Adult Basic Education

Many adults and young people want to improve their reading, writing or numeracy. Adult basic education provides tuition in groups with paid and volunteer tutors. Volunteers must attend a training course and be prepared to give a long-term commitment, perhaps helping once or twice a week
for a minimum of a year.

Volunteers can:
• tutor people who have difficulty with basic skills.
• teach English as a second language.
• help deaf students with language development.
• help students who have a disability.
• work with people who have speech and language difficulties as a result of a stroke.
• provide basic information and communication technology (ICT)
skills.

Homelessness

Many volunteers work with people living in temporary or hostel accommodation, or those sleeping rough.

Volunteers can:
• help out at drop-in or night shelters, providing hot drinks and meals and giving support.
• be trained to give information and advice.
• work alongside paid workers in outreach work on the streets.

Advocacy and Campaigning

Many non-profit organizations campaign and lobby for their cause, be it local, national or global. International organizations campaigning on global issues often need to lobby in Ireland too. In all areas of advocacy and campaigning, non-profit organizations rely on volunteers.

Volunteers can:
• join an interest group. For example, anti-racism, fair trade, human rights, trade justice, solidarity etc.
• speak out publicly about the cause.
• become involved in various actions supporting a campaign, such as sending letters or emails, posting flyers etc.
• support and/or assist in such campaigns events, including through designing campaigns, writing publicity material etc.

Fundraising

Non-profit organizations often rely on fundraising to survive and need to have diverse and imaginative ways of raising funds for their work. Most organizations rely on volunteer fundraisers and there are always many, many volunteering opportunities in this area.

Volunteers can:
• organize or take part in sponsored events, street collections,
fun runs etc.
• help out in charity shops.
• be on a fund raising committee.
• help design a funding strategy for an organization.

1.3.Office Work

Many organizations have an ongoing need for volunteers to do office administration such as reception duties, typing and research. Others need volunteers to help out at busy times e.g. publicity campaigns or fundraising drives.

Volunteers can do:
• reception and administration work.
• financial or management committee tasks.
• computing.
• ’once-off’ pieces of work such as setting up a database, producing publicity material or devising a marketing strategy.

The Elderly

Most opportunities to volunteer in this field take place in the daytime and are with elder people who are frail or experiencing some level of dementia.

Volunteers can:

• Help at lunch clubs or day centres, perhaps serving teas and lunches or assisting with quizzes, games and reminiscing activities.
• Deliver ’Meals on Wheels’ or library books to housebound people.
• Befriend through making home visits.
• Help out in residential homes and hospitals e.g. reading to patients, playing board games.
• Teach an older person a skill - e.g. how to surf the internet, email etc.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 852