Favours are cute, fuzzy and fairy-like: how could you refuse?

August 28, 2009 at 9:46 am · Filed under volunteering ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Here are JuicyJobs, we are always on the look out for things that combine a fresh and funky nature with ethical principles. So, when we saw this kooky little animation, we just had to share it with you.

Produced by the good people at volunteering organisation vinspired, this video demonstrates the power of doing favours. Imagine the indie movie Pay It Forward but with a ponderous voice over and cute fluffy blobs playing the role of good deeds. Particularly amusing is the part where, when someone refuses to do a favour, the little critters all look sad and one favour disappears with a pouf! Like Tinkerbell in Peter Pan. Enjoy the video, and don’t forget to soak up it’s message; any favour you can do for someone, from buying a coffee for a stranger to saving a life, is better than none, and if you do one favour for someone else, someone is bound to do one for you!

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs;  Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board specializing in Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical jobs.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in the UK.

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Are volunteering jobs “slave labour”?

August 28, 2009 at 9:30 am · Filed under volunteering ·Tagged , , , , ,

Beach cleanupA spat has broken out this month over the state of young people in volunteering jobs. The debate revolves around a new report commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council.

The report, entitled Environmental Skills and Knowledge for Sustainable Rural Communities: Problems and Prospects for the Inclusion of Young People, claims that some young people volunteering for environmental roles see their work as slave labour. Some are disappointed with the amount of menial work such as digging, litter clearing and building, whilst an apparent five per cent of environmental volunteering groups allowed young people to contribute to the bigger picture of their work. One young person in particular described it all as “slave labour”.

Conservation charities have been quick to hit back, as they would. A spokeswoman from BTCV claimed that the majority of volunteers find their work “engaging and worthwhile”, whilst another from the Lancashire Wildlife Trust said that young people are genuinely interested in getting involved.

The report seems a little hysterical and reiterates a rather matter-of-fact point. Environmental conservation, naturally, involves a lot of, well, environmental conservation. It is hardly surprising that a large proportion of volunteers are put into the groundwork, in that case. This is more likely when you consider that, with many volunteers being teenagers or young adults, there will be some more professionally demanding roles than physical labour that might not be suitable for people still in the midst of GCSEs with little or no professional experience.

You might argue that volunteering is supposed to give its volunteers precisely that work experience. It’s important to remember, however, that volunteering is not quite the same as work experience or work shadowing; it’s work that needs to be done, often without enough supervision for a complete novice.

All of this is not to simply blame young volunteers and claim that they are afraid of a bit of hard work. Far from it; they are crying out for useful work. Perhaps one of the main points to come out of the debate is that lugging sacks of rubbish about and clearing rivers is all well and good, as long as volunteers are provided with opportunities to identify their set of skills as they work, and gain accreditation or at least good references from their voluntary organisation. After all, if volunteers get nothing in return, then it truly is “slave labour”. With applications flooding in to voluntary organisations, however, it seems that this slavery view is that of a dissatisfied minority.

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs;  Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board specializing in Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical jobs.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in the UK.

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Geeks to the rescue: techies volunteer too, you know

August 28, 2009 at 9:23 am · Filed under volunteering ·Tagged , , , ,

When I think back to my university days, the people I met who were into volunteering abroad were the exotic types. Sunkissed skin, surf-hair or designer dreads, Buddha beads, lots of cheesecloth and sandals, and in possession of an air of the worldly-wise adventurer with a heart of gold. In short, much, much cooler than the majority of people around them, most of whom had never been further than Reigate.

Such volunteers could often be found to be telling tales of heroic volunteering in the world’s poorest nations during their summer holidays and reading weeks, and, during term time, organising sit-ins and petitions to free Tibet and the like. Meanwhile, the rest of us sat around nodding, bathed in guilty, self-conscious adulation.

Of course, this volunteer paradigm is entirely unrepresentative of the majority of people who are involved in the broad and varied world of volunteering jobs. As we know, volunteering takes place in a vast number of ways, from a few hours in a charity shop, to cleaning rivers and beaches, to preserving heritage sites and teaching children to read. In fact, between fifteen and twenty percent of volunteers are in fact IT professionals, recruited to help people in other countries learn and develop IT skills for the future.

The VSO IT volunteer recruitment manager Reshna Radiven told IT Pro website Silicon.com all about it this week. According to Radiven, more and more techies are volunteering, and the demand for them in countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya is growing. So, the volunteering abroad experience is not necessarily always the same; instead of teaching English, you could teach basic software skills, and instead of building schools and hospitals, you could build the IT infrastructures that can give less-developed nations the boost they need.

