Tag: Volunteering
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When someone’s struggling, ask them to help *you*
When he meets someone who’s struggling, Maff Potts relies on six words. “Could you do me a favour?” It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s never failed him, he says, even in extreme circumstances. Someone may be distraught, aggressive, or feeling utterly desperate. Instead of immediately trying to fix the problem, ask them for help. Can they offer…
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The gift of rest
The more you do, the more difference you can make. Or so it seems, in a world that prizes productivity. How could it not be true, when every conference, every campaign, every keynote speaker tells us we must take action, urgently? It’s counter-intuitive, then, to do less in an effort to make the world a…
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Fit for a king
Britain is crowning a new(ish) King next month, so we’re all being encouraged to spend a once-in-a-generation bank holiday doing something nice for each other. But the Big Help Out, which promises to “give everyone an opportunity to join in”, has already prompted concerns that it will flop, further undermining efforts to recruit and engage new volunteers.…
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Sticking around
A former colleague told me recently that he’s started mentoring a kid. It’s not just the occasional phone call or a few trips to the cinema, though: he has signed up to a programme that commits you to meeting up with the same child on three weekends out of four, for a minimum of two…
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“They don’t know how smart they are. You can tell them.”
Much of my work involves moulding and tweaking other people’s writing into shape. But with R and C, I never fix spelling mistakes or question confusing sentence structures. I never wince when they go off topic, never strike through nonsensical ideas. R and C are writers – nine and ten-year-old ones – who I’ve been…
How can we help 