The civil society is the volunteer nonprofit sector – a direct consequence of the danish constitution midt 1800 in Denmark. The civil community reflects how the relation between the individual, society and the state should be. A strong civil society is essential for a well-functioning democracy.

Here the economic control has no influence

Opposite to the State the civil society lies outside of the formal economy and the political system – outside of the states control – here the economic control has no influence, it is the common population that is a participant in the political life, opposite to the state and marked.

The civil society are communities where you have to be polite – with other words “the polite society”.

Social volunteer work is, amongst others, to solve welfare problems

The social volunteer work are actions, which purpose is to give individuals or groups an increased welfare or care – or actions who aim after to solve welfare problems.

Volunteer work is something you do with others and which is beneficial for others besides yourself and your family, without getting payed for it or expectation of reward and when it’s organized with rules and framework for the activities – which states that regular helpfulness is not volunteer work.

Would you go to work tomorrow if you didn’t get a paycheck?

39% of the danish population is a part of the civil society.

Would you go to work tomorrow if you didn’t get a paycheck? Most people would answered with a very define and resounding “no”.

At the volunteer workplace, this is just what people are doing. My heart and my soul wants to be there and make a difference. The time and effort spent there is more valuable than any amount of money ever will be. To do something where the work is the pay in itself, adds purpose to my life. It increases my self worth and my self confidence, it, plain and simple, makes me a better person, also towards myself.

It was without hesitation and consideration when I started to do volunteer work

When I experienced the tremendous difference volunteer work in the civil community had on my life – it was without any hesitation or consideration that I took a leap of faith and started as a volunteer myself – besides the work, my network is increased with many different people and new competences.

Besides my book, the volunteer work is the best that has come out of my handling of the stalking I was exposed to.

A friend told me once, that maybe I should thank the stalker for the following progress I went through, to that my answer has to be “no, I need to thank myself for my handling of the consequences caused by the stalkingen”.

Love and respect yourself

It downed on me how important it is to love and respect yourself and how important it is to know your own limits and life values. That it actually is a good thing if somebody dislikes you or even hates you. Haitrat from others means that you are standing up for yourself and your limits, so it’s a good thing, because people will hate or respect you and maybe even admire you for not letting others walk all over your boundaries.

There I meet empati, sympati and charity at its finest and ego is non-existing

In the volunteer work I meet people who are there because they want to be there. It is exciting, ressource strong, interesting and open people who I meet at the volunteer workplaces, especially in the social volunteer work, which is about helping other people in need, that is the most giving for me. There I meet empati, sympati og charity at it’s best and ego is non-existing.

I have been a volunteer at the Danish Stalking Center and TEDxFrederiksberg, and I am currently a volunteer at the women’s shelter Danner and the human library. For the op coming period I am honored to have been chosen to be a voluntary lay judge.

When I first met the civil society

I will never forget that evening, when I for the first time had to make use of a voluntary offer – I called the volunteer telephone counseling at the Danish Stalking Center. Never before had I been in such psychological pressure, that I was driven to the point, where I had to contact a voluntary organisation and ask for help – nothing else had helped, neither my entourage or the police had been able to help me.

My volunteer work at TEDxFrederiksberg was for me to get new skills and next to that increased network, although first and foremost to get to know a very admirable concept from the inside, so therefor it was not so much about helping people, which I love the most.

The women’s shelter Danner has a special place in my heart, as it being a place where women and children who are victims of domestic violence, a place where they get all the help they need to move forward from the violent relationship. I can relate to these people, since it was a violent relationship with the stalker I escaped. I was lucky, to discover that so early in the relationship.

The human library gives me increased tolerance and less prejudices

At the human library I get the opportunity to talk to many people and increase the worlds knowledge to stalking. I also meet other human books and become wiser and enriched by a new story with every meeting, this gives me increased tolerance and less prejudices, one conversation at a time.

As a volunteer I receive a lot from the cooperation, other than competences and netvork. I get access to relevant courses, which are quite expensive and I get invited to different events where for example food and transport is covered.

I can highly recommend volunteer work for everybody, because it gives you competences, network, lifequallety and so much more.