Betterment and Praxis

Most of my volunteering has been I wildlife conservation, but it has also included direct action with Greenpeace, FOE and others, running Stop The War stalls, organising coaches for protests in London, helping our at day care centres for the elderly, giving illustrated talks, undertaking bat surveys ( I have literally just finished one tonight) and dormouse monitoring, reenactment and storytelling for a local museum, car parking and running tea stalls at festivals, was a local secretary for a social organisation for about a decade and probably various other things that I can't recall just now. And i have been on a variety of committees for various organisations over the years of course.

A few of the experiences have been tedious, a few have been outright depressing due to the negativity and simple apathy of the public, but the overwhelming majority have extremely rewarding and positive experiences. I have been to some amazing places that I had no idea existed before, I have met plenty of knowledgeable, enthusiastic and caring people - some of whom became long-term friends - and I changed career and ended up working in conservation, leading volunteer teams for several years, as a result of my own volunteering.

Overall, i have found it to be beneficial physically, mentally and socially, with basically nothing negative to say about it other than the need to set limits and know when to disengage. It can take over entirely otherwise.