Opportunities for Volunteering in Community and Public Services: Analytical Essay

downloadDownload
Download PDF

Another way of doing this is by giving days off to those who want to help with the improvement of the community which might be done by volunteering in different beneficial initiatives like the tree planting day /22nd of July/. In my opinion, public services should participate in more activities like this because this will improve their relations with the community as well which as we know are not very peaceful. It will be a good idea if the police are organising more meetings with the young people who had a negative experience with the services. This by itself will help them overcome the barriers they have and allow the police staff helps them build the future they want to live.

Opportunities for volunteering in the community.

They are many volunteering opportunities, especially in the community. They are several organisations like Oxfam, the British red cross and Samaritans that use the help of the public to improve the community. Those organisations are voluntary which makes the job roles they have unpaid. But even though it is unpaid over the last year they have been 21milion people who volunteered in the community. All those people could be defined as good citizens because they have made a positive change by helping society in different aspects of their life.

Click to get a unique essay

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

Depending, on our skills and qualifications we have different volunteering opportunities that might be given to us. For example, if we a good at communicating we can become a phone dispatcher in the Samaritans and help people overcome the barriers that stop them. Also, as people studying public services course, we will be able to join the Red Cross based on our qualifications and knowledge. We do not have to forget that; the most important thing is not the qualifications we have but can we make a connection with the people who are we working with. That is why is very important before we apply for volunteering work to analyse our skills. By doing this we will ensure that our participation will be beneficial for the community and will not put someone at risk. The volunteering might be beneficial for our living environment which might relate to environmental protection or festivals that aims to unite all nations together. Many organisations organise a cleaning initiative that makes the environment safer and prevent the spreading of diseases. In my opinion, in the situation that the UK is facing know it will be great if we participate in cleaning initiatives like this /with the right protection clothing/.

All of this will be beneficial for individuals in two ways. Firstly, it might help them socialise and overcome the barriers they have by listening to the advice the volunteers give them. Secondly, volunteering initiatives will help them physically because they will be able to participate in different activities. Another impact of volunteering we will add more value to society. Overall, volunteering is beneficial for all areas of personal development and social improvement. TO STIMULATE MORE PEOPLE VOLUNTEER THERE SHOULD BE MORE AWARDS FOR THOSE WANTING TO MAKE A CHANGE LIKE THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD SCHEME.

Opportunities for volunteering with public services.

Within the public services, they are many volunteering roles available for those ready to experience what the public services work is. This might be very important especially for those who are not sure is that the right place to work. They are numbers of opportunity in Public Services such as:

Special Constable is a volunteering role available in the Police Services for candidates over 18 years old. This job opportunity gives the people doing it the same responsibilities the regular officers have. Becoming a special constable is a very responsible job which requires special training. It is a great opportunity for people who have doubts about joining the services.

Mountain Rescue teams are made up of highly trained volunteers. The volunteers participate in numbers of operations sometimes with the support of the other public services staff when is needed. Normally, they are dealing with people rescue which is a very responsible job because if we are not doing it properly someone’s life could be put at risk.

The territory army volunteers are made up of people with a very high level of training. Normally, the TA volunteers are responsible for the training and the organization of the new cadets joining the service. And their teaching skills are essential for the development of a good functioning army. Without them, the new cadets will not be as prepared as they are now.

Those services are essential for the way the public services are doing because some of their roles are helping the service deal with an extreme situation. For example, the mountain rescue team will help the public services if there are no fire-fighters available. Also, by working closely with these volunteers the public services gain new knowledge and experience by using the help of their colleagues.

Roles like the Special Constable provide the Police extra help as an exchange of gaining knowledge. Also, is a great chance for those who already have a full-time job to get to know the service better before applying for a regular role. The public services benefit from this because it provides them, extra staff, for free who is ready to help them overcome the situations, they are facing without getting anything back except experience and tolerance. It also allows the volunteers to make a change in the community they live in and make it a better place for their families.

The roles of a good citizen.

  • What defines are we good or bad citizen in the way we participate in the improving of the community we live in.
  • Adding value to society and supporting society.

