A recent survey revealed that just 13 per cent of people volunteer about once a week but Volunteer Centre Central Bedfordshire believes the true figure is much higher.

Lucy Crayk, Volunteer Centre Manager, and her team have been out and about in Leighton Buzzard, talking to local residents.

“We’ve found that many people don’t think of themselves as volunteers but when you get to talking, it turns out they help at their children’s school, with the football club, or at church. They see it as just helping out as and when they can, but they are in fact volunteering,” says Lucy.

Two people who think of themselves as “just helping out” but are really volunteers making an important contribution to their local tennis club, are Shaun and Wesley Nottingham.

Shaun and Wesley are twins and started playing tennis when they were 11 years old. Now 18, they are qualified tennis coaches and help out by teaching groups and individuals, ranging from absolute beginners to experienced players of all ages.

“We never thought of it as volunteering, just helping. We go to a lot of school fairs, set up a net to encourage the children to have a go and find out more about the club. We get to interact with scores of people, especially young people, and learn to communicate with many different individuals.” says Wesley

“We also umpire some of the younger children’s matches against other clubs,” puts in Shaun. “We like to help as and when we can. It’s fun; all valuable life experience and good to put on our CVs.”

Another prime example of someone just “helping out” who didn’t see themselves as a volunteer is Sonia. A busy mum of two, one of whom is just a year old, Sonia also works part-time and has been volunteering for Dunstable & District Round Table since 2001.

Sonia explains: “My husband joined the Round Table and I started helping him. First by typing minutes, then organising a Christmas event, then I took part with the Christmas float and have since been involved in lots of different activities.”

“The fact that I can help as and when it suits me is a big advantage. My eldest son has been part of the team building the Christmas float for the last few years and he absolutely loves doing it; he doesn’t see it as volunteering, just having fun. One of my biggest thrills is seeing the little children’s faces light up when they see Father Christmas,” says Sonia.

Carol Sanderson is now retired and has been volunteering since she was a child, but has never thought of herself as a volunteer.

“These days I’m only on the rota for the church flowers and the church shop, and love doing both,” she says. “For many years I was also a member and then Chairperson of a group that raised funds for the local charities. We organised and ran lots of events and had a great time doing it.”

“You don’t think of yourself as volunteering, you just do it. I don’t know why more people don’t help, they’d probably find it very enjoyable and rewarding.

Lucy and her colleagues also found that people often don’t realise how much time they spend “helping out”.

“If you think about the time people spend on planning, preparation, travelling and clearing up – in addition to the activity itself – local people contribute an enormous amount of time volunteering for local causes; two or more hours a week is not uncommon,” explains Lucy.

“When the next volunteering survey is carried out in March 2010 we hope people will realise that the time they spend “helping out” really does count for something.”

To find out about the hundreds of volunteering opportunities in the area, contact Volunteer Centre Central Bedfordshire, tel. 01525 850559, email volunteer@action-centralbeds.org.uk or pop into Volunteer Centre Central Bedfordshire, Bossard House, West Street, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 1DA.