All work and no pay? Anne M Jones reflects on her volunteering journey

‘Unless one is a prophet or a mystic, none of us can act alone.’

by Anne M Jones 15th April 2022

It was collecting empty jam jars from neighbours that introduced me to the fun and adrenalin of volunteering. I was nine years old, helping with a summer fayre run by Brownies ‘in aid of poor children in Africa’. Fast forward many decades, and, like so many retired people, volunteering has given meaning to my life. This statement reveals needs on both sides of the equation – an equation that is usually very unequal. This became painfully clear during the pandemic; everyone is familiar with the aching gaps that emerged in societies everywhere.