Why do you _actually_ volunteer?

Adult Staff The Staff Mess
21

Worst answer ever…I don’t believe anyone who says it. (There is too much negativity in what we so do to have that as the sole or primary 6reason)

Why do I do it?

I enjoy it.
I enjoy being surrounded by like minded adults to achieve the same goal and have made life long friends along the way (a third of my wedding guests known through the RAFAC)
I enjoy the topics we get involved in, the “military” approach and particularly like that it opens up a world of shooting to me.
I am passionate about aviation and enjoy passing that interest and knowledge on to interested teenagers…I thoroughly enjoy teaching too and often get Cadets compliment after a lesson be it 1st class, MAC or weapons instructing.

And yes I thoroughly enjoy seeing what the cadets get out of the organisation. Both learning from what I teach them, and seeing them grow from shy probationers to mature confident adults, many of whom have gone on to be successful either in the military or in the civilian world.

The RAFAC is unique, I’ve friends in both ACF and Scouts and although there are similarities between them all I’m never jealous of what they do or their experiences (only the ease in how easy they can do it sometimes).

Why did I become a CFAV?
I was a Cadet, invited to Staff as I approached aging out. I accepted and was soon in uniform. I’ve not looked back, been part of a great set of teams, both Wing and Nationally working alongside some amazing people achieving some worthwhile and sometimes challenging goals.

Is it for everyone certainly not, but I’ve spent more of my life in the organisation than not and would be odd for it not to be part of my spare time

22

I think i might be one of the few who replied that wasnt a cadet, in fact until my eldest was “recruited” at the age of 13 and a abit, i wasnt really aware of the organisation.

But once I saw what the organisation helped my eldest to achieve, BTEC, D of E, and the such, and the total change in his attitude, confidence and respect I thought id like to be involved, maybe give something back to the organisation that had given so much to my son.

Then my youngest joined, with a lot of learning difficulties, and social interaction issues, and the cadets was a perfect fit. The discipline and routine were perfect for him, and he thrived. The less academic route to achievements like D of E and BTECS was a brilliant way for him to gain qualifications to help him “in the real world”.

He is still a cadet, and doing well, but having now seen, many times, that cadet enter the building at age 13, hands in pockets, head down, un responsive, then seeing them time out as a FS or CWO at age 20, and being a tiny part of their progress, is what keeps me in the organisation. That and the friends, close friends, who i have met in the past 10 years, a friendship that has grown stronger through mutual interest, and mutual struggles!!! and extends beyond two nights a week and weekends :slight_smile:

So i think i can say “its for the cadets”, in some part, but also its selfishly for me i guess

C

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23

I think that sums it up for most of us. When you stop getting that warm feeling seeing the cadets achieve then it’s time to go and find something else to enjoy

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24

Do you think you’ll stay on after your youngest leaves? They are lucky to have a supportive parent, good for you!

25

This is the big question for all the ‘parent cfavs’.

26

My favourite answer so far. Thank you for sharing.

(Not that the others’ answers are bad in any way but yours struck a chord).

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27

Yes i think i will stay. In fact, lockdown has shown me that my connection to cadets is more than just my sons involvement. I refer to my cadet friends and colleagues as my other “family”, and like most of you probably spend more time with them than i do my real family :), and its part of my life now. I often consider how I might be able to help other people, im not rich enough to give loads to charity, but i do have experience and enthusiasm, still, and while im getting that “buzz” from hearing about how a cadet got a job, or an apprenticeship, based on his cadet cv, or how sometimes that little bit of dust gets in your eye when you see the cadets on parade on Remembrance Day or Battle of Britain, or when your driving the minibus back from their first D of E practice exped, and they are totally knackered, but you know they cant wait for the next one … ill stay :slight_smile: plus i was never any good at golf, so i cant spend my spare time there!

C

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28

I do it for the cadets - sure, just like I do my day job for the pupils. Watching them achieve is great, especially if they start out with low confidence in themselves.

I do it for me. I get to do stuff I wouldn’t have a chance of doing otherwise - fullbore shooting, riding in a Chinook, spending time on an RAF station, etc.

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29

The main reason I do it, is because I know nothing else, since joining as a cadet in 2006 I’ve become “institutionalised” and I’ve certainly struggled this year with the lack of cadet engagement and therefore lack of 2 nights a week + some weekends.

