Retirement leaves us with a lot more free time to spend doing what we enjoy. However, it can also take away our sense of purpose. This may leave you looking for something new to do with your time. Alternatively, you may need something to do to help you stay active in later life – an important consideration for supporting your physical health. Fortunately, volunteering may be the ideal activity for you. If you aren’t convinced, here are 7 reasons why you should try volunteering.
Volunteering Explained
You are likely already familiar with the idea of volunteering. It may even be something you have done before, but you’re not sure whether it’s still right for you.
Many organisations employ volunteers, who provide unpaid work to support the business. Charities are amongst the most common employers of volunteer workers, as the removal of payroll helps increase the charitable contribution.
Other non-profit organisations, such as animal shelters and food banks, also hire volunteers.
The idea of volunteering is to provide unpaid aid to others. This could include environmental causes or directly helping members of your community. Further examples of volunteering include:
- Fundraising
- Library support
- NHS support
- Coastguard
- Befrienders
- Wildlife conservation
Why Try Volunteering?
Some people may be dissuaded from volunteering, thinking they are giving their time without receiving anything in return. However, though there is no financial incentive, there are plenty of reasons to try volunteering, even in later life.
7. It’s Flexible
Unlike working a full-time, or even part-time, job, volunteering offers the freedom of helping whenever works best for you. There is no need to worry about loss of earnings, as you are giving away your time for a good cause. As non-profit organisations are always looking for volunteers, they are willing to work with you to make volunteering fit your lifestyle.
6. Develop New Skills
Adopting a volunteer role can help you develop new skills. Whether you’re helping to keep a record of stock in a charity shop or supporting students in a classroom, there is no end to what you could learn. It could be a way to further develop your skills with a computer, for example, or simply improve your ability to manage others. Whatever you do, though, when you try volunteering, you keep your mind sharp.
5. Meet New People
One of the most significant problems facing retirees is loneliness. In the UK, over a million people aged 75 or over can go a month or more without speaking to friends, family, or even neighbours. This isolation can lead to serious mental, and physical, health problems. Fortunately, volunteering can offer an opportunity to meet new people and forge new friendships. Moreover, you will meet a diverse range of people, offering insights into other people’s backgrounds – an essential and enjoyable educational experience.
4. Improve Your Confidence
As well as helping to ward off the effects of loneliness and isolation, when you try volunteering, you are also boosting your own confidence. As you perform your new role, you will develop the necessary skills – as we have already mentioned – and get used to the expectations of the role. You will also get a boost from the social interactions of your role, as well as the knowledge that you are doing good in the world.
3. Sense of Accomplishment
One of the most important benefits you will experience when you try volunteering is the feeling of accomplishment. When volunteering, you know you are doing something that is supporting others. This is true whether you are selling books at a charity shop or providing food to the homeless. This can offer a major boost to your mood. After all, knowing that you are responsible for making the world a slightly better place is something to be proud of.
2. Purpose
One of the most important reasons to try volunteering is to give yourself a sense of purpose. It’s important to know that you can still make a difference in the world, even once you have retired. Knowing you are helping others gives you an extra reason to get out of bed in the morning. What’s more, volunteering can even become a hobby, as you enjoy your new role without the pressures of a regular job.
1. Improved Health
As well as boosting your mental wellbeing by fighting loneliness and improving your confidence, volunteering can help to improve your physical health. Rather than adopting a more sedentary lifestyle at home, you will be getting up and moving around, helping to support your physical wellbeing. Moving around helps to keep your muscles strong, reducing the risk of falls, and can also lower blood pressure. These can all contribute to better health, which is an important consideration in later life.
What Are You Waiting For?
If you want to try volunteering, there are plenty of ways to get started. You can ask whether there are any vacancies at your local charity shops, or elsewhere. Look online for opportunities near you, using sources such as the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
In short, start looking around. You never know what volunteering opportunities you will find.
Peace of Mind at Home and On the Go
In later life, it’s natural to worry about your wellbeing. At Careline365, we believe that you should be able to continue living independently at home. A personal alarm can help.
With a Careline personal alarm, you simply press a button on your alarm pendant and send an emergency alert to you 24/7 Care Team. They will speak to you through the alarm base unit to assess the situation, before arranging help on your behalf.
We offer a range of alarm options, including the fall detection pendant, which sends an automatic alert after a fall. Our digital alarm option, the SmartLife, provides increased range and faster connection speeds, without needing a phoneline connection.
For additional peace of mind throughout the home and on the go – such as when volunteering – we also offer a GPS alarm option.
Find out more today by calling our helpful team on 0800 030 8777, or order online today.
