How do we create a better and more equitable world, one where we all share its benefits?
Over the weekend I came across the following article on the ABC News website:
While ‘Good Deed’ stunts on Tik Tok are all the rage, volunteering numbers plummet
While the article primarily references community activities, sporting events, and festivals that have had to be cancelled or have struggled to run, evidence is provided that volunteering is waning, and the expectations of volunteers are different to past times.
Source: The Age 14 Aug 2022 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-14/decline-in-volunteering-see-events-cancelled-ses-stretched/101297094
The activities of community, social service, volunteering and giving, make substantial contributions to our world being the wonderful place it can be. Volunteer coaches and managers at local sports clubs, lawyers who act pro bono, tin-shakers for the Good Friday Appeal, those who read to the elderly in aged care, and many, many, other types of service and volunteering all improve the lives of others, tangibly and meaningfully. Volunteers in the Tintern community support and create belonging at events such as, Careers Night, TPG Annual Trivia Night, TPG Presentation Ball, TPG Community Fun Day, TPG Movie Night, FOM Jazz Night, FOM Much with the Musos, FOE Horse Trials, Tintern Fair, Tintern Open Day and Year 7 Showcase, to name a few.
When we are the beneficiary, we ‘feel the love’ that these acts provide, and we are raised by them. When we do the volunteering, giving, and ‘spread the love’, Professor Martin Seligman (the father of the Positive Psychology movement) would say we actually benefit even more.
There is, and sadly will likely always be, a portion of any society who are not able to sustain themselves, make their own way, or stand up for themselves. This can be for a range of reasons, often outside their control. Acts of volunteering and service lift others, helping them achieve a life they may not have been able to create or sustain themselves. Our efforts benefit those we serve and create spin off benefits we all feel.
If our society’s socio-economically disadvantaged can live their lives with more agency through the support and acts of others, we see decreases in crime, vagrancy, health costs, and loads on systems and resources already stretched very thin. These benefits we all share are tangible and important, but the benefit we all truly share, is being a valued member of something bigger than any of us – a better world. That is truly something to aspire to!
Factis non verbis
Bradley Fry | Principal
