Being a virtual volunteer
Nik is a virtual volunteer for Changemakers and part of his role is to get more people volunteering virtually. Here's what it's all about.
I was working as a volunteer at my local children's hospice, helping around the house and the hospice shop. This made me realise I wanted to find out about other volunteering opportunities and how to get involved with non-profit organisations and charities.I checked out do-it.org.uk - a database full of volunteering opportunities, and that's where I found my first link to virtual volunteering.
What is virtual volunteering?
Virtual volunteering, also called online volunteering, means completing tasks for charities and organisations through the internet. Virtual volunteering is a great way to get involved, take action, and generally 'give back' online, and the best bit is that you can do it all from home!
'Virtual' doesn't mean that it's not real, just that you don't need to be in any particular place to volunteer. For some people it can make life a lot easier to volunteer online in their spare time. Virtual volunteering can also enable you to reach beyond your local area and even support people and projects overseas.
My role
I work as a Virtual Volunteering Advisor helping to get more people involved in volunteering both online and face-to-face. I work with an organisation called Changemakers and we aim to get young people involved in virtual volunteering.
"It's great to get new ideas off the ground and build up the idea of virtual volunteering in the public eye."
I can work within my own time from home. I write articles, gather information about youth groups and search for virtual volunteering opportunities offered by other charities.
Although I work at home, I'm not alone! There are quite a few of us virtual volunteering advisors and every so often we host meetings over the phone and online to see how everyone is getting on.
Developing new skills
Getting involved has given me the chance to develop many skills including podcasting, vodcasting and filmmaking. In my role I need to use my knowledge of the internet and IT to use these technologies. Media sites like MySpace, Facebook and Mediabox help me to get the virtual volunteering message across to people. I've also attended some great national youth events like Wired and the YoMo youth projects conferences. I delivered workshops to increase awareness about getting involved as a volunteer online.
The best bit about being a virtual volunteer is that it's a whole new concept and I'm one of the first to do it. It's great to get new ideas off the ground and build up the idea of virtual volunteering in the public eye. It's also been great to find out about different charities while I've been gathering virtual volunteering opportunities.
Article produced by the Choose Action Alliance.
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