Health and social care is one of the largest volunteering sectors in the UK. This includes organisations like the NHS and charities which improve the wellbeing of people of all ages. So what do helpers actually get involved with? The opportunities are more diverse than we imagined as our bloggers reveal.

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Tuesday May 11, 2010

I dont believe in Charity. I believe in Solidarity

Thursday was a significant day for a lot of you because it was the day you got to go and vote. I did the same but that’s not the only thing I did on Thursday. I was volunteering again (although after I proudly went into the voting booth and crossed my piece of paper and whispered thank you to Emmeline Pankhurst!)

Homeless people can vote, the parliament Uk website says that a homeless person can vote if they register using a declaration of local connection. So, how do you go about doing that? Well you can visit your local Electoral Registration Office and fill out a form saying where you would live if you were not homeless and where you have lived in the past plus you have to detail where you spend most of your time, in a day shelter, on the streets etc.. This helped clear up in my mind the common misconception that homeless people cant vote.

They don’t make it easy though and I wasn’t surprised that the majority of the guests at the shelter hadn’t voted. (Well, out of all the guests I spoke to).

So that’s what I learnt on Thursday.  Pretty interesting stuff.  A friend of mine, Clive, who is homeless and spends a lot of time in Old Street station with his dog Bilo didn’t know he could do that. So, just goes to show how publically available that information is.

Anyway, back to volunteering. The atmosphere was that of Christmas Eve in the kitchen. The other volunteers and I voicing our concerns over a Conservative government and had practically convinced each other that no one in their right mind would vote conservative and we were full of anticipation for would happen that night and I think it had a good effect on dinner. It was delicious! We even had apple crumble and ice cream for afters. The funniest part of the night was looking over at the TV area where about 15  men were sitting watching Grease the musical. 15 men. Sitting. With blank faces and not a smile between them. But not one of them changed the channel. It was incredible and im sure they left it on because they were enjoying Sonia, another volunteer, sing out of tune and dance to the songs! J

I also spent a long time talking to one of the guests who bought in his beautiful dog Tara. It was really interesting listening to his story and I went home feeling lucky. Lucky my life so far has been relatively easy and that I haven’t had to face the challenges other people have had to. But I also went home feeling positive. He’s a positive person and his energy is catching.

As Eduardo Galeano once said: "I don't believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charity is so vertical. It goes from the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other person. I have a lot to learn from other people."

I found my Thursday incredibly educational, and yet another thing I have learned thanks to giving up my time to volunteer.

Posted by Jenni ( 9:45 AM )
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