremely difficult to understand and worry about how I am going to support myself. Personally, if I could find a way to live without a job, I'd be happy; but now I have to move house and pay rent."