Volunteering – The good the bad and the ugly

In the last couple of years I have discovered the joy and satisfaction that volunteering can give you. The majority of the charities are very worthwhile and provide good support for their volunteers.

Currently I drive for Lydney Dial a Ride  and Gloucest, Forest Sensory Services and Gloucestershire Constabulary. Up until last week I also drove for Meals on Wheels in the Forest of Dean .

I do love driving for dial a ride as it allows me to put something back into the community and I meet people that I would normally never meet. Most of the dial a ride are for doctor and hospital visits, but a lot of the ladies do want to go shopping after. All part of the service.

Forest Sensory is slightly different as most of my clients there are either blind or have impaired sight. Very rewarding in any case.

I have also just finished 1 website and started another local charity as well as publishing What’s on in the Forest of Dean. . As you can see from my list driving was what I wanted to do but there are many other things you can volunteer for.

I have stopped working for meals on wheels for reasons I don’t want to go into on here and have temporarily stopped driving for the police as a whole day away is difficult as my wife was ill at the time. However the police are soon starting a new service collectiing  cctv from local shops and I will be happy to start doing that.

In the mean time I do drive most days for Lydney Dial a Ride and Forest Sensory Services. I am enjoying retirement   and I particularly enjoy volunteering for dial a ride. You get to meet lots of new people and of course have a good chat on the way there and back. The customer pays the driver the 50p a mile and then the driver once a month pays dial a ride the 5p a mile, so there is no waiting to be paid. Most jobs are taking people to local hospitals, but a lot of the ladies like to do a bit of shopping as well.

As I said my choice was to volunteer in driving, but the Go Volunteer website is a great place to look. here are many more volunteering opportunities around.

The wonderful Go Volunteer Glos Linking people aged 16 and over into the largest choice of volunteering opportunities from a wide range of organisations, including charities and community groups, all across our county. Featuring local opportunities from all the districts – Gloucester, Cheltenham, the Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Stroud and Tewkesbury

I am currently building a website for CANDI

So, in short I now spend most of my time volunteering or pottering about in my lovely garden.