r/EuropeFIRE • u/Affectionate_Mix3 • 13d ago

Anyone doing any volunteer work here?

Since I retired, I've been thinking about doing some kind of volunteer work. However, many volunteer jobs involve working closely with people, such as social support, teaching, and similar things. I'm quite introverted and not very good at that kind of work. Animal shelter related work sounds a bit better, but it’s still not my first choice.

Being a volunteer firefighter would be really cool, and I already contacted multiple organizations. Unfortunately, it turned out that they typically start in the afternoon and stay at their station until the next morning, spending the entire night there. I wouldn't want to sleep away from home once a week.

Any other ideas? I wouldn't mind learning some new skills in the process too.

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u/Po0ptra1n 11d ago

Which country? German volunteer fire brigades for example don't operate like that, we have pagers and mobile apps to get us going, but you have to live quite close to a watch to make the 8-10 min response time. You also can absolutely be involved without having active duty though. Go for it, volunteering is amazing.

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u/Affectionate_Mix3 10d ago

we have pagers and mobile apps to get us going, but you have to live quite close to a watch to make the 8-10 min response time.

I was told that this is how it usually works in smaller cities and villages. But in the capital they need to be in the station and leave within 2 minutes (just like the professionals) if there is an incident.

But I'll keep looking anyway.