Perhaps I Am Overstating My Case Here

Tweet

This is the correspondence exchange between me and the local community centre regarding a manager revoking a party invitation already cleared for me by one of the other staff. I have changed the names here. My final reply to the site manager, Dee probably goes over the top but it is very much how I feel about this fiasco. E-mail from Hilda Hi Arthur, Can you please help, it has been raised with me that your name is down on the volunteer party list, but I don’t have you down as a volunteer on our data base anymore, so I am unsure how this has happened. If you feel you are a volunteer, this needs clarifying as no one of the staff have you down as there volunteer. Thank you Hilda My reply I have given talks in the last few months, as that is unpaid doesn't it qualify me as a volunteer for such services? Hilda’s counter reply HI Arthur - Guest speakers as sadly not part of our volunteering offer, we have roles within this group, but guest speakers are not seen as volunteers.Please check with Lyn if you are unsure, as she has a few guest speakers, they are also not volunteering roles. Sorry for any confusion you may have around this. My reply to Hilda & Lyn, which neither of them replied to Stuff it then. Liking one kind of volunteer but not another despite the work and preparation they do is actually insulting. Shan't be giving any more talks. A letter I sent the next day To Dee (their centre manager) To clue you in on my reply to the latest insensitivity towards me by your staff - With leaflets all round the centre telling volunteers about the Xmas party for volunteers scheduled for Wednesday December 12th, and as I have given talks arranged by Lyn, I RSVP'd my acceptance of the invite at reception on Tuesday 20th November but within 24 hours I got a breath-takingly insensitive e-mail from Hilda telling me that no staff recalled me volunteering for anything and retracting my invite. I reminded her by e-mail that i was a guest speaker only to be told bluntly that guest speakers do not qualify as volunteers. Oh, don't we! As giving talks is a free service offered to your service users and not PAID work it is VOLUNTARY so denying me or other VOLUNTEERS an invite to the xmas events for volunteers relegates us to some sub-species of unworthy specimens, like steerage passengers on the Titanic denied a place in the lifeboats. As your Scrooges want to begrudge people who research, write, edit, prepare and present talks and other events and treat us as unworthy to dine at the Grinch's table even at Xmas I hereby withdraw from any and all future volunteering, including talks. Do not expect me to apologize to anyone for this. Even thinking of treating volunteers in this way goes beyond disgusting. It takes a monstrous degree of ingratitude. If you agree that I was not a volunteer consider this a invoice for £30.00 for the assignment I did for your centre. Hope you have a nice Christmas. Thanks for having staff prepared to spoil it for me and other volunteers deemed somehow inferior specimens compared to the lucky elite who don't get their invitations revoked so casually in such a hateful ignorant fashion. Arthur Reply from Dee Our records show that you have not been an active volunteer for some time, and no longer attend the social club where you feel you may be attached. I have also spoken with Lyn, our Activities Co-ordinator who would be your supervisor, had you been a volunteer – she has had no contact with you and you have not approached her either. Our records show that you were informed that you would not be paid for a talks, as you had been in the past. We do not class this a volunteering as per our volunteer policy and guidelines. Page 15 in this booklet indicates that where volunteers have been inactive for over 3 months they are taken off our current records as being an active volunteers as we have over 500 records to manage on our database. I am sorry that you feel upset about this Arthur, but please do not let this deter you from using our services here at the Centre My last reply Thanks for your largely nonsensical reply. My last talk to the Friday group was 17th August - just about three months before the elitist party invites went out - I was not aware that attendance of the social club was so mandatory - many members recently asked me when my next talk is because they share my sense that the current filler events are often not worth paying £3 a time for especially now it runs 2ce a week with very lazy content. I had planned on asking about doing more talks in the new year but the vile policy in place here tells me not to trust the way the events are managed. I am confining my attendance to job club and the food supermarkets until further notice. Lyn could talk to me any time she wished - I attend job club for at least four hours a week right there. I also added her to my replies to Hilda’'s notice of de-invitation. I call that approaching her! If you wanted or needed me to volunteer for anything else you only had to ask - you squandered the opportunity - punishing me for your own managerial indifference to what I or others can do for you is your own faults. I did not expect payment - I am being sarcastic - The fact remains however, in keeping with every dictionary definition in every language that work is always for income or voluntary - as I wasn't paid to research, prepare, put together Powerpoint, edit and present the talks I was somehow not a volunteer - that is so far from the truth to be beneath contempt. You had a chance to invite me to speak to the group, and you wasted it and allowed me to be insulted in this way, - Lyn knew where to find me - I am not there to chase after anyone begging like a dog. I can only conclude that by not asking me to do something for three months plus, except the talk I was giving on the cusp of that time period, your staff intentionally allowed me to fall off the register that shouldn't be kept so judgementally - as you obviously don't want my help anyway, my withdrawing my support for such shallow callous policies isn't likely to affect you. I expect to see the Wednesday and Friday events deteriorate further in quality to the point of cancellation soon unless there is a serious improvement in such attitudes. Arthur Chappell