When many people think of volunteering, what often comes to mind are shifts behind the counter of a charity shop, collecting money for a good cause or, for the more active amongst us, lending a hand at the local nature reserve.
Aside from a charity shop stint, I’ve got my hands dirty in a wide-range of activities over the years, but the opportunities that I’ve enjoyed the most are those where I’ve been able to ‘volunteer my words’ to help promote a cause, an idea or even a local business about which I am very passionate.
I can’t really pinpoint where it all started for me, but my vague recollection was as a newsletter editor for my local bartering group BuryLETS, circa 2003, where I had fun sharing news and signposting members to fantastic events that were being held in and around town. That led to a regular column for a few years in our local magazine. Then bang, along came my blog about reducing waste followed by the whirlwind of social media, with its unlimited opportunities to shout from the rooftops about all things that matter.
If you fancy yourself as a wordsmith, whether you’ve got a background in writing or not, there are many ways in which you can support a charity or cause that touches your heart, even if you can only offer a few minutes of your time in a day. And social media makes this very easy. Sharing a Tweet here or adding a Facebook status there, gives you an opportunity to signpost friends and followers to an important campaign, along with the chance for you to voice why it’s significant to you.
Of course, if you’ve been pondering your own blog, my advice is to go for it. You’ll have even more wordage at your fingertips and much more space for writing about stuff that matters, whether it’s sharing your knowledge on a particular passion, or keeping a diary about your time as a volunteer. You’ll soon gain followers, even if it’s just a few friends from your town, city or village at first. However, the real point is that blogging has the same power as ‘word-of-mouth’ and whatever words of support you put online, there will be an opportunity to spread them far and wide.
However, not everyone has access to the internet and for local causes, one of the best ways to share your ideas with your direct community is through your local magazine. Whether it’s a small glossy commercial number or a photocopied parish newsletter, most editors welcome new material that’s relevant to the community. So work your content to create appeal to your readers, with a fresh angle or story each month. You may find this hard to believe, but even the topic of composting can be tackled with a different perspective each time, as proven by a Master Composter who writes for our local mag.
If you love writing and think you can put your time to good use for an organisation that would value your support, there are even more formal ways in which you can help. You just need to keep your eyes open for opportunities. For instance, I've recently heard from a writer friend of mine who has a passion for history. She's now using her skills to help develop content for the website of a local National Trust property.
I never cease to be amazed at how rewarding it feels to share your passion and good words with others, especially when you know that word-of-mouth reaches places towards which limited budgets could not even stretch. But there are other rewards too, unexpected rewards leading to unexpected adventures that are far more interesting than the washing up. It would take too many words than this column would allow for me to tell you about it here. Instead, I’ll let the blogposts speak for themselves, for example take a look at the Missing Midwives post I wrote to raise awareness of a new campaign by Save the Children and the April in Paris feature that I shared to support the work of our local theatre and help reach out to new audiences.
So, if you too can volunteer a few words and lend your voice to stuff that matters to the world and your community, I hope I’ve inspired you to get started. There are loads of people out there that do and next month, I’ll introduce you to a whole host of bloggers who have used their platforms to inspire others and make great things happen in the process.
In the meantime, Happy Easter everyone. I hope you have a cracking time.
More from The Philanthropic Housewife
The Philanthropic Housewife: An Introduction
The Philanthropic Housewife: Rolling Up my Sleeves for 2011
The Philanthropic Housewife: Be Part of BBC Local Radio
The Philanthropic Housewife: More Music, More Variety
About the author
Describing herself as a philanthropic housewife, Karen balances the challenges of modern parenthood with support for community projects and freelance writing, with an emphasis on mainstream, yet sustainable lifestyle issues. She's also the creator of The Rubbish Diet blog and a frequent contributor to BBC local radio. To find out more about Karen, just visit www.karencannard.co.uk.
