Amazing volunteers!

1 Jan 2022 • zzz_Archive

Dear Readers,

I find the programme Saving Lives at Sea compulsive viewing on the TV.  I am overflowing with admiration for those men and women of the RNLI who are prepared to drop what they are doing at a second's notice, and rush out into dangerous conditions to help rescue other people who have got into difficuulties.  Their courage is amazing; I know it is something I couldn't do.  They deserve to feel very proud of themselves.

The volunteering these men and women do has quite a glamorous side to it – carrying a bleep, having all that special gear to struggle into, fast boats, and huge praise and gratitude from those they have rescued.  But for many of the volunteers who keep our society ticking over from day to day, there is a lot less glamour, a lot less recogition.  I am thinking about all our local volunteers: members of parish hall committees, churchwardens, 'spice girls', volunteers for charity shops and the hospice, and people who organise and run day centres and activity groups.

The list is just about endless – I am sure you can think of many more, perhaps some that you are involved in yourself.  Hopefully all these people gain from what they do, and feel fulfilled and rewarded: they should do, because it is they who really keep our society working; without them, we would each just be living on our own little desert island, losing all the links and connections which bind us together into a proper community.

So – if you are a volunteer yourself, well done, and thank you!  And if volunteering is not something which you are able to do, don't forget to give those that do a pat on the back!

A very happy and healthy New Year to you all.

Frances

Image of RNLI Cromer lifeboat courtesy of Ian Barsby, Unsplash.