Volunteer activity. Volunteer Activities in Russia

Volunteering as the idea of serving society is as old an idea as "society." In all centuries there were people who realized themselves in communication and help to their community. What do volunteers do these days? Let's look at this article.

What is a volunteer activity?

Volunteering is an activity that is aimed at providing gratuitous services to a person or group of people who are not relatives of a volunteer, without calculating the monetary reward. This formulation most accurately determines the value of volunteerism.

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no legal definition of the term "volunteer". And very often this word is used in a variety of situations. For example, volunteers are people who take part in government projects and receive a monetary reward for it. Many argue that such activities are not voluntary, but have the form of ordinary wage labor. According to the above formulation, volunteers can be called workers who work in well-known enterprises without payment for the sake of gaining experience. However, such people are not considered volunteers.

Volunteering in Russia

Volunteering in the Russian Federation was born in the late 80s of the last century. Historians argue that the volunteer movement has always existed, it simply did not have an official name.

In Russia, volunteerism is controlled by higher bodies and is regulated by legislative acts. So, in 1995 the State Duma passed a law on volunteer activity, which is called "On public associations". It defines the rights and opportunities of voluntary groups. In the same year, the law "On Charitable Activities and Charitable Organizations" was adopted, which also regulates the activities of volunteers.

At the moment, the Russian government provides state support to volunteers. So, for voluntary organizations, tax and other benefits are granted.

Now volunteering is very popular and even fashionable. The voluntary organizations that exist in Russia are mainly oriented towards young people who are not engaged in family responsibilities and permanent work. Most often, volunteer groups are organized at universities. Thus, the volunteers of the Russian Federation have the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.

Problems of Volunteering in Russia

Recently, volunteer activity in the Russian Federation is gaining new momentum. But, despite the positive trends, there are problems that hinder the development of volunteerism. Thus, the current economic situation in the country makes it difficult to use free labor. Even in Soviet times, volunteerism was voluntary-compulsory form. Participation in public works was mandatory for all. This approach violated the principle of voluntariness. For this reason, the majority of Russians are negative about such activities and are in no hurry to sign up for Russian volunteers.

Today, volunteerism rests on young initiative people, in the minds of whom there are thoughts of support and help to those in need.

Volunteer Activities

Volunteers play an important role in the life of society. In today's world, there are many problems that can not be solved without the help of volunteers. So, volunteer activity can manifest itself in such key areas as:

• AIDS prevention;
• promotion of healthy lifestyles;
• Conservation of nature and preservation of environmental cleanliness;
• Prevention and control of smoking, alcohol and drug addiction;
• Assistance to the elderly, disabled, orphans, the poor, migrants, refugees, homeless people and others who need material and moral support;
• Improvement of streets, houses, green areas;
• Assistance to animals, maintenance of reserves and zoos;
• Conducting educational conversations with young people in order to prevent free sexual relations and teenage prostitution;
• Internet volunteering, an example of which is Wikipedia;
• Assistance in the organization of charity concerts and various festivals;
• Assistance to law enforcement agencies, medical personnel, rescuers; For example, conducting a survey of the population or searching for a man who has lost his way in an unfamiliar area;
• technical support.

Principles of volunteering

Any volunteer activity is based on ideology. Different actions, programs and all kinds of events are often accompanied by entourage. Typically, volunteers wear clothes, hats with symbols of the volunteer organization. You can also recognize the volunteer by icons. Such ideology and adherence to principles gives the members of the organization a sense of their importance. So, volunteers should adhere to the following principles:

1. Always respect the rights, dignity, national and cultural characteristics of other people.
2. Promotion of healthy lifestyles. Volunteers do not smoke or drink alcohol.
3. Always show benevolence. You can not use words and expressions that can offend or harm another person.
4. Volunteering is a legitimate way of participating in the life of society.
5. A volunteer always has the right to choose.

Types of Volunteering

There is a classification according to which the following types of volunteer activity are distinguished:

1. In the field of activity: social, sports, virtual, environmental, construction, agricultural, concert, cultural, educational, office volunteering.
2. At the location of the participant of the voluntary organization: city, nonresident and international volunteers.
3. According to the types of services rendered and the work performed: escort, transportation, communication with the blind and deaf, care for bedridden patients, meeting at the airport silt at the airport, serving spectators, telephone duty.
4. By the name of the event: festival, Olympic and Paralympic volunteers.
5. By the number of people involved: individual, joint or group volunteering.
6. By the volunteer's belonging to the organization: school, church, corporate, university, organizing committee volunteers.
7. Depending on the type of financing: self-sufficiency and subsidized.

Forms of Volunteering

The following forms of volunteer activity stand out:

1. Individual volunteer activity.
2. Volunteer activity as part of a group of volunteers.
3. Volunteer activity through a volunteer organization.

Why do people become volunteers?

People become volunteers for different reasons. The main of them are:

1. A noble idea - it reflects the principles and importance of the activity.
2. Psychological need - many people want to do something useful for society. During participation in volunteer programs, they have self-esteem and satisfaction from work.
3. The need for communication - for this reason very often people are looking for work in voluntary organizations.
4. Search for new opportunities and interests - volunteering is often associated with non-standard approaches and new areas of activity.
5. The opportunity to earn - a lot of people become volunteers for the sake of financial enrichment. Although volunteerism is considered a gratuitous activity, but the volunteer is still receiving something, whether it is moral pleasure or material reward, if it is provided by the organization.
6. Self-realization is an opportunity to improve your career. As a volunteer, you can establish new connections and gain respect in society. Also during the volunteering you can develop new professional qualities.
7. The desire to share their own experience - people who survived the financial crisis, alcoholism, drug addiction, can predict and help prevent situations that have happened to them.
8. Access to resources - as a rule, volunteers have the opportunity to travel a lot, use the Internet, books, etc.