Are you thinking of volunteering in retirement or later in life? According to the NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations), most volunteers are aged between 65 and 74. From community gardens to arts and crafts and befriending schemes, we’ve shared some ideas to inspire you to give back to your local community.
How can you give back to your local community?
“22% (of those aged 65-74) volunteered at least once a month.”
NCVO
How often do you plan to volunteer? This is entirely up to you and could be a day or morning each month or an hour a week. Do you have a particular hobby or talent that you could share with someone? If so, you could volunteer your skills in some way to a local not-for-profit organisation, charity, or community initiative.
Various community organisations might find your natural talents or skills useful. In hospital or social care settings, for example, volunteers are often needed to assist with arts and crafts, entertainment, and fitness activities. These might include flower arranging, music, singing, storytelling, painting, or another creative pursuit.
If you enjoy keeping fit, then you might be able to assist patients in recovery or sedentary care home residents with gentle movement sessions. If staying fit in later life happens to be one of your main objectives, then helping out as a hospital porter can be very rewarding.
If you have specific business or people skills, then you could consider becoming a mentor for a young person. There are a range of charities that encourage people to share valuable professional skills with young people not in education, training or employment.
National organisations such as the Royal Voluntary Service have a directory of opportunities that you can match to your existing skills and interests.
Why not start by trying one of these volunteering ideas?
“32% (of those aged 65-74) volunteered at least once a year.
NCVO
If you’re unsure what to do or how much time to spend volunteering, then you could get involved in one-off or annual community projects. The festive season is often an emotionally and financially challenging time for some people. One idea could be to volunteer at a soup kitchen on Christmas Day. These community-run places offer hot meals to people struggling with homelessness, loneliness, domestic abuse, addiction, poverty or mental health issues.
Throughout the year, and especially during summer, there are often opportunities to work on community gardens. These initiatives bring together local people to grow plants, flowers and vegetables. As well as teaching valuable gardening skills to participants, community gardens enable people to get outdoors and socialise to improve their wellbeing. Volunteers can also help people to grow fresh food and conserve local areas to encourage wildlife.
If you’re not keen on gardening or being outdoors, then you could volunteer indoors for a not-for-profit organisation. From charity shops to stocking shelves at your local foodbank, there are various ways you can help your local community.
Befriending schemes, such as those run by Age UK, enable you to regularly visit or phone an isolated older person. Such activities can be enriching for both the volunteer and the person being visited, as genuine friendships are often established.
Many hospitals rely on volunteers to enhance their patients’ experience, including escorting them to appointments, befriending, helping with activities, or admin support. Local authority run care homes can also benefit from this type of volunteering. In some instances, you may be required to have a DBS check, and it’s common for the organisation to pay for this.
For more ideas and guidance on how to become a volunteer, read our previous article, 7 Volunteering activities for retirees.
Retirement planning, Nottingham
Volunteering can be an enriching experience for both you and the people you are supporting. When you become less reliant on wages, this can free up time to start volunteering in later life before you are able to fully retire. With a realistic financial plan, you might even find that you can retire much sooner than expected or even work part-time.
At Balance: Wealth Planning, we have a holistic approach to retirement planning, which is always based on your personal aims and aspirations. We will discuss your plans for both your current lifestyle and future retirement to ensure you have enough money to achieve your objectives. If you’re aged 55 or over (57 years from 2028), you might also be able to draw down on your private or personal pension. Together, we will create your financial plan.
A sensible financial plan could enable you to retire sooner than expected. Get in touch to speak to our financial planning team.
https://app.betterimpact.com/PublicOrganization/35477f9c-55da-4c8e-808b-5b4fa0c91589/1
https://www.helpinghandscharity.org.uk/
https://www.rhs.org.uk/get-involved/community-gardening
https://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/our-services/advice-support/guide-to-retirement/
