The Volunteers' Advocate

There is absolutely no doubt in the minds of the authors of the Aves Report that volunteers are an essential ingredient of the expanding Social Series. But the questions of how, where, and?per-haps most important?why, they are used is the burden and crux of the message. Whilst recognising that enthusiasm and spontaneity are the great contribution of voluntary porkers, there is a practical recognition that organisation of a fairly complex nature is vital whether 11 is done by existing or projected voluntary bodies, 0r by statutory authorities using voluntary workers as envisaged in the Seebohm Report. The difficulties of the individual volunteer are also most honestly recognised; that on occasion, and in spite of a stated endless requirement for y?luntary help, it is impossible for a person wish-to give service to find the best way to give it. ue Report recommends the setting up of bureaux sPecifically to overcome this difficulty, and to pro-Vlde a structure which will eventually assist in the Pr?cess of selection and guidance of volunteers 1Qto areas of work in which they are best suited and likely to be most useful. This leads naturally on to the question of recruitment and the cry here is for clarity of purpose. How important this is: there is a much greater possibility of usefulness if the voluntary workers know what they are being recruited for and what is supposed to be done?but how often the object is not entirely clear. Once the volunteer is involved and interested there follows the vexed question of training?the word which has caused considerable alarm and anger during the whole history of the growth of the voluntary movement in this country. The Aves Report is quite clear in its views and the authors do reflect a significant body of opinion. The requirement for flexibility in approach, and a clear understanding that people carrying out different levels of work need different depths of training, is clearly established. This may sound simple and logical, but has there not in the past been a rather hazy acceptance of the principle that voluntariness carries within it some kind of magical property which, combined with the light of nature, will carry a volunteer through the most intricate and complicated problems of giving help?