The good citizen does different initiatives that are helpful for the community he lives and adds value to it. This does not mean that as a citizen we need to buy sporting equipment for thousands of pounds, to be a good citizen we should help the community out with simple things as being tolerant and keeping the peace. We could do this by talking to the people in our area about how bad crime is and how it could be stopped. We could also visit elderly people and make sure that they are alight, and especially now we can make sure that they have the needed medication and food supply while under quarantine. By doing this we will make the people around us feel valuable and make our families proud and respected by society. We could also support society by using the help of the police and ask them to make community talks more often. In my opinion, in problematic areas like Walthamstow, we really need someone from the services to show the young people that the offending will not fix the problems they have. Also, if there are more police visits in the society the police staff will be able to connect with the people and build the trust they have over the past years! Since I moved to Walthamstow which was 2 years ago they were no police visits in the society in terms of advising and guiding the young people, the crime rates are increasing and the police should do something to improve the situation with the help of the society. Because is police work is not all about taking the bad people off the streets if the Police really want to change the things their staff should learn how to connect to the young people without blaming them for who they are.

Protecting the environment

A good citizen should respect the area in which he lives by keeping it clean and safe for the other members of the public. Which means that we as a citizen should make sure that our dogs are not doing anything that could be dangerous like digging or getting the pavement out which might be very unsafe for the kids and elderly people living on the same street. To protect the environment, we could also work together with our neighbours and organise different recycle initiatives. To reach more people we could also create a page and post safe ideas for environment protection. By doing this we will make a big difference not only in our community but in others as well. As a way of supporting the people who want to make a change in the community the public services should be more open to the initiatives and participate. By doing this they will show the community how responsible service they are and prove that they care for the environment we live in.

Promoting Equality

Good citizens should promote equality by making the other members of the community feel wanted and not less valuable than the other. If we can achieve this, we will make a huge change in the way some people live because we will give them hope and motivation for a possible change. In my opinion, we can achieve everything if we have equal opportunities because sometimes the only thing we need is to step on the same line as the other and START improving the way we live. The public services promote and demonstrated equality by giving their staff equal opportunities regardless of gender, sexuality or skin colour.

Challenges injustice and enables fairness.

If we want to be good citizens, we should fight injustice and make sure that everybody gets what they deserve. This is very important because we all as a citizen should help each other and keep the peace in the community. The most common form of injustice is when people do not accept the others based on their gender, sexuality, religion or skin colour which is also called racism. The racism could be expressed verbally or physically and as a good citizen, we should the people who have less power to defend themselves /the old people and the kids/. In my opinion, the police are doing a great job challenging injustice by using different legislation and creating a new policy against the people doing such bad things. But as good citizens, we should support fairness and equality by making sure that the Police are receiving enough support from the public through the long process of fighting crime and the factors causing it. To support them we should assist them in fighting anti-social behaviour and other crimes by appearing as a witness or also become a jury member.

D1-Evaluation of the role of good citizens in supporting the public services.

The role of voluntary services.

The people working for the volunteering services could be defined as a good citizen because they are doing a great job supporting the public services and helping the community. In 2018, 30% of people aged 25–30 volunteered at least once a year and 15% at least once a month which means that 21 million citizens have volunteered. Statistics like this are showing that even though the community is experiencing cultural crises there are still people who really want to make a change and improve the living environment of the society.

In my opinion, if we are achieving these numbers every year, we will get the chance to live in peaceful and supporting communities and the issues we have we have with racism and cultural disagreements will be reduced because the volunteering could really make a positive change even in the racist people and make them realise that we all should have equal opportunities. But if we really want to achieve this, we need to make sure that we are taking part as well especially those doing public services courses who have the skills to deal with different situations.

When can really realise how important volunteering is in a situation in which we need their help immediately. An example of this is the coronavirus and the crisis that is caused by the UK. To make the situation less stressful and easier to overcome over 500.000 people signed up to be an NHS volunteer just in one day. All those people agreed to reduce the time they spend with their families in order to help patients and drive home those who are already healed from the disease. By doing this the volunteers will save time to the other NHS staff which they will be able to use for the treatment of the other patients. The volunteers will also make sure that all the elderly people are safe by delivering them the needed medications and making sure that they are feeling well. In my opinion, this will not only help the UK overcome the crisis, but it will also make the public feel supported and understand. By knowing that there is someone there the community members will overcome their fears easier.

Even though they are many positives from that job, there are also risks. As I already said over 500.000 have signed a form and applied to be part of the NHS. This by itself hides some risks because by helping in the community the volunteers will be in contact with many people. Even though the NHS will make sure that they are having the right protective clothing the practice is showing that the mask is not helping. In my opinion, we should consider are we to take risks like these and how could this impact our families because sometimes in not just about us. And we should take it seriously because the decisions we get normally reflect on our family and friends as well.

The responsibility of the public services to set an example.

The Public services have a huge reflection on how society understands the meaning of equality and diversity. For many people, public services are a role model which means the way they certain things could have either a positive or negative reflection on the public. For example, if we see that a police officer who is supposed to follow the law is bullying a suspect; we will start to accept that as normal because who else we can trust in terms of law and justice.

The behaviour the public services staff demonstrate will help the public decide are they a good example and should they be followed.

In my opinion, public services are not a service that violates the human rights because the people working for them are people who care for the community, and ‘yes’ we should use them as an example. Looking into the Police Service they can teach us as a lot e.g. that we do not have to violate the law to prevent ourselves and the violence is not how a problem could be fixed. Also, by seeing how the Police are working with other public services staff we can understand the importance of teamwork. The good relations and the support that could be seen between colleagues even thought that sometimes they are not from the same gender of ethnicity teach us understanding and support. Another positive that we could use as an example is that the public services will never give up on us and will be always there to help, seeing this we are able to fully understand how brave and supportive because even if they do not know who is calling, they are responding immediately. Over the last year, they were 1,606 people saved and rescued by helicopters of the police and the ambulance services. In my opinion, that evidence is enough for us to consider that we can use public services as an example in the community.

My suggestions to them, especially to the police service, are that they should organise more public meetings in which they could talk about their experience and how they overcome the difficulties they are facing. By doing this they will also get close to the community and connect with more and more people by teaching them what is right and what is wrong. Another reason why they should do this is that they will reduce the crimes by teaching the public fixing their problems lawfully with other methods excluding violence. The only negative impact this could cause is that some people from the community could feel like their actions have been monitored and the aim of the police is to gather information by pretending that they want to help.

Dealing with personal prejudices.

The public is very important in helping the public services challenge prejudices because only the public is monitor what is going inside the society closely. A good citizen should look to notify the services if he is specious of that someone is being treated unlawfully. Because not everybody has the power to stand up and say what is the issue he is facing. For example, elderly people could be afraid to speak with the police because they think the person violating their rights will hurt them if they report him. There is a survey showing that 59% are scared to ask for help when being victimised. In my opinion, statistics like this should make us realise how important we could be for the improvement of the community we live and how bad influence the inaction might have.

Also, as good citizens, we should report everything that makes us worried to the police because they are the only ones able to fight crime by using lawful methods. In my opinion, if we try to fix the situation by ourselves, we could also make the problem worse. But we do not have to forget that by reporting a crime we might be put at risk that is why the police provide programmes as witness protection as a way of preventing revenge at a later stage when the offender is back at the community. But even though the Police are using this prevention method they have been 41 revenge killings from that type based on the statistics from this year. The suggestion I would like to give to the Police is to protect the witnesses and the community embers reported a crime special protection involving daily phone calls or a person undercover within the community. That is how the Police will make sure that everybody is safe, and the situation is under control.

Confronting prejudice and discrimination.

To be a good citizen we should learn how to control situations of prejudice and discrimination in the right way. In my opinion, the right way of doing this is without the use of violence or anger because normally the people who judge and discriminate does not deserve us that much attention. As a person who has been judged based on ethnicity and cultural differences, I can say that the people who discriminate normally do not think the things they are saying because their only aim is to make us feel uncomfortable and excluded. Even though we could not be affected in any way we should make sure that the authorities will be notified because normally the people who discriminate against the other do not just do it only on one person. By reporting the person who does it we will be able to prevent future diverse issues like this happening to others because some people might take it very seriously which could reflect them mentally. It is statistically proven that mental illnesses are the cause of over 45% of the suicides. And as good citizens, we should reduce the signs and support the victims of discrimination through the process of understanding that they are as special as the others.

By doing this we will help the Police and the other authorities dealing with prejudice with find who need their support. Also, by contacting the public services we will make sure that that the victims of discrimination will receive the right treatment because the support is not always enough. When we talk about serious cases in which discrimination has been seriously implemented the consultation with a therapist is essential. Even though that the public services are doing a great job by fighting discrimination and prejudice, it will be great if there are specially appointed officers who will be able to connect with the community and show them how to fight prejudice without the use of violence. During those meeting is very important to be implemented that the violence is not the solution to the problem because it always makes the situation worse.

image

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.