Volunteers

"I got involved with the best of intentions and a desire to play my part in contributing to a democratic debate around Brexit. I ask you, having read this story, would any of you now volunteer to do the same?" So asks Alan Halsall.

The Brexit story gives this a certain piquancy, but Halsall's story goes wider than that. If you have recently volunteered for almost anything then there is a good chance that you will have found yourself faced with a thicket of rules and regulations, guarded by threats of awful consequences. GDPR, for example, or health and safety rules.

If you are involved in recruiting or training people, quite likely having volunteered to do this in addition to your normal job and with the best of intentions, then you will have been subjected to training and warned of the risks of illegal discrimination.

Do you remember all those school governors facing the threat of competition law proceedings? Still happening (discussing discounts! during covid! How very dare you!)

If you have had tangential contact with a school then your criminal records will be checked. Have you carried out a risk assessment for the communal parts of a shared building recently? Organised a village fete?

Here's one example: "... if your group or organisation want to use a community kitchen you will need to know if your particular food operation will need to be registered as a ‘Food Business’ with [X] Council ... For example ... volunteers serving hot soup and sandwiches on a regular basis to homeless and potentially vulnerable people. ... It is recommended that at least one person within a group/organisation will have a ‘Level 2 Food Safety in Catering’ Hygiene Certificate so that they can be available to supervise at events and/or pass on their knowledge to others where appropriate." So you decide, out of the kindess of your heart, to set up a kitchen to help homeless people. One moment you are thinking of feeding some home-cooked food, the same food you would give your own children, to less fortunate members of society - and then all of a sudden you are revising for your advanced food safety certificate.

All of this is probably well-intentioned. Or at least understandable given the outrage that can happen when something goes wrong. But it creates a series of burdens that fall on the public spirited. And it is slowly squashing that spirit. Why do I bother?, asks Mr Halsall - and so many other people across the country, muttering to themselves that no good deed goes unpunished.