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Monday Jun 05, 2006
World cup volunteering
Yeh ok, this is a just a lame excuse to mention the World Cup. There is a real point I'd like to make though with this post. On the eve of one of the world's most high profile events, volunteers, as ever, are labouring under an incredibly low profile.
Over 15,000 volunteers have been recruited by FIFA since before January, and on do-it.org.uk we even did our bit to make sure there was a good representation of volunteers from the UK in Germany. If you're going we'd love to hear from you!It's interesting reading FIFA's approach to volunteering with footballing metaphors in bucket loads such as "kick-off training sessions" full of "team talks". Their FAQ answers with admirable clarity, the question that most prospective volunteers would probably be wondering:
Will I be able to watch the matches as a volunteer?
No. Many of our volunteer tasks take place well away from the stadiums.
I did learn one thing about the World Cup- apparently forget the football- the slogan for Germany 2006 is "a time to make friends". That kind of sums up the FIFA approach to volunteering- it's certainly not a "time to get into football matches for free".
Perhaps that slogan might give the UK delegation of volunteering MPs in the parliamentary football team food for thought? I'm sure they'd make friends if they gave their world cup tickets away. Whatever the rights and wrongs of their trip, our MPs demonstrate there is plenty of volunteering beyond the official FIFA variety. For example, there are 40 volunteers going with the Salvation Army to help raise awareness amongst fans about the exploitation of women trafficked into Germany.
If however you can't get to Germany in the next few days the great news is you can still volunteer to watch the World Cup. In fact you can do it from the comfort of your own couch. Now, who says volunteering doesn't offer something to everyone? Posted by Patrick Daniels ( 11:04 AM ) Link to this post Comments[1]
