Volunteering is vital and volunteers are the cement of society. But try to find them. Employees of volunteer organizations from Haarlem and Bloemendaal met on Tuesday evening to discuss the future of volunteer work in the region. A search for new heroes.
The meeting ‘Volunteering: Van Here and Van Nu’ in De Koepel in Haarlem was opened by the Bloemendaal alderman Attiya Gamri and her Haarlem colleague Diana van Loenen. Both explained the importance of volunteers to society.
Van Loenen: “Volunteering is so important. Volunteers are the cement of society”. Gamri: “When we just came to the Netherlands, my mother did not speak the language. A volunteer came to our house a few times a week to teach her to read and write. That was so important for our family.”
“The shortage is more acute than ever”
Figures from the national volunteer platform NLvoorelkaar show that the Netherlands is in the European Top 5 in terms of volunteer work. Nearly 40% of residents volunteer. But according to director Jeroen de Punder, there is a problem: “The competition between various organizations that rely on volunteers is fierce. The number of volunteers is increasing, but the number of requests for help is rising faster. The shortage is more acute than ever.”
Partnerships
In Haarlem, the Volunteer Center Haarlem and the surrounding area and neighbor aid organization BUUV are now working together as VWC-BUUV. A logical collaboration, says director Linda Wegman. “We want to make sure that everyone in Haarlem and Bloemendaal who wants to help knows where they can go. BUUV is really focused on small, non-binding jobs. The Volunteer Center is more for ‘classic’ volunteer work.”
According to Wegman, the big challenge lies in attracting young people. “We can still appeal to the generation in their sixties, but in the future we really have to rely on younger volunteers. You have to reach them in a different way, for example via Instagram.”
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Marjon (45) from Haarlem has been a volunteer at BUUV since 2019. She takes care of part of the website and brings together requests for help and providers: “BUUV is there for everyone. For example, we ensure that small jobs are arranged at the home. friendships.”
Marjon is active for BUUV for six hours a week. “I do that with a lot of love and pleasure. I have a movement disorder, which means it costs me a lot of energy. But the good thing about BUUV is that they take that very well into account. For me this is really a win-win situation. “
“The great thing about bringing together a request for help and a help provider are the responses you sometimes get. A lady recently asked for help. Her outdoor lamp was broken. It was repaired by a BUUV volunteer and the lady later informed us that she would have found it very pleasant. But the work is sometimes quite difficult: you often hear sad stories. On the other hand: if you can help, that is also very grateful.”
Marjon hopes that more volunteers will be able to find BUUV: “Do you occasionally have the opportunity to help someone in the area – or on the other side of the city – or do you need help yourself: we are there for you. Everyone is welcome at BUUV.”
Flexibility
Volunteers no longer simply bind themselves to an organization. They want clarity: how much time will it take, can I organize my time myself and can I also easily stop? Flexible volunteering is the future. These are more short or one-off jobs, such as walking the dog or taking a walk with someone.
The many volunteer organizations from Haarlem and Bloemendaal that were represented in De Koepel are all eager for new helping hands. The advice they received is to listen carefully to potential volunteers. Provide an attractive offer and invest in their personal development.
“It makes me happy and it gives me energy”
Ingeborg (54) from Haarlem does voluntary work for Gilde SamenSpraak. As one of the coordinators, she brings supply and demand together. “I try to link non-native speakers as much as possible to our language coaches. They then work together. Thanks to the language coaches, non-native speakers learn to speak Dutch in an informal way. These are often status holders, but also expats. It’s so important: if you don’t speak the language of the country you live in, you can never really feel at home there.”
The language coaches are very diverse, says Ingeborg. “It is often older people who have time to help after their retirement. But that’s not always the case. Some coaches were previously teachers, other coaches just have a lot of love for the language.”
Ingeborg has been working at Gilde SamenSpraak since January 1 – part of the Haarlem volunteer center. “I used to be a language coach myself and I wanted to get back to work as a volunteer. I think it is very important to be able to contribute something to society. It’s incredibly fun, it makes me happy and it gives me energy.”