I run an initiative called Help From Home that promotes and encourages people to participate in bite-sized micro-volunteering actions. Micro-volunteering is easy, no commitment, on-demand actions that can be completed in under 30 minutes, and which benefit worthy causes. The concept has been around for approximately seven years, and now has its own Micro-volunteering Awareness Day on 15th April.
The type of microvolunteering I promote is the unskilled variety, meaning to say it's open to virtually anyone to participate in.
One of the innovative attributes of microvolunteering is that it enables a volunteering opportunity to go to a person rather than a person going to a volunteering event. This could be great for convalescing patients, and the less mobile. Many studies have shown that there is a connection between volunteering and improved well-being and increased positivity. As one convalescent person put it to us, “As a former neuro patient, I would have relished any opportunity to help from my bedside.”
Doing some small good from bed can lead to people to feel valued, empowered, occupied and less isolated. We are currently exploring whether there could be benefits to patients taking part in micro-volunteering projects. If this is something that you would be interested in finding out more about, then please contact us.
Find out more about Help from Home and explore what micro-volunteering you could do today, at helpfromhome.org.