Wednesday 11 January 2012

Ron (or "How volunteers make a difference")


As a Volunteer Co-ordinator it is very easy to get bogged down in facts and figures, recruitment strategies and thinking about new opportunities to engage with volunteers. Recently, while out visiting a new IT support volunteer, I was reminded of exactly what volunteers mean to our service. As the volunteer brought the session to a close I approached and jokingly asked the elderly gentleman he had been helping patiently “So… how was he”? His response was perfect and accompanied by a beaming smile: “He’s a cracker! I’ve learnt more in the last hour than I ever knew before”. His reply formed part of a volunteering story that cannot fit into a spreadsheet or work plan.

Ron, the man who had given such a great response, wanted to learn more about computers because he, like many other people of his age, felt lonely and was at risk of being alienated by an increasingly digital world. When he saw IT sessions advertised in the library he thought it would be a way to connect with family and friends and maybe an opportunity to meet new people too. By attending just one IT session at his local library he learnt how to send and receive emails and gained the confidence to do so independently (he also decided that even though everyone else seemed to be doing it Facebook probably wasn’t for him!). More importantly, Ron was able to enjoy 100% of someone’s attention for an uninterrupted hour and I could see how much this meant to him. He was full of enthusiasm and keen to practice what he had been shown with his ‘homework’ before coming back for his next session.

This is one story in one library in a pattern that I’m sure is replicated everywhere there is a volunteer in place. I know that across our region people are finding a new hobby researching their family history, parents and children are bonding and making new friends at Rhymetime or Storytime, people confined to their homes are welcoming a visitor bringing them library stock and in the summer children will share an enthusiasm for books which will hopefully last a lifetime. All of this can happen because of volunteering! It was brilliant to witness the effect first-hand and a reminder of how volunteers compliment the great service libraries provide and the community spirit they embody.