Upside down

My job no longer fits into the two days I work, by a very long unpaid way. So today I worked. I don't mind too much personally - I would volunteer to do this work (see yesterday), as many other people already do. But why is the most important work in society - supporting those human beings who face the most difficult time - increasingly being done by volunteers? I recently learnt that in Oxford 85% of the English teaching for speakers of other languages is done by volunteers. Lots of health, social services and education that were provided by the state would have disappeared had volunteers not stepped into the gap, and the Jobcentre now refers vulnerable clients to voluntary services that they won't fund.

At our Christmas party today for staff, volunteers, clients and staff from other organisations we work with, I had a good long chat with a community education worker who has to make learners do useless assessments in order for the organisation to get funding. I was already pretty sure we were kindred spirits. Now I know we are!