“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention” - Oscar Wilde
Now that we're in Volunteers’ Week 2023, I ask myself, “what does Volunteering mean?” and “why do people volunteer?”.
My first instinct is to think of the literal and historical meaning. The word itself goes back a long way, with its origins in the Proto-Indo-European (4500 – 6500 years ago) & the Proto-Italic language (the very early stages of what we all call Latin). The words “welh” & “welō” are believed to have meant “to want”, transforming into the words “volo” and “volens”.
It eventually became the Latin word “voluntaries”, meaning “willing”, or “of one’s own choice”, and this transformed into the Old French word “voluntaire”, and eventually into the English language. So to me, that’s what the word means. It’s about choice. It’s about wanting to do something, of your own free will.
Which is why it saddens me that the word became popular in the early 1600s, to describe the concept of volunteering for military service. Choosing to fight. To kill. To harm fellow humans. The US State of Tennessee is known as the ‘Volunteer State’, and that’s because of the War of 1812 & US-Mexican war in 1847.
The word transitioned into non-military use by the mid-1600s, describing religious missionaries heading off to the New World to spread their brand of beliefs.
In the UK, the noun “volunte” has been recorded as early as circa 1330 in a poem called Of Arthour and of Merlin, in the Auchinleck manuscript:
“to don alle his volunte”, translating roughly as a “person who would do his will entirely”.
There are records of voluntary hospitals in existence in England from the 12th century onwards, and its use as a verb was noted in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755.
I suppose the concept of volunteering, choosing to do something, has been around for time immemorial, it’s a human instinct. Some of the first formalised organisations that relied on volunteers formed in the 19th century. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (or RNLI, originating in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck), the YMCA (formed in 1844), The Salvation Army (1865) and the British Red Cross (formed in 1870). WWI and WWII emphasised the use, and perhaps need, for volunteers. Directly in a military sense, and indirectly in many other forms, such as “digging for victory”, and the Air Raid Wardens' Service and The Women’s Voluntary Service.
And here we are in 2023, where you’ll find volunteers as ushers in museums and galleries, stewards at marathons and park runs, as firefighters and first aiders, as parcel packers at food banks, planting trees as environmental campaigners, and of course serving you here at the Lexi Cinema, helping us run our front of house. This enables more of our profits to go to socially positive causes.
I’ve been Volunteer Manager here for just over 9 years, and I’m most proud of how long they stay in their role. They generally only leave when they move out of the area and can no longer commit to a regular shift. We have a team of 70 volunteers, with a turnaround of about 5 per year (we recruit as and when a volunteer leaves), and a waiting list of hundreds who apply every year. Our longest-standing volunteers have been here 13 years, so thank you Siobhan, Joe H and Bittu. Alongside them Irene, who sadly died in March this year, with us for 12 years. She adored cinema. She went to the London Film Festival every year, and would always offer her opinions on films we should (or shouldn’t!) book.
This year we launched our Volunteer Recognition Awards (also known as the Bloody Amazing Volunteer Team Awards, or the BAVTAs!) with an Outstanding Achievement to those who reach 5 years with us (currently 13 volunteers), and a Lifetime Achievement for those reaching 10 years (currently 5). In addition, everyone who reaches 2 years with us (another 17) gets a tree sponsored on their behalf at Horsenden Hill Farm, just 4 miles west along the Grand Union Canal.
(Recipients of their Outstanding Achievement Awards at our ceremony in March 2023)
Louise reached the 10 year milestone last month, having started as a volunteer with us in May 2013. I spoke to her about the motivations behind staying with us for that amount of time:
“When I started volunteering I thought, 'I'll probably do this for about 6 months.' That was 10 years ago. I've stayed that long for many reasons, but ultimately because it's just a great place, somewhere I feel I belong and can be useful.
So why have I stayed for 10 years? For community, connection, my mental health, and because it matches my values by contributing to a number of social goals at once. I love that it serves our local community by being a busy, welcoming, thriving arts hub but simultaneously connects us all to more global issues by contributing to another local organisation on the other side of the world, the Sustainability Institute in South Africa, where the Lexi's distributable profits go.
It's also great to get actively involved with the organisation you're supporting, give feedback, tell them what you need from training, suggest developments, get creative - it can become somewhere you've helped to build, that you're really part of.
And on top of all that, great organisations that need volunteers often attract really interesting, active, creative people. I love working with them, whether customers, staff or volunteers. So with all that, who knows how many more years I'll keep volunteering here!”
(Louise with her Lifetime Achievement Award, given to volunteers who reach 10 years with us)
The beauty of having our front of house largely staffed by volunteers is the atmosphere they create. As Louise says, we’re surrounded by interesting, active and creative volunteers. With such a large team, they’re incredibly varied in their backgrounds and experiences, and everyone brings something different to the table. On shift, they are mostly based at our Box Office, so they really are at the front line of the cinema, the first people that the public have contact with when they enter the building. They also help our Duty Managers behind the bar, taking payments and serving drinks when we’re especially busy.
Harley has been a paid Duty Manager at the cinema since 2018. I asked him about his experience working alongside volunteers:
“Working with our incredible volunteer team is, for me, the most rewarding part of working here. At a time where it can be tricky to step outside your own bubble, I’m always grateful for the chance to get to know so many interesting and generous Londoners, from a real spread of ages, backgrounds and interests, besides a common love of cinema, of course! The fact that they’re willing to give up their time for our community cause, and bring so much warmth and positivity with every shift, is what makes the Lexi special”.
This brings me back to the questions I posed at the very beginning. Why do they volunteer? As Harley says, it’s not just a common love of cinema, they have many other motivations. Some are here looking for an experience working in a busy public facing environment. Others are looking for like-minded people to meet. Some have young families and like to enjoy their 4 hours behind the box office. Some are retired and have plenty of time to spare, whilst others have busy jobs but like to escape to our cinema. And of course, they all know about the work we do with the local community, and our designated charity in South Africa, the Sustainability Institute. Deepa joined the Volunteer Programme in 2021:
“Volunteering to me is a way of connecting to my community, and with other people. I first came to the Lexi seeking a break from the monotony of working from home. I had really missed seeing people and interacting with them. It has given me that and more, and I’m proud to be part of such a vibrant and warm group of volunteers”.
(Volunteer Deepa [right] helps behind the bar, with Amy [left], one of our Duty Managers.)
Each volunteer does one shift of approximately 4 hours, every two weeks. In 2022, our volunteer team donated 3740 hours of their time. And their time allows us to put more back into the community. Their community. Your community. Our community. A community that crosses borders and oceans, from urban Kensal Rise in London to rural Stellenboch in South Africa.
Volunteering is a choice, a chance to give something, a small part of yourself to the greater good, and I’m inspired every day by the volunteers who join us here at the Lexi. I’m inspired by the hundreds of people who apply to volunteer here every year, and I’m inspired by the hundreds of volunteers I’ve met since I started here in 2014. Volunteering gives something outwards, but it gives an awful lot back too.
So, on Volunteers’ Week 2023, I salute you all, everyone globally, everyone in the UK, everyone here at the Lexi, who donates their time towards a better world.
“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.” – Betty Reese
Read more about The Sustainability Institute here: https://www.sustainabilityinstitute.net/
Read more about The Lexi Cinema Volunteer Programme here: https://tinyurl.com/TheLexiCinema-Volunteers