Now, of course, I’m not suggesting that IT professionals are not generally as gorgeous and well-travelled as the “classic” volunteers I described are. The point is, however, that more than one “type” of character can volunteer, and volunteer in exciting, exotic and truly meaningful ways, than perhaps we all think.

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs;  Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board specializing in Environmental, NGO, NFP and ethical jobs.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical job in the UK.

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Collaboration between Liverpool City Council and social enterprise provide green jobs and training

June 11, 2009 at 11:56 am · Filed under green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , ,

For months now, politicians and commentators have been harping on about how green jobs can provide both a way to tackle climate change and an avenue for unemployed people to find a new career. Finally, we are starting to see some action in this vein, and it’s in the north that the initiative is being taken.

In Kensington, Liverpool, the award-winning Clean Team is already a common sight for residents, as the team ensures green spaces and communal gardens are tended too. Now, the team is set to become even more prolific.

Three more members have been added to the team, selected from 43 applications for the positions. This just goes to show how keen people are to move into a popular, stable and expanding environmental sector.

The scheme isn’t just a way to keep the city clean and provide jobs; those three new team members will start NVQ level 2 qualifications in amenity horticulture too, plus health and safety, risk assessment and manual handling training.

This was all achieved by collaboration with Riverside landlords, keen to keep the land around their properties green; Local Solutions, a social enterprise that provides services in various areas such as training, anti-bullying initiatives, crime prevention and much more; and Liverpool City Council’s Transitional Employment Programme.

The scheme exemplifies what great changes can be made to the way we work in the UK through green and ethical industries. Not only has this programme provided jobs and training for local people, as well as cleaning up the area; it has also encouraged collaboration between local landlords, the City Council, and social enterprises. It seems that a fresh approach to the environment has fostered a fresh approach to valuing employees, providing them with training that will not only help them to do their job, but also empower them to move forward in a green career with training that can easily be built on. As well as that, it’s a fresh approach in terms of business, with a social enterprise rather than a traditional business providing services. Let’s hope that fresh approach is taken up in more areas to provide green jobs to people eager to work and develop careers in the environmental sector.

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs; Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in the UK.

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Giving staff the chance to take on volunteering jobs will pay back in the end

June 11, 2009 at 11:51 am · Filed under volunteering ·Tagged , , , , ,

Volunteering charity TimeBank reports this week that employees are reluctant to ask for time off work to volunteer.

This is hardly surprising given the current struggle businesses are in to stay afloat during the recession. Put yourself in a manager’s position; would you rather that your staff take a week off to clean waterways and work with vulnerable children, or stay at work and make as much money as possible for their wages?

It seems like a no-brainer, but taking a closer look, it might not be. TimeBank conducted a survey through a well-known jobs website, bringing in 3,000 responses from staff and jobseekers, as well as 500 employers themselves. Two-thirds of employees and job-seekers said that they were “worried” about asking for the time off to volunteer.

Here’s the tricky part. 83% of employers said that they see voluntary work as valuable experience. That’s something we at JuicyJobs have been saying for a while; a volunteering job can boost your ethical job search enormously, with skills, experience and contacts to boot. Half of the employers in the survey also said, however, that they felt their employees were afraid to ask for the time off.

Now, what’s going on here? Those employers value volunteering jobs, and know their employees might want to volunteer. They also know their employees might not want to come forward. Either, those 50% of employers would rather keep things that way, thank you very much, or they are missing a great opportunity to invest in their staff.

According to Helen Walker, chief executive of TimeBank, volunteering is a great way to boost morale amongst staff. So, if employers are also aware of this, why not give employees the gentle, supporting shove they need to make it all happen?

Some businesses are already cashing in on the benefits of sending their staff volunteering together. Ford Motor Company, whilst not exactly a bastion of green jobs or ethical careers, regularly sends teams of Ford workers out on volunteering schemes with children’s charities, where those workers’ skills are put to good use in, say, refurbishing children’s playgrounds at hospices. In this case, the company pays the staff for the day, and so is effectively donating a days’s work to charity, but a similar principle applies.

If companies across the board were to adopt staff volunteering schemes, think of the long term benefits. Organising set projects for staff to volunteer on would make it much easier for staff to access volunteering, without fearing a rebuke for asking for time off. Staff volunteering together would help to build good working relationships between teams, and, when those staff members return, they might just feel a little more refreshed and ready after breaking the daily grind for a while. In the end, think about the long-term benefits; giving employees a few days off per year for them to come back energised and enthusiastic, whilst making the business look great, can only be good news.

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs; Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in the UK.

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