‘Lifeblood’, ‘indispensable’, ‘core’, ‘amazing’, ‘backbone’

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard these words used to describe volunteers.  Having heard them repeated so often I feel that they have lost their power to adequately describe what volunteers bring to charities. But what word might adequately describe the power of volunteering?

I attended a volunteering event organised by National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NVCO) recently when some young people spoke about volunteering for City Year.   Before I asked a question I wanted to make sure that I thanked the young volunteers for their contribution.  The word I used to describe them just popped out, and I didn’t really intend to use it, it just arrived fully formed and perfect.  Magical.  Those young volunteers are magical. 

I’ve hesitated to use this word to describe volunteering since but I’ve made a decision that I’m going to use it more.  Partly because the other words do seem to have lost their power, but also because magic is often the art of transformation.  It’s traditionally most often about change; from an empty hat to one with a rabbit in, from one thing into another, and something (sometimes someone) going from one place to another.   

What volunteers do across the UK is remarkable in scope and range. But what they are often doing is helping to create change.  Even something as simple as a volunteer helping to make life a bit more bearable is change.  And even the smallest change can be powerful.  

We’re working really hard at Crisis to ensure our volunteers are aware of their part in ending homelessness and their part in the changes that can take place for our members. 

We know that without our volunteers helping to make shops stand out on the high street, delivering brilliant customer service, we wouldn’t raise vital funds.  

We know that without our volunteers thousands of guests at Christmas would not get a meal, a bed, a haircut or the conversation over a cup of tea that makes them feel human.

We know that without volunteers our fundraising events would be less vibrant and colourful.

We know that without volunteers, we would not to be able to provide the full range of services in our Skylights.

We know that without volunteers doing a huge range of tasks supporting staff across our organisation, Crisis would run a little slower.  

All of these changes.  All with volunteers. In Volunteers’ Week 2018, I’d like to thank all of our volunteers for their hard work, skills, talents and dedication. Wherever they are, whatever they do. Because what you do is magical.