The wrong kind of.....

The phrase ‘the wrong type of snow’ first appeared in February 1991 when British Rail were caught out by a cold snap that brought snow too soft and powdery for their snowploughs to be effective. BR announced they were having particular problems 'with the type of snow', which led the London Evening Standard to run with the headline "British Rail blames the wrong type of snow.


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One of the things that makes our society great is that there are so many people who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to volunteer for a wide variety of causes. Sports Clubs, hospital transport, Day Care Centres, National Trust properties…..yes, the committed helper can be found just about everywhere - working alongside ‘professionals’ and often taking the place of ‘professionals’.

Let’s face it, society can’t afford to be without them.

However, with nearly 17 million individuals in England who volunteer their time through an organisation (Department of Communities and Local Government, 2009), the task of managing them is clearly considerable and complex.

Ensuring that their contribution is fully utilised, acknowledged and sustained raises a number of challenges and as such, debate over the management of volunteers has increased considerably in recent years. It is therefore somewhat disturbing to read that at Aldershot Town we somehow seem to have created the ‘wrong type of volunteer’.

You know the type. The volunteer that seems to know everything there is to know about how the ‘business’ works. In fact, if they are being honest, they think they know more than ‘you’ do – although they just might.

Of course I cannot possibly comment on the events that have led to the recent ‘Club statement’ but the sad circumstances point me towards a failure to put in place an effective volunteer management strategy or if we do have one, the ‘professional’ who is responsible for it is has underperformed.

I’m sorry but it’s easy to make money. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference. And without doubt, our volunteers, who are the DNA of the Club, are assets whose worth extends beyond being ‘thanked’ for snow shovelling, litter picking, toilet cleaning and gutter painting.

Volunteers are unpaid — not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless. Therefore we must provide support and recognition, relevant training and offer extra responsibility. Only then will we demonstrate that our Club truly appreciates its volunteers.

It seems to me that through its actions, the Club has overlooked the value of volunteers. A position of course afforded by many successful businesses…..but Aldershot Town is not a successful business.

I will never forget the effort and combined emotion that brought our Club back to life in 1992. The power generated by so many volunteers drove us forward and returned League football to the Recreation Ground.

Maybe we don’t need that emotion now. Maybe the ‘job is done’ and now it’s time for the professionals to take over. After all so few of us have the time to volunteer and even fewer have the heart.

But for me I am saddened to think that our Club now has one less heart.

So I leave you with this thought:

‘Volunteers built Noah’s Ark, but professionals built the Titanic.’