The Big Society. Be wary who you volunteer for.

All this talk of The Big Society is all very well but it rings as hollow as the Phrase 'we're all in this together'. If you are thinking of giving your time to a local charity be wary of which ones to work for. You may have to shop around to find one which suits you. Maybe it's just me but my own experience of doing voluntary could have been better. Wanting to help the community in some way I've ended up working for two local charities. In both cases it seemed to be I ended up running around for the people running the charities rather than for the people the charities are supposed to help. One charity for instance was crammed full of office staff who if going by the cars in the car park were doing all right for themselves. The main concern seemed to be the office canteen which was going through a massive, and no doubt expensive refurbishment. I don't know what percentage of money was going towards their wages but I did find the whole experience slightly uncomfortable at the time. The charity itself seemed to be about people talking about doing this and that and then not really doing very much. It was the same in the next charity I went to. The boss, a very loud, direct woman drove a flash sports car and seemed to spend most of the time talking a lot and not doing much. Maybe I've been unlucky so far. I'm sure there is a good charity out there which means I could genuinely be able to do my bit. But I can't help get the impression there's a lot of local charities out there which get funding and are not really checked up on. It's seen as a cushy number by those in charge and although they may have got into it for the right reasons, a number of people seem to be employed by the council not based on the standard of work they do but the work they are supposed to do. Many I came across elsewhere on a day to day were simply incompetent. Again I'm sure there's undoubtedly more worthwhile genuine local charities who care about the community. But in my own admittedly limited experience other charities shouldn't be taken at face value. If you are volunteering, be aware that you're not getting used for the benefit of the people running the charity instead of working for the people the charity is supposed to help.