Focus
That man step forward! 26/04/11
A volunteer’s guide to volunteering... HOWARD LEIGH describes how starting to ‘give something back’ after poor health forced him to give up work has been nothing but pleasurable and rewarding.
So you’ve finished with work, the daily grind, the horrendous commute which just gets worse each year.
Looking forward to just relaxing, reading a book, sleeping a bit more, doing the
garden, cleaning the car and catching up on all those jobs you put to one side because
you were too busy? 
After all weekends were precious and for chilling out! So why on earth would you willingly trade your newly found freedom for just a little bit of serfdom and become a volunteer.
Well I made that choice and I don’t regret it one little bit. First of all it’s not serfdom and second it’s the kind of trade which is ‘win-win’.
It keeps you young, connected, fit, intellectually curious and satisfied, uses all those skills that made you what you were when you were working.
But the ultimate satisfaction is that you are doing something that really benefits you and the community around you. It’s your time – at last. You are in control.
Discover what suits you
I looked around at a number of volunteering opportunities. I thought I wouldn’t find anything I really fancied. So I asked my good friend Geoff how to do the search.
His advice was stupendous and simple. First of all define what you want to do and
then look for organisations that could make the best use of the skills you want to
bring. 
Well, I had always been interested in science. I had a scientific training though I never used it in my career. I wanted to meet people and use my presentation skills, which I had honed over a 36-year career.
So avoiding specialised volunteer sites on the internet, which are often hard to navigate and all too often display out of date vacancies, I searched museum sites and found my beloved Science Museum was constantly looking for applicants to do front-of-house work and tours. I applied within minutes!
The big day
About three months later I got an e-mail saying that, exceptionally, they were going to do a recruitment exercise out of normal sequence and would I like to come in for an all-day interview.
Well that was a bit of a shock. We had to do a presentation, with just 24 hours’ notice. There was an orientation session and a personal interview.
A week later I was on board with a training session organised and a start date agreed. I haven’t looked back since.
I have had nothing but pleasure from this work. Even mundane queries – which are most of them – about the location of the exits, cafes and toilets are met with smiles by the visitors when I give the answers.
Equally rewarding is when I can give visitors an in-depth view of the some of the famous and significant objects in the museum, such as the Apollo 10 command module, which was the lunar mission that carried out the dress rehearsal for the first moon landing in 1969.
Thirst for knowledge
The kids that come are just a sheer delight, too. I do a tour of the flight gallery and you would not believe how knowledgeable and enthusiastic the kids are.
They have been well taught by their parents and grand-parents. No fears for future generations of scientists and engineers on their account.
I devote as much time as I want to this – once a fortnight. I just love it. And I think the museum likes me, too, which helps.
And my experience at the museum means that I was well prepared for volunteering without hesitation to ensure that West Barnes Library stays open on Mondays after the July extension expires.
Want to know more about volunteering? Email me at howardleigh@hotmail.co.uk.
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Howard, third from right, giving one of his tours
The Science Museum in South Kensington