Volunteering

I helped launch Edinburgh volunteering strategy on Wednesday. Sounds tedious but actually it was inspiring. Some of the stories of how being a volunteer had changed peoples lives and the lives of those they had volunteered to help were wonderful. Volunteering in al its forms is not just a way of delivering services on the cheap. It's how we weave the threads of our individual lives into the tapestry we call community. Its like the old lady who told me the lunch club " gave her a reason for getting up in the morning". Its not the provision of food that made the difference. That was simply a means to an end. It was the relationships built, the sense that she mattered, the understanding that she belonged that fed her soul as well as the filling of her stomach. Volunteers can change lives in ways that simply service providers don’t have the opportunity to do. And they often can do a better job because they are volunteers than the "professional" can. As I pointed out in my speech, Noah’s ark was built by volunteers, the Titanic by professionals....