I know that we have said it before, but there is nothing like volunteers and the outcomes that they can achieve.

There is another breed of volunteer that sometimes doesn’t get the recognition that they deserve. I am not sure that they have a name for this Group, but you could possibly identify them as “indirect-volunteers” or as might be more appropriate, Reluctant Volunteers.

So who are the Reluctant ones? For us, these are the people that are married to, related to, friends with or would otherwise like to be involved with our actual volunteers. These are the people that suddenly find they are doing those jobs that they had no intention of doing by volunteering for us, but through fate they often end up doing more than they had ever expected, intended or even wanted.

We call them the reluctant volunteers as they had no intention of volunteering with us and “whamo” suddenly find themselves up to their ears in horse poo, on the committee and doing those other thankless jobs that need doing. They are the extra bit of muscle, the trailer owners, the electricians, plumbers, lawyers and accountants all press ganged into service and all because someone they know volunteered their services and believed that because they were not doing something at that moment, they should assist. We appreciate that some of our volunteers also subscribe to the view that “idle hands make work for the devil”.

So to you our reluctant volunteers for whom a peaceful Saturday and free evenings is now a thing of the past, thank you. Your significant others may not say it but we do – cheers! We couldn’t do it without you.

And for the reluctant ones who catch the RDA bug and love being there and feel it is their duty to involve still more in our work – thank you too. We understand the passion and appreciate you.

At present RDA counts on the services of over 1500 direct volunteers. We have never been able to count the indirect (reluctant) volunteers, but we know there are hundreds of you. Cheers

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