“Being a freelancer doesn’t stop me from doing volunteer work”
Three freelancers tell us why and how they make time to volunteer
We recently received an e-mail from Friendly Freelancer reader Daiva, who said she was curious to hear from other freelancers doing volunteer work. Her message struck a chord with Selma, who realised she stopped volunteering since going freelance, out of fear that it would eat away at the time she could be doing paid work (and in all fairness, also because she was working virtually unpaid at the start of het freelance career). It also resonated with Linda, who has volunteered with several organisations over the years, but has always tried to keep her professional and volunteering world completely separate. To find out how others combine the two, we decided to call up three freelancers who are passionate volunteers.
“Releasing turtles gives me so much joy”
Daiva Repečkaitė is a journalist and co-host of the Inoculation podcast. She lives in Malta. Daiva suggested the idea for this newsletter and has been volunteering at a turtle rescue since April of last year.
“I decided to go freelance six years ago because it puts me in control of shaping my career; I’m not confined to a single company culture and I can collaborate with a variety of interesting newsrooms. During the pandemic, all my activities moved online and I started to get tired of sitting down in front of Zoom. Around the same time, a local NGO that rescues injured sea turtles posted a call for volunteers on Instagram. The idea of helping sea turtles really excited me.
As a child, I wanted to become a vet, but my dad would tell me that it wasn’t for me, because I wasn’t exactly good at cleaning the cage of my parakeets! He had a point, but now I felt called to try working with animals anyway.
My application was accepted and I followed a training to handle these animals. It was very hand-on and didn’t involve more screen time; it was just what I needed. At first the work was quite repetitive and mainly involved feeding turtles and cleaning their tanks. As I learned more skills, the work became more complicated. I monitor the turtles’ condition, can inject antibiotics and clean infected eyes. At the moment it’s too cold to release recovered animals, but in November we released nine. It was beautiful to see them go out into the world, those moments give me so much joy.
Daiva releasing a turtle. Photo by Daiva Svobaite-Balciuniene.
Being a freelancer didn’t stop me; in fact it enables me to do this work: I am flexible and can volunteer one or two shifts a week during workdays. Rehabilitating turtles offers a different perspective. Like many journalists, I sometimes feel frustrated that we work so hard to uncover wrongs and often nothing really changes. It feels good to do something that has an immediate outcome. Another perk is that the centre is based in a beautiful 19th-century tower – quite different from my home office!”
“I also get a lot out of it professionally”
Winnie Trekker is a freelance illustrator and web and graphic designer. She volunteers at a meet-up space for women and an organisation that teaches a natural family planning method. She also participates in the design and development marathon Make A Mark every year.
“I’ve been a full-time freelancer for three years now, but I worked in a salaried capacity in the 10 years prior to that. The only thing I miss about that period is having colleagues. I started freelancing when I became a volunteer to meet people and to be inspired by and inspire others. A lot of it also comes down to the fact that I finally have the time now. When I was still an employee, I had a lot less mental space to come up with fun projects outside of work.
As a freelancer, it feels logical to choose volunteering activities that match my interests. That allows me to apply my knowledge and skills where they are needed. I volunteer at a meet-up space founded by a local women’s organisation and welcome participants to the co-making space. We do all sorts of things there, from kitting and drawing, to hand lettering. I also have the freedom to work on my own design projects. That’s really nice – it’s a little like a co-working space.
Winnie volunteering at the women’s meet-up space De Maekerij.
I completed a course on a natural method to avoid pregnancy at Sensiplan, a local organisation that teaches a natural family planning method. I now teach that course myself, also as a volunteer. The nice thing about that is that it also resulted in a cool freelance gig. When I saw that the period tracking app Read Your Body needed a designer, I sent them my portfolio. I also mentioned to them that I was well-versed in the Sensiplan method due to my volunteering work. That definitely gave me a leg-up.
I get a great deal of joy from volunteering; I wouldn’t want to give it up. But when I’m working on really large assignments, it’s the first commitment I cancel. At the same time, I also get a lot out of it professionally – almost all my assignments come to me through my network and that network is growing thanks to my volunteering work.”
“I would recommend it to everybody”
Freelance writing coach and storyteller Hilde Van Malderen began volunteering in 2014 when she was still working as a salaried journalist. Today she spends between 10 to 15 hours a month volunteering at her local library and in an arts centre in a neighbouring city.
“I supervise my local library’s book club as a volunteer. I handle all things practical and also lead the book club discussions. I’m also part of the library’s general volunteer pool and help out where needed. I also help out at an arts centre in the city where I used to live. I scan tickets, show people to their seats and help clean up after performances. I’m also taking a course to become a guide at the moment and will begin guiding tours for the arts centre soon.
Hilde volunteers at a local library and at an arts centre.
I started volunteering to give back to society when I was still working as a football journalist as an employee. I really loved my work, but I also thought it was a superficial, appearance-focused world in which large sums of money were thrown around. By volunteering at a non-profit fighting poverty, I was able to give back to society outside of my work. I also enjoy it. At the arts centre, I can sometimes also see a performance and reading a book isn’t something I have to strain myself to do. At the same time, volunteering was also a way to integrate myself into my local community and to get to know people. I recently moved back to the town I grew up in, but I hadn’t lived there for 20 years.
I would recommend volunteering to everybody. It might sound a bit flower power, but it gives me satisfaction to do something meaningful. It feels good to contribute precisely because you’re not getting paid. Volunteers are generally also super nice people. At every place I’ve helped out, the atmosphere was really nice; I entered into a really warm environment and my work was tremendously appreciated. I’d like to do even more volunteering, but I can’t at the moment. But later, when I’m retired, I’d like to do so much more volunteering. Or, well, if I win the lotto.”
P.S. Do you also have a story suggestion for our Friendly Freelancer newsletter? Are you curious how other freelancers are handling an issue you’ve been struggling with? Email us at freelancerthefriendly@gmail.com and maybe your idea will inspire our next newsletter!