One MAD Day

Volunteering. The mere thought of spending a day working for no money was enough to make my friends gasp in horror. When I mentioned the 8.30am start they thought I’d finally lost my mind.

I was one of the first to arrive – dragging myself out of bed in the wee small hours of Sunday morning in a very un-student-like way.

On the way down we listened to our leader, Nick, getting us very lost – “well, rally-car drivers don’t have to navigate” – and large lists of health and safety regulations were passed around. I am pleased to say that we spent the rest of the day blissfully disregarding them.

The Make a Difference (MAD) day had been organised in conjunction with the National Trust. We were to go to Hod Hill, a local iron-age fort, and help with clearing trees that could damage the site. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Wrong. After shaming myself with my inability to climb a stile without the help of three people, I spent the day hanging onto a tree with one hand and my bow-saw with the other in a desperate attempt not to slide back down, possibly taking my own arm off in the process. Then, of course, someone else would sneak up behind me and cut down all the trees I’d used to climb up the slope with in the first place!

But, moaning aside, who says being a volunteer is boring? And why is it that people seem completely unable to do anything without a cash incentive? Yes there was the constant danger of sliding down a hill whilst carrying various sharp implements, but we had a laugh whilst doing it.

You don’t have to run halfway around the world, travel to deepest Africa or recycle 10 million bottles to do your bit for humanity. Most volunteers give a little over an hour a week or a day a month – the majority of us will spend more time watching television – and it all makes a difference. It's people like these that give you a little bit more faith in humanity. Nick summed up the experience perfectly – “I may not get any money, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get paid”.