Time is Precious – So give it to those who need it most
From an early age we are encouraged to care for others and be involved in acts of charity – who amongst us has never baked cup cakes for school bake sales, or taken part in a sponsored swim, fun run or school fete?.
Our need to help others
Children as young as two years old are capable of demonstrating prosocial behaviour (defined by Mussen and Eisenberg-Berg 1) as ‘actions that are intended to aid or benefit another person or group of people without the actor’s anticipation of external rewards’. For those whose early prosocial behaviour is rewarded or reinforced, coupled with a strong sense of empathy, this can develop into a strong and lasting desire to help others.
Of course, donating your time, money and skills to help others is not always an entirely altruistic act – people undertake voluntary work for a variety of reasons. As well as the rewarding feeling that comes with making a difference to the lives of others, it can also provide the opportunity to:
Give something back to an organisation or community that has impacted someone’s life, or the life of a loved one
Feel valued and appreciated.
Gain perspective and understanding of the challenges faced by others in a less fortunate position.
Switch off from work and domestic life and focus on something else.
Gain new skills and experience and meet new people.
Use existing skills and experience to benefit others.
Get to know the local community.
Why I help others
My motivation for volunteering comes from a number of places. Firstly, there is the acknowledgement that I am actually quite fortunate to have the life and lifestyle that I have, and I feel a responsibility to help those less fortunate. It also comes from an emotional place – when we witness human suffering, social injustice, animal cruelty and hardship it can be easy to become overwhelmed by feelings of despair and helplessness, frustrated by the perceived inaction of governments and authorities. For me, volunteering also gives me a sense of agency and purpose in situations where you just feel that something needs to be done!.
My journey to help
The first time I felt compelled to act was in 1984, when drought in Ethiopia caused a devastating famine and claimed the lives of a million people. It was impossible not to be emotionally affected by the news coverage and images of families and young children suffering and dying. As a child, I didn’t really understand the political situation that was hindering the aid effort and couldn’t understand why governments weren’t doing more to tackle the crisis, but I knew I couldn’t sit and watch this humanitarian crisis unfold without doing something to help.
Together with a few of my school friends, we organised a Bring and Buy sale that was held at my house to raise funds for the charities supporting the victims of the famine. For those not old enough to remember Bring and Buy sales – it’s like a car boot sale in your living room, where people also donate items to sell. We raised £101 and even got a mention in our school assembly! Although our charity event didn’t bring an end to the crisis, our efforts and contribution may have saved the life or improved the living conditions of at least one person - or one family. Turning our emotions into action helped to manage some of those feelings of distress and powerlessness at witnessing such human suffering and for me began a continuing commitment and passion for volunteering.
Since then I have been involved in a wide range of volunteering initiatives, but those I have found the most rewarding are those that have brought me in direct contact with the beneficiaries. This is where you can really see the difference you are making – it’s more meaningful and rewarding than just donating money, and can also be a coping strategy for turning the stress and anxiety of a crisis situation into positive action.
How Covid changes things
When the Covid outbreak quickly escalated to become a global pandemic, we were all forced into lockdown and the news coverage was a constant stream of infection and death rates. I became involved in a telephone bank to get in touch with vulnerable people in the community. The purpose of the calls was to ensure they were coping, were able to get any shopping or medication they needed, and to put them in touch with any local services that could offer them any other additional support required. Quite often they were coping just fine, but were happy just to have someone to talk to. Although some of the calls were quite heartbreaking - speaking to elderly people whose spouse had been taken into a care home, not being able to visit, not knowing if they’d see them again – it put my own worries and fears into perspective. I wasn’t able to reunite people with their loved ones, but I was able to listen, empathise and show that I cared, which meant as much to me as it did to them. (This would have been around the time Boris Johnson was having his birthday party).
Dragonfly’s community approach
There are many reported benefits of volunteering, including: better physical and mental health and wellbeing, increased confidence and self-esteem, new skills and knowledge, a sense of connection to others in the community, improved social skills and teamwork and just the feeling of happiness that comes with helping others. At Dragonfly we recognise the importance of enabling our employees to engage in rewarding and fulfilling experiences outside of the workplace, and the rewards it will bring to the community, our employees and our company. By allowing employees the opportunity to volunteer, companies can benefit from higher staff engagement, higher morale, productivity and staff satisfaction, and can attract and retain a motivated workforce. Our core values centre around caring for Colleagues – Community – Climate, and volunteering provides the perfect opportunity to contribute to all three.
Give an hour a week to support your community
Through the development of our community involvement strategy and voluntary initiatives we invite our staff to help the company give back to the community and support the causes close to our hearts. Work can be demanding of our time and energy, but if you can spare an hour a week, a day a year, or more and have never tried volunteering before – try it!!. There are volunteering opportunities for even the busiest of schedules, and it may turn out to be the best thing you ever did.
Caroline Courtney
1 Eisenberg, Nancy; Paul Henry Mussen (1989-08-25). The Roots of Prosocial Behavior in Children. Cambridge University Press.