I really enjoy coaching a cadet from a barely hitting the target to achieving a grouping they can be proud of and may earn them a badge.

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30

I agree with @themajor. Although I have a young family, we’ve still been slightly lost as both Mrs Tornado and myself are always active in the RAFAC.

Ex-cadet, CWO, was “expected” to become a staff member, if I didn’t join up.

I do it for the cadets, as its a buzz to see that shy 12/13 Yr old join the organisation, and leave as a confident individual with a new set of skills what they never thought they could achieve.

I’ve gained qualifications and authorisations to benefit the organisation. RCO, WI, M Qual, FT Instructor. I’ve used my aviation experience at work to benefit the cadets classification training.

But…i also do it for myself. I get to travel across the country to visit stations and new locations. I’m an Av Geek, so a chance to crawl over a Typhoon is a great thing. I can shoot rifles, can go on AT expeditions, and fly in military aircraft!

Its always a shame when the cadets need an escorting staff member for a chinook flight…isnt it. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

There’s been times where I’ve thought about walking away, I’ve had the internal guilt-trip of “who else will do it if you leave?”.

Ultimately, I still get enjoyment from it. Remember those gambling adverts on the radio? “When the fun stops, Stop!”

Even with the issues this year, I’ve kept at it.

I was able to attend a squadron this week and deliver three radio assessments, and was great to see three new-ish cadets who started quiet and unsure of themselves at the beginning of the year, talking with confidence on a radio, and smashing out the prowords like they had been doing it for years.

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31

Why do I volunteer? It’s changed over the years, as I’d imagine it does with most people. Fundamentally it’s because I enjoy it; I can make a difference and provide opportunities that I received as a cadet; but for me I need to be challenged to keep the enjoyment and my interest.

Initially it was a natural transition from cadet to staff - I’d gained so much from the organisation as a young person that I wanted to give others the same opportunities. The organisation also got me into a number of my own hobbies that I do outside the organisation, mainly AT related, through those first ‘experience’ sessions and then later more challenging stuff.

Then I enjoyed the challenge of building and leading a strong unit, the subsequent opportunities that it provided to cadets, and the development you saw in them. It came to a point where the unit was successful, and required very little input from me other than the routine OC admin. Whilst I still enjoyed seeing the successes of cadets, it wasn’t enough for me as a hobby - the challenge wasn’t there any more.

I changed units and took on a secondary role, but this didn’t have the effect I was hoping for and renew the challenge; whilst the underlying drive to provide the cadets opportunites and see them develop was still there, I was just repeating the same formula to develop the unit in the same way - it was known, and thus not as interesting. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as it wasn’t challenging me.

Change in personal circumstances led me to change Regions & Wings and I fell into a different role; this provided the new challenge I was after and I moved more towards developing CFAVs than cadets directly and I appreciate the ‘force multiplier’ effect this can have - I can train 10 CFAVs who all go to their units and provide opportunities to cadets.

Now I’m volunteering becuase, much like @bob1 I can influence policy and try and chin off the chad ideas where possible and change peoples perceptions of what certain roles are about, whilst still offering opportunities to both cadets and CFAVs. The challenge now is in developing my own coaching craft and personal skills to provide the best CFAV developmental training I can; the bonus for me is that I get to do all of my hobbies whilst doing this. I still help on a unit as I enjoy working with cadets when I can; the time I can give is limited with my primary role but I’m still able to provide the odd opportunity that they wouldn’t otherwise get.

This past year has taught me that I can still do all of my hobbies, without all of the associated admin - but that the only person benefiting there is me. I’d say I’ve not struggled this year - but it has rebalanced my time allocation to the organisation a little I think.

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32

I’ve kept quiet so as not to influence replies, but now it’s looking like this has run its course, I’d like to thank you all for your replies. I’ve really enjoyed reading them, can find many things in common with my own reasons for volunteering, and I’m pleased to see I’m not alone in having “selfish” reasons for sticking with it.

Personally, like @redowling I enjoy the challenge. I need to find new things to do otherwise I get bored, and the organisation gives me the opportunity to hop around to different things. I enjoy seeing cadets develop, and enjoy instructing and facilitating activities, especially activities that I wouldn’t be likely or able to do outside of the organisation.

Like others above I enjoy the military aspect, and I am proud to be part of a uniformed organisation. The organisation also gives me the opportunity to meet like-minded people, which I would struggle to do otherwise.

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33

Does it really matter why people volunteer across the board? The very fact that people are willing to give up some of their free time to help out should be accepted with good grace.
The fact that it seems many regard the Air Cadets as spesh, it becomes an inquisition into the whys and wherefores and then what extra are you going to do and God help you if you don’t. In all the years I’ve helped out (volunteered) at the Church and local groups, no one has ever asked why and I’ve never thought to ask others. I suppose we all work towards the common good, doing what we can, which should be enough in any volunteering scenario. Some do more than others, which is invariably the older retirees, which for many it’s as much a social thing as the actual activity.

There does seem within some CFAV in the Air Cadets a need to justify to others and to themselves as to why the do. If this is you, maybe you need to ask yourself some more serious questions as to why you are. Among some there is a urinating up the wall competition in terms of “look what I’m doing, Sir / Ma’am, do I get a biccie” and then being quite condescending towards others who don’t for whatever reason, which is quite sad really. If adults have to think they need to be like that and these adults are potentially instilling this damaging line of thinking into teenagers it is a concern.

34

Oh, you’re back. Great.
When the organisation is struggling for volunteers then it is important to look into why those who do volunteer do so. This means we can try and target recruitment and improve the offering.

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35

This is super important and it would be good if more senior people in the organisation took notice!

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36

I don’t know of any volunteering ‘opportunity’ where there isn’t a struggle to get people to help. But as I say no one goes around asking why you do it, it is accepted as I say with good grace.
Maybe that’s what we need in the Air Cadets to improve the offer … acceptance with good grace of people volunteering, not loaded with expectations, criticism and questioning.

We just need to accept people for what they are and are willing to do and leave it at that.
If the “senior people in the organisation” got their heads around this concept, it might be easier to get people to help out.

37

It was a really good question to ask Squirrel and very interesting to see some of the answers. I recognise many of the motivations that people have talked about.

For me, I enjoy many of the activities and have had some experiences that I wouldn’t get anywhere else. What gets me through the most challenging or frustrating parts is always seeing the changes that cadets go through as their confidence and abilities grow. Calling them life-changing seems over the top, but I think cadets was life-changing for me as a teenager, so hopefully others will get similar benefits.

38

I’d agree with a lot of the above. I had a fantastic time as a cadet, and I didn’t stay as staff straight away… I gave it a 10 year break and came back once my life had started to settle down and I knew I could give the time that I would want to give.

I very much like the military theme, I like the uniform, I like the events we get to attend and help out with…

My first GA flight was on a camp, and it gave me the bug. If I can help give youngsters the bug (probably not the right thing to be saying in these times!!!) and they go and pursue a career in aviation - a career that they will love - then I’m simply paying forwards what was given to me by my staff in my time as a cadet.

It makes me feel warm and fuzzy giving out the certificates for BTEC’s etc from courses that I have delivered - knowing that the achievement is the cadets, but you have facilitated it is a nice feeling.

I think there are some really good answers above - and they all seem to be along the same lines.

It is also good to hear of people coming in and enjoying their volunteering who were not cadets themselves. They deserve extra credit for the initial patience required to becoming staff - ex cadets know it is worth the hassle and waiting for.

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39

Another super-valid contribution I see, and not missing the point at all…

The first step to improving the experience for people is to understand why they do it and what they would like to get out of it. I’m sure that even you could understand that basic logic.

I don’t know why you always seem to consider that asking a question is a bad thing. How else can we expect to understand each other, or anything at all, if we don’t ask?

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40

I’m sure someone coming from outside Teflon’s church and volunteering to work with Sunday school would be asked a few questions (or at least I really hope they would). I know I would ask some if someone who didn’t attend the church came and asked if they could help me in the pre-school room. In fact I ask questions of everyone, although the press ganged parents who are asked to do the odd slot on the rota get an easier time of it.
Why then is it wrong to ask RAFAC volunteers? We surely don’t want every Gary, Jimmy and Rolf coming along to help, or maybe some OC squadrons do